Brace Yourself For Anti-Military Rhetoric To Support Budget Cuts

U.S. Maritime Power Goes Ghetto

Despite the percentage of GDP being spent on the military at historic lows, and the use of "backdoor drafts" like IRR callups and the IA program to prevent young voters from being outraged at serving in "Bush's Wars", the NYT thinks we need some serious budget cuts in our Defense Department. This parlays nicely into the far-left's lame attempt at conspiracy-mongering by saying that the Pentagon brass are going to instigate some kind of coup when Obama takes charge. Here's what the Grey Lady had to say (h/t Jonn):

Trim the active-duty Navy and Air Force. The United States enjoys total dominance of the world’s seas and skies and will for many years to come. The Army and the Marines have proved too small for the demands of simultaneous ground wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are the forces most likely to be called on in future interventions against terrorist groups or to rescue failing states. Reducing the Navy by one carrier group and the Air Force by two air wings would save about $5 billion a year.

I agree that the Army and USMC needs to be increased, but that doesn't necessarily mean gutting the Navy and Air Force (which already had massive cutbacks during the Clinton years). Apparently, the NYT editorial board isn't buying into the deterrence value of the U.S. military. Perhaps they figure Obama's genuine awesomeness will prevent every nation in the world from being overly aggressive (which Russia disproved the day after he got elected). History has not been kind to nations that have a lousy and ill-funded military (think Poland 1939), but those lefty charities that went under due to the Madoff scandal aren't going to pay for themselves. I guess national defense is the first to go in an attempt for the progressive establishment's quest to buy votes by dishing out government entitlements. Makes you really question the priorities in this country.

Next up in the New York Times Editorial hit list will probably be law enforcement, interstates, or some other "unnecessary" government program. I'd like to see the editorial board take on programs rife with corruption and inefficiency that are bankrupting the country like Medicare, Social Security, or this bailout nonsense. But those programs get votes because it means free government money in people's pocket, and in this sorry state of our democracy, the American public only votes for what's in it for them. Maybe we deserve to get conquered and pushed into irrelevance.