May 21, 2010

The F-35 Boondoggle

A trillion dollar gold-plated warplane that can't do anything very well. But it looks slick. Brilliant! I'll have a dozen, please. If Mr. Obama and Mr. Gates were serious about containing Pentagon costs they'd cancel the F-35. If Congress were serious about budget deficits they'd stop funding it. If the public were serious about good government they'd toss out politicians who campaign for it. If the uniformed services were serious about professional standards they'd refuse it. And if mainstream journalists were serious about hewing to their responsibilities they'd report on it (to be fair, some do). An archetypal "teachable moment." What a mess! To talk about the F-35, here's Winslow Wheeler, one of the very few real experts on Pentagon procurement. Total runtime one hour. I protest!