Independent voices from the TWT Communities
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 about two years of discussions, the Atlanta Falcons are a step closer to getting a new downtown stadium.
"Assumption is the father of error," or so we're told. When it comes to nuclear weapons, the Obama administration and many others are making assumptions that could lead our nation to catastrophic errors.
There is no question that the Department of Defense is facing a budget crisis, which, if not managed properly, will have far-reaching consequences for our national security. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, before departing the Pentagon, cautioned repeatedly about a "hollowing out" of our military forces if proposed budget cuts are enacted. The fact of the matter is that with Mr. Gates' cut of $175 billion plus the $400 billion in additional deductions proposed by the Obama administration, our military forces are already hollowed out. With two ongoing wars, our military has been run hard and put away wet.
President Obama sternly proclaimed ratification of the U.S.-Russia nuclear arms treaty "a national security imperative" Thursday, saying the Senate must act before Congress goes home for the year.
A bipartisan, congressionally mandated defense panel on Thursday challenged the Pentagon to broaden its focus beyond counterinsurgency in Afghanistan and Iraq and expand the Navy to deal with threats from rising powers in Asia.
The failed attempt by a bunch of medical doctors who tried to detonate Mercedes Benz automobiles parked on London's busy streets and packed with the kind of propane cylinders Americans use to fuel backyard barbecues sent antiterror alert levels in the United Kingdom to their highest possible level.
William Perry, of Georgia Common Cause, a nonprofit, non-partisan citizen advocacy group, said the public has not been given enough opportunity to weigh in.
"It just seems like there needs to be more dialogue about what the public wants in this whole deal," Perry said. "It just gives the appearance that this thing is sailing through like a rubber stamp."
