Ed Morrissey focuses on the “playing politics with national security” angle of Obambi’s efforts to strongarm Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. He links to this from the Weekly Standard:
According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn’t fall into line.
Offutt Air Force Base employs some 10,000 military and federal employees in Southeastern Nebraska. As our source put it, this is a “naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and the White House to extort Nelson’s vote.” They are “threatening to close a base vital to national security for what?” asked the Senate staffer.
Indeed, Offutt is the headquarters for US Strategic Command, the successor to Strategic Air Command, and not by accident. STRATCOM was located in the middle of the country for strategic reasons. Its closure would be a massive blow to the economy of the state of Nebraska, but it would also be another example of this administration playing politics with our national security.
Uh, no. Speaking as a former Strategic Air Command guy, there are any number of places in the central United States where we could put our strategic headquarters. Yes, it needs to be away from the coasts, but the precise location is grist for the pork barrel mill—now there’s a mixed metaphor—as much as anything else.
What I find rather creepy is that Nelson’s opposition to abortion funding, presumably a matter of conscience, would be considered something to be bargained away for a price.
