Source:The New Democrat 

I think the panel is correct when they say President Vladimir Putin’s real goal for the Russian Federation is to return it to a superpower, or at least a world power, again, at least on the scale of the People’s Republic of China, and have Russia grow its military and economy to the same levels as those of the Chinese. But I hope the panel is correct when they say Russia has no intention of invading and occupying Ukraine but is perhaps more interested in simply ending the violence there.

As far as the military cuts go, there is nothing radical here, just an understanding of the reality that we no longer occupy Afghanistan and Iraq and are no longer in a position where we need to police the world. Nor can we afford to do that, especially with our alliances in Europe and now in the Middle East as well. This is not about weakening American power, but paying for the power that we need in an affordable way and cutting back in areas we no longer need to be involved in.

As far as the Arizona gay discrimination bill goes, because that is exactly what it is, which is legally to deny people service simply because they are gay and move us back to the 1960s, when Americans could be denied service because of their race or color. Even if Governor Jan Brewer vetoed the bill for economic reasons, she still did the right thing, and, as we learned today, the Arizona Legislature has no intention of bringing up another gay discrimination bill this session.