I must be telekinetically feeding off of Jonah Goldberg’s frustration with the political climate because, despite knowing better than to ever have any faith in a Democratic president with regard to defense fiscal philosophy, I’ve still managed to get myself all worked up over this budget nonsense.
I’ll admit to some tunnel vision: I really only care about the defense cut part of the $1.2 trillion goal. Why? Because in my humble opinion, since we’re not touching anything that’s really causing the fiscal problems, i.e., entitlements, defense is the only thing on the chopping block that poses a serious concern with the game at play. Seriously, why is 50% of the “doomsday device” “fail” plan defense cuts when it’s basically the only thing on the “options” list that the federal government is specifically designated to spend money on in the first place?
But that’s not even the most worrisome part of this mess.
Imagine for a minute that one of your parents needed a certain kind of medication to feel good enough to have a healthy active life. Without it, he or she could still get around but it would be limited and painful after a short amount of time. Then his or her insurance makes the decision to no longer cover the medication, citing aspirin as the suggested alternative. You, of course, have no problem with this because you think he or she has spent too much on clothes at times and will complain over the smallest changes anywhere. They should suck it up, and if they really want those meds, they’ll find somewhere in their fixed income to reduce spending and afford it. Nevermind the reason that the company cut the drug was to free up some funds to cover Viagra.
And that my friends, is my metaphor for the narrative happening with these defense cuts.
No, I’m not talking about the politicians in charge of doing what they typically do (counter common sense). I’m talking about the politician watchers. The debate audience. The social network buzz. The people that leave the fifty comments under every article. They’re so jaded with the inefficiency of bureaucracy that they’ve become jaded from the entire point altogether when it comes to national security. They’re letting themselves veer off-message. Not all of them of course, but enough to tame the roar of warning sirens to a soft mew.
What I’m seeing is an audience of fiscal conservatives desiring to remain consistent with their beliefs when it comes to all government programs, and when faced with waste, fraud, and abuse – no matter what department they reside in – said conservatives want to support eliminating all of it. Unfortunately, when the long drawn-out debate is Democrat led, manipulation and foul play is on the table and as a result, conservatives are reacting with a mixture of falling for the facade and exhaustion.
What is this? Where did all of the outrage go? When John Bolton is screaming to deaf ears, I’m worried.
Something else that worries me? The alarms and fatal scenarios about the doomsday budget trigger. This is another exercise in sneaky public opinion manipulation. Let’s freak out about the $500 billion dollar cut enough to get everyone to agree with the other stuff we want to cut. It’s just like using troops’ pay as hostage to manipulate a bill through Congress. Come Christmas time, if you don’t go with what we want, you’re going to be the reason that America is in danger of another 9/11 or worse. But if we don’t cut enough, we’re all hypocrites right?
Rest assured my dear fiscal hawks, you don’t have to feel like a hypocrite for supporting cuts in education while supporting status quo spending in defense.
Consider this: If your loyalties lie with our nation’s military and pursuing the course that is in its best interest, should you not carefully consider the advice and warnings presented by its leadership on most if not all matters? To put it simply, how can one deride President Obama for pursuing a strategy in Afghanistan that placed “unnecessary risk” on our mission because he did not listen to his Generals while also supporting his defense budget cuts when those same Generals are testifying that such cuts are not good for our security?
The President is pretty consistent with his position: Screw the military.
- Excited
- Angry
- Not as Angry
- Bored
- Indifferent
- Sad
