Barney Frank on Keith Olbermann the other night rails against excessive U.S. military aid around the world except Israel. He mentions hundreds of bases in 38 countries "that do not in most of those cases advance" American security. And Frank says it’s easy politically to cut foreign aid because the American people are against foreign aid when it’s not for helping starving children. Mentions aid to England, Denmark, Italy, and Japan. "We have some very wealthy nations that think we should go fight their battles for them."

Oh: the unnamed exception: We should "be available for those few allies, democratic allies, that are genuinely menaced."