a1bill,
"Agreed. But according to the nabobs, all those USAF, USN, USMC, and Air Guard procurement officials are all naive simpletons won over by lying LM marketeers, so they don't count."
that's like the pilots that fly them. LM have paid off the lot of them. Unless they can skew a comment to a negative. Then even the previously condemned lying scum pilots are risen to the status of gods.
I am not quite sure of your age, but I suspect you were not around to know much about Dwight Eisenhower. Do you remember him? He became President of the United States after Harry Truman. General Eisenhower was a five star United States Army General and Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe as the plan and strategy developed for the invasion of France, D-Day, as it is known.
Now I have a tendency to believe him rather than your analysis from afar. Being a nabob, as you refer naysayers as, I challenge you to read a section of President Dwight Eisenhower's final speech to the Nation at the end of his second term as President, provided to you, below. You will note that part of alert and knowledgeable citizens (nabobs) and the compelling task he outlined for them. Today, the citizens (nabobs) of the United States lay out on the table nearly $700 billion for the Defense Department to spend in one year, I believe it to be important to be critical of military spending programs that are off the track in terms of promises, performance, on time delivery and costs. The F-35 program is the most expensive military program ever and because it fails to meet any of what is or was expected while using citizen's (nabob's) money, it is open for examination and criticism. It is too bad we are missing the DoD leadership Eisenhower represented or those that were in the West Point class the "Stars Fell Upon".
TD
Military-Industrial Speech by Dwight Eisenhower 1961
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.