So the war will cost $3 trillion . Big deal!

McCain's lobbyist-speechwriters need only point out that, hey, that's less than FIVE PERCENT of the government's real debt. So what's the problem?

And it's a small price to pay for a generation of chest-thumpers to pirouette in front of their bathroom mirrors and pretend that they're Churchill (on even-numbered days) or Lincoln (odd-numbered days).

Smirk.

Anyway, as my obnoxious Notre Dame history prof/priest used to say **every** day, "we owe it to ourselves."

Hey, self, you owe me two-hundred grand. Pay up! (And, since my reverend professor has gone to God, I'll take his two hundred grand too).