■"Panel on Base Closings Says The List Is Likely to Change," by Eric Schmitt, New York Times, 23 May 2005, p. A16.

Ah yes, now the local "outrage" is transmuted into intense lobbying of the commission, where every affected city and region is hoping they'll be part of the 15% that typically get a reprieve from the commission after the Pentagon makes its initial requests.

Now is the time for all local and state politicians, along with their congressional delegation, to instantly morph into high-end military strategists able to leap tall stacks of Pentagon reports in a single bound!

Ted Kennedy is mega-pissed about the idea that Otis Air National Guard Base will be closed. After all, it was from this airfield that F-15s were scrambled on 9/11 to try to intercept the hijacked jets. Had no impact whatsoever, but that's meaningless to this sort of debate. It's all about imagery and sound bites and anguish over job losses. For most Americans, the Defense Department is more trough than emblem of national security; it's a job and a paycheck and local economic impact.

So people will ask tough questions, like why not merge the war colleges that currently exist for each of the armed services?

Ooh! That's a nasty one. But have no fear. My old employer will survive even as it will grow increasingly irrelevant in a super-joint world where service distinctions become less meaningful with each intervention overseas. There is no separate naval strategy anymore, so their doesn't need to be a separate naval war college. But little Rhody is well represented in the House and Senate, so there's little chance it would be added.