I was prepared to back Ryan on this until I read that the criticisms are levelled at DOD budget cuts that threaten politically powerful constituents- the Air National Guard and those who work for the military at bases across America. These are not real critiques of DOD budget decisions, they are political turf guarding by the political class in Washington. DOD needs a disciplined critique of its budget- unfortunately, this isn't it.

LTG Bill Philips' comment clarifies: we have enough tanks! Why then argue about closing the tank plant? To keep the supplier base going? Can't those suppliers do anything else? Since the advent of the M1, we no longer depend on very large castings for our tanks, formerly the most unique part of tank production. So mothball the tooling and let the suppliers find other work that suits the skill set they've developed. Our major national challenge is economic, not military.

First, the writer assumes "non-believers" are all atheists. in the context of the survey quoted, that may not be the case. there are lots of things (Christianity, the Trinity, etc) to believe in or not. Second, it is not clear why the point is being made in the first place. Obama attracts athiests to a greater extent than the Republican ticket: Duh! Does Phyrillas believe secularism in politics is BAD? In a Nation that believs in religious freedom, why should a poltical party be anyting but secular?