Ezra Klein says “There’s something about the way we defer to the military on military matters in ways that we don’t defer to other agencies on their areas of expertise that makes me very, very uncomfortable.”
Unfortunately for America, he’s more or less alone in this. As Gallup is always finding, Americans have enormous confidence in the military while they despite both members of congress and reporters. So even though in the abstract cuts to defense spending poll decently, the basic reality is that a member of congress who goes toe to toe with a bunch of generals is going to get creamed. One of the most telling incidents in recent American politics was that hearing where Senator Barbara Boxer chided Brigadier General Michael Walsh for not addressing her by her proper title. This was universally regarded as a gaffe by Boxer. After all, she’s just a lowly Senator, who is she to disrespect a hard-working general?
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