CNN Could Not Be More Wrong

I just can't disagree more. The folks at CNN are building their election coverage around the idea that the economy, that our money is "Issue #1."

Do they watch the news?

I know the credit crunch, and the markets, and the housing bubble, and the price of gas are all important. I get it, those are the things that all hit us on an everyday basis. But they really aren't, can't right now be Issue #1. Actually I think it might really be nice if they could be, but we don't have that luxury.

The only thing that can be anywhere near the top of the page, the only thing that has any business being called anything like "Issue #1" is the war.

As long as we have men and women in the field in harms way, as long as people are being killed every day, as long as we are waging war in the world that is all that can be Issue #1. There can be nothing more important than the policy decisions and the operational readiness in support of our soldiers and our allies, and no, the way we support the troops, the way we support our allies is not to spend.

And really, if you want to be crass about it, the dollar impact of the war is far ans away more significant than any of the current economic issues. The waging of the war is causing us to borrow something on the order of $2 Billion dollars each and every day. If the bill came today, each family in the country would owe over $16,000. Your stimulus check isn't going to cover that. And those of us with student loans, car loans, or mortgages can tell you that when the bill does come it will be way, way more than that 16k.

You want to do a real economic story? Cover the war.

One of the most insidious things about our current world stand is that the government is spinning as hard as it can to make sure that if you don't have family in the war that you don't notice the war. It is irresponsible for the news media to collude with the administration to bury the story. CNN should be ashamed that they are calling anything but the war "Issue #1."

We all need to stay focused. We are all party to an immense undertaking both terrible and celebratory, it must be the most important thing on our minds and in this election.

This guy says it better.