Flit

Devastating F-35 takedown

Don't read this if you're still an F-35 fan. Choice quote: "A virtual flying piano, the F-35 lacks the F-16's agility in the air-to-air mode and the F-15E's range and payload in the bombing mode." See also this more detailed analysis.

Glastris on Romney-Bin Laden: exactly

Paul Glastris cuts to the point of whether Romney was misquoted in a recent Obama ad. Of course, Romney misquotes Obama constantly, to the point of entirely reversing what he's said in some cases, so the whole debate is rich. But yeah, I personally have no problem with people hearing the whole of Romney's actual remarks... specifically:

"Global Jihad is not an effort that is being populated by a handful or even a football stadium full of people. It is—it involves millions of people..."

Millions. Romney's position, as was Bush's, was that they could not afford to hunt the one person who had actually masterminded a significant attack killing Americans (and Canadians), because they had to fight a war instead with those millions of "jihadists" who hadn't attacked the U.S. yet. Far more than a football stadium's worth of hostiles, he said, mentioning Hamas and Hezbollah specifically.

The alternate, sane position has always been that you deter future attacks best by making continued survival as difficult as possible for anyone who has attacked you directly, first. And the millions will come around to the point of view that, whether you're hateful or not, attacking you isn't going to work out well for them, either.

There's no misquoting here. Romney was saying never mind Bin Laden, he's just one more bad Muslim like all the rest, just one more foot soldier in a global civilizational clash. He clearly wasn't, and retribution was both just and required (and undoubtedly effective in spooking other Bin Laden wannabes). Romney was a fool for saying otherwise then, and a fool he remains today.

See also James Fallows. He's right, you don't actually get to dodge wartime military service in France and then say "even [Lt (N)] Jimmy Carter."