While the world seems to be steadily going in one startling direction, our fine representatives in Washington appear virtually clueless. It’s as if they don’t read the New York Times (NYT) or watch CNN – A division of Time-Warner (TWX). While the news is covering certain extremely scary things going on in various countries not totally or even marginally friendly to us, our elected officials look elsewhere on their To-Do lists for their priorities.

North Korean leader Kim Il-sung relaxes after firing a few test missiles at Japan

Range of North Korean Missiles - Why California real estate values are
really dropping

One of the basic strategies I use when attacking my To-Do list is I spend time on the fun or easy things first. The longer they will take the better, because then I probably won’t make it to the less fun things on the list. There are things like cleaning out my files, losing five pounds, and demanding a raise from my boss on the list that I never get to.  But checking for new Slurpee flavors at the 7-Eleven, harassing the new interns, and mentioning the fine food and wonderful service at Hooters always gets done.

For lack of a better name, let’s call this Type “C” To-Do list management.  A Type “A” person would go after the hardest tasks first and get those done well before the lower priority fun tasks. That’s why those Type “A” people are at high risk for heart attacks, ulcers, and high-paying jobs with a lot of responsibility and probably a company car or General Dynamics (GD) Gulfstream private jet. Type “B” people mean well. They go after the high priority items most of the time but are good at just finding a Type “A” person to dare into getting the task done. But us Type “C” people figure if those hard-to-do tasks were really that important, they would be on a Type “A” person’s list and now it’s time to go to 7-Eleven to see the new Slurpee flavors.  On the way out of the office I’ll drop a copy of my To-Do list close to that Type “A” guy’s Steelcase (SCS) desk. He will probably finish a few things on my list by the time I get back.

Most Type “A”s would go for something off the Corporate Dim Sum column and avoid the government service appetizers because they are too high in saturated fats.

So here we are stuck with a bunch of Type “C” or lower folks responsible for governing and operating our country. That is, except for the Type “A”+ guy who is running the White House. If you could read this guy’s mind, about every forty-two seconds you would see a thought like, “What was I thinking? Most of the people in this city are monumental slackers with nice smiles and the ability to raise huge sums of money so they can get elected to office.”  

An enhanced close-up from a Tehran, Iran hardware store security camera where this man bought various wires, connectors, and explosives. He said he had “moles” in his garden. Yes, that is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari just after the Taliban starting killing civilians,
“What happened to our peace deal… Didn’t these guys get the eMail?”

I would think ensuring the complete safety of Lee Allen and every other American should be well at the top of every government official’s To-Do list.  But, instead, they seem distracted by minor headline-grabbing initiatives lately.  Let me be more specific…

From what I understand of basic nuclear physics, when someone lights the fuse on a nuclear bomb, quite a lot of damage can be done. By quite a lot of damage, I mean cities and major parts of entire states evaporated in less than a few seconds. Anyone within a certain radius who survives the initial blast and resultant white hot fire storm will certainly come down with any of a wide ranges of maladies, including radiation poisoning. And a trip to CVS (CVS), Walgreens (WAG), Rite Aid  (RAD) or Wal-Mart (WMT) will not uncover anything in the skin salves, sprays, ointments aisle to help you.  Radiation sickness is much more severe than a case of poison ivy.

Believe me, I don’t like to think about this, but with countries like, Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea owning, experimenting with, and expanding nuclear arsenals, what do the Type “C”s in Washington think they are planning to do with all those new toys?

A quick recap may be in order…

Iran… These are the same people who have probably been funding the bad boys causing havoc with our US Troops in Iraq. They have shown most of the parts in those roadside bombs and exploding dinner jackets, laundry bags, and Teddy Bears were bought at a hardware store two blocks from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s house with a credit card under the name of Mahmoud Smith. What do you think is going to happen if Mr. Ahmadinejad suddenly figures out how to use his Betty Crocker Nuclear Cookbook and actually builds a nuclear bomb? Even a small bomb. Say one that could take out the city of Detroit? 

A picture snapped by the space shuttle
last week

Secretary of State Clinton’s reaction after seeing Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea at the
top of her To-Do list for this week

North Korea - Back when this Kim Il-sung guy was cutting deals with the West where they would send him Apple (AAPL) iPods, Coca-Cola (KO), and Hershey (HSY) chocolate bars if he would promise on scout’s honor not to make any more nuclear explosions or launch any rockets in the vicinity of Japan – owned by Sony (SNE) – without filing the proper form 2252 in triplicate, well… you guessed it. As soon as those iPods, Cokes, and chocolate bars, along with other various essentials required for humanitarian reasons, Mr. Kim switched his nuclear machine back on.  Remember, this is another guy who has no love of the USA. We are technically still at war with North Korea. You have to give North Korea credit, though… Call a truce so you have an extra 56 years to develop a better weapons arsenal.  And…  a note to Mr. Obama – I know you read these since you email me at least once a week – when a guy breaks a deal like this, expressing outrage is probably just going to make the guy laugh at you. At least send him a note, through diplomatic channels of course, that you pissed in his Coke before they sealed the bottles.