Pentagon
‘Wastebook’ Is a Waste
Studiously Avoiding An Acknowledgement
Glenn Greenwald yesterday morning: I just want to flag what his "last words" were according to his family members, which he uttered as he was being sedated for surgery: "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan." READ MORE >>
Everything Is Data, but Data Isn’t Everything
This bumper-sticker headline, borrowed from the sociologist Pauline Bart, speaks beautifully to the latest Wikileaks outpour and the question of what it does and doesn’t mean. READ MORE >>
The Irony of Wikileaks
Incoming: Scrutiny of the Pentagon Budget
I'm surprised that initial reaction to the Bowles-Simpson proposal seems to be taking for granted one of the Commission's major conceptual surprises: treating Pentagon spending, which comprises 51 percent of discretionary spending, on par with non-defense discretionary spending. A strange bedfellows coalition of Barney Frank, Ron Paul, Tom Coburn and others (full disclosure, including me in a minor supporting role) has advocated this for six months. READ MORE >>
Waste Land
Are Neocons Serious About National Security?
Steve Benen argues: I continue to believe in a simple litmus test -- if you claim to believe in fiscal responsibility and want to cut the deficit, you can’t insist that the Pentagon budget is untouchable. It’s an immediate credibility killer, reflecting a fundamental lack of seriousness about the subject. READ MORE >>
&c
-- T. A. Frank profiles Sharron Angle. -- Michael Kinsley asks how the baby boomers can "redeem themselves." -- The Pentagon's most complicated Powerpoint slide. READ MORE >>
America May Have Overreacted to September 11 … but Americans Didn’t
Get An Injunction
The Dove World Training Center in Gainesville, Florida and its pastor Terry Jones plan a Koran bonfire on the ninth anniversary of the World Trade Center-Pentagon enormity. There are indications that other churches, the message of which is love, of course, are joining in the extravaganza. It is just possible that Islamist Muslims, fanatic Muslims who also burn bibles and alien religious texts and flags, will be reminded of how disgusting the practice is. But don't count on it. READ MORE >>
