MediaMyopic

According to Time Magazine, the Army, the Marines, the Navy and the Air Force have pleaded with the Pentagon for several billion dollars more than the superfluously generous budgets alloted for 2009. The Air Force alone seeks $19 billion more than its $141 billion budget. Citing China and India as the benchmarks, the military has created a laundry list of ‘critical needs’ that the oft conservative-leaning Time reports includes dorm-room furniture. Since the end of the Clinton Administration, the U.S. Defense budget has doubled, under Bush. So much for fiscal conservative, eh? Democrats have suffered the longstanding stigma of being the big spenders, expanding government and raping the taxpayers, so to speak. But existing Defense spending — under Republican leadership — is comparable to World War II. If this isn’t rape, we don’t want to know what is. But all this extra cash sure does come in handy when it’s time to develop Pentagon-funded video games that glorify murdering civilians in less developed countries.