Ike Was Right

Did you catch Andy Rooney on '60 Minutes' last night?

Andy talked about how:

• the United States is spending $5.6 billion a month fighting this war in Iraq


• the annual U.S. military budget exceeds $455 billion


• how our military has 1,155,000 enlisted men and women and 225,000 officers -- one officer to tell every five enlisted soldier what to do

Andy reminded us of what President Dwight Eisenhower said upon leaving the White House in 1961:

"We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

Click here to read the entire transcript of Andy Rooney's commentary last night.

Unfortunately, what Andy didn't mention, but perhaps should have, is to also remind the American public about the most important lesson we learned from Ike's Vice President, Richard Nixon. Nixon's Watergate scandal can best be summed up with three words: "Follow the money!" In other words, where is that $5.6 billion a month being spent? Who is getting rich off of a $455 billion annual military budget?

I really miss the innocence that was so pervasive when Eisenhower was President -- back when TV shows like "Leave It To Beaver" and "The Adventures of Superman" were broadcast in black & white. Nowadays, it seems, Corruption, Incompetence, and Greed have replaced "Truth, Justice, and the American Way."