Meme tyme

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Living in fantasy land

Rick Steves, guest columnist for the Seattle Times, takes a break from his travel show to write the following opinion piece, included with commentary from your humble, um, commentator.

The greatest risk to our society today is not Islamo-fascist terrorism, but the people who use that term to scare us. As the human, fiscal and ecological damage caused by our nation's economic priorities grows, it's becoming clear that we're addicted to more than oil — we're addicted to military spending, too.

The United States spends as much on its military as the rest of humanity combined: more than $400 billion annually (not including the hundreds of billions of dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan). These military expenses are "off limits" as we sharpen our collective pencils to find $39 billion to cut from domestic programs. And yet, despite our already huge military expenditures, these days it's hard to get elected without promising even more military spending.

We spend more on our military because we aren't just defending ourselves, but a significant portion of the rest of the world as well. And, in case Mr. Steves isn't up on the Constitution, defense is one of the few things the federal government is specifically responsible for. Most, if not all, of the "domestic programs" he is referring to are actually not authorized by the Constitution. If any government should be handling such things, it should be state or local governments.
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Ouch

Not the view you want to see from your cockpit...

One (or two) at a time

Now this brings a tear to my eye.