Contemptuous, contemptible bureaucrats want to cause chaos in the wake of the barely-perceptible “sequester.” Although they are consumed by narcissism, and have zero management ability (why should they? They’re not accountable!), there is a principle at work.
In Cold War days, it was called the Brezhnev Doctrine: “What’s ours is ours; What’s yours is negotiable.” Today, translated from the domestic Newspeak Nomenklatura Dictionary, that reads, “The bureaucracy must forever grow and its power and benefits forever soar. What’s yours will eventually be ours.”
When Secretary Gates left the Pentagon, he said that he didn’t know how many people worked there or how much money they spend – and neither did anyone else. Yet the Hot Tubbers warn of national catastrophe, should one match be lit near the deadwood pile.
Got a match? My always humble, wise, and persistent friend Jon Utley offers a blowtorch, with sixteen modest proposals to cut defense without harming anyone or anything useful.
9:42 am on February 23, 2013
