War Drums and Defense Budget

This post is an early-warning feeling, but we can't shake it and so we say it. It appears to us that an increasing number of political types, in and out of Congress  and the Presidential races, are sounding more bellicose in their statements about potential threats to the U.S. from other nations. The media appear to be featuring stories about possible threats from North Korea associated with claims about their nuclear developments, and the U.S.-Iran agreement on nuclear weapons. (Admission to the Nuclear Club is a very sensitive matter.) And what about those tiny islands in the South China Sea?The media are also doing high-profile stories on Russia and the evil Putin that have the strong odor of the old Cold War days. The latest concern, coming from one of the Congressional Super Hawks, is about the hidden danger of increased cooperation between the U.S. and Russia in areas related to space exploration and the hardware used for such explorations.


Our feelings may be nothing more than the Hawks and their media allies running out of threatening scenarios so they have to do the best with what they have. However, we suspect that it may be a "pre-emptive" strike against the possibility that the current attempts to awaken Americans about our economic problems may lead to efforts to make cuts in a $600 billion defense budget.