THE VETO PEN IS READY:

THE VETO PEN IS READY: The Washington Times says that President Bush has a veto pen, and he’s not afraid to use it–and I hope they’re right.

They quote him as saying:

“We must not repeat the mistake in the 1960s, when increased spending required by war was not balanced by slower spending in the rest of government,” the president declared, adding, “I’ve got a tool, and that’s called a veto.”

That reason is simple enough. After he inherited a military that the previous administration had underfunded for years, Mr. Bush’s job as commander in chief was further compounded less than eight months later by the September 11 terrorist attack. The inventory of the laser- and satellite-guided smart weapons barely lasted through the relatively low-level military response in Afghanistan. The depleted inventory of smart weapons isn’t expected to be replenished before September, if by then. That would make any military decision involving Saddam Hussein or other member of the axis of evil essentially mute before then, irrespective of any further provocation. In itself that is a sad commentary on the military means of the world’s only superpower.