By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution

The only way the nomination of Chuck Hagel to be the secretary of defense makes sense, political or otherwise, is that Barack Obama is looking for a further opportunity to show the Republicans who's the boss of bosses in Washington.

After 14 years of painstaking labor, North Korea finally has a rocket that can put a satellite in orbit. But that doesn't mean the reclusive country is close to having an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Thursday that he denied the Medal of Honor to Sgt. Rafael Peralta because the evidence from his autopsy created more than a reasonable doubt that he was able to knowingly scoop a grenade beneath him — the act his fellow Marines said saved their lives.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has denied the request to give Sgt. Rafael Peralta the Medal of Honor, saying there are still too many questions to accept that he knowingly scooped a grenade beneath himself to absorb its blast and save his fellow Marines.
The Pentagon is preparing to activate global missile defenses for an expected test launch of another long-range missile by North Korea, U.S. defense officials said.

U.S. combat troops are gone from Iraq, but for some of the Marines who lived through it, there's one more fight to win: making sure one of the fallen, Sgt. Rafael Peralta, is awarded the Medal of Honor.

Indicators that an OSS Society event is under way: the official party favor is an elegant martini glass, strolling violinists play "The Ballad of the Green Berets" and multiple conversations begin with such phrases as "General, I haven't seen you since Afghanistan."

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Monday thanked civilians and military personnel who helped field tens of thousands of lifesaving vehicles to the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army is preparing to officially join the Pentagon's "Air Sea Battle" operational concept, as the Defense Department shifts its focus from land operations in the Middle East and Europe to mostly naval and aerial activities in the Asia-Pacific region.

Congress hasn't given its best effort to prevent nuclear terrorism. Despite broad bipartisan recognition that nuclear terror is one of the biggest threats of our time, two common-sense anti-terrorism treaties have been on the "to-do" list for more than half a decade.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is the white whale of the Defense Department — a stealth jet designed to work for all branches of the armed forces — but at a total cost of $1.5 trillion, it's also a program that analysts say is an epic boondoggle that neither President Obama nor his GOP challenger, Mitt Romney, has a realistic plan to get under control.
Our political leaders face a big moment. Dangerous cuts to our defense budget are slated to take effect on Jan. 3, 2013.
Mitt Romney's wife is reinforcing her husband's refusal to make public several years of tax returns, saying "we've given all you need to know" about the family's finances.

The Pentagon's civilian workforce, which expanded dramatically during President Obama's first three years, is not facing any significant reductions even as the Defense Department is slashing ground troops by more than 10 percent, retiring ships and combat planes, and putting off the purchases of some new weapons.
Former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is going into business with two other top officials from the George W. Bush administration.
Robert M. Gates, also insisted that costs must be brought under control.
Mr. Panetta said personnel costs put the Pentagon on an "unsustainable course," and Mr. Gates bluntly said in 2009 that "health care is eating the department alive."