Updated 9:56 a.m., April 9
We're not waiting around until midnight, when the government is scheduled to shut down due to a budget impasse that gets dumber and more petty the closer you examine it. If you're fighting a war right now, you've still got to fight; you just won't be paid, in all likelihood. The rest of us can look forward to backlogs in most things the military has in development, like upgrades to GPS satellites. All this at a time when the Navy masters the art of crippling ships with lasers. Tsk tsk.
And so that makes this week-that-was a display of the creeping danger borne of irresponsibility. Wars launched to protect civilians expanded into entreaties to arm shadowy rebel groups. Goodwill missions to psychopaths endorsed arming the very lunatics we'd end up bombing. Mercenaries were solicited to guard Special Operations outposts. Rationales for your boss' shady business dealings amount to "everybody does it."
Not that everything was full of fail. Darpa still wants a translating robot, and it's inching closer to prosthetic limbs controlled by brainwaves. The Navy's interested in a robot medic, too.
Oh, wait – all of those projects are likely to be delayed by the government shutdown. We'll see if Obama and the GOP cut a deal by the time we're back to work on Monday. Because overspending isn't the only way to mortgage the future.
Update: Aaaaaaand shutdown averted! Back to work on Monday, everyone.
