This Week in National Insecurity: Debtageddon Edition

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctbto/4926598654/sizes/m/in/photostream/">Flickr/CTBTO</a>

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


While you were watching The Town on Blu-Ray the DC debt-ceiling drama, a lot happened in the national security sphere. In this installment: We’re defenseless against default, would-be domestic terrorists do it wrong, a Russian diplomat rips red-staters, a Vets’ Hall of Fame inducts…Rick Scott, a fighter jet has gremlins, and the DOD outputs an epic cyber fail.

The sitrep:

• Yes, going into a debt default could make America less safe. Kind of a dilemma for conservative hawks.

• A Planned Parenthood clinic was firebombed in Texas. Terrorism? Perhaps. Al Qaeda? No, because they probably know better than to use diesel in a Molotov cocktail.

• In other “alleged domestic terror in Texas” news, a Muslim Army private was arrested near Fort Hood for conspiring to attack soldiers on the base with guns and explosives. And for possessing child pornography. It appears the soldier was also connected to a host of antiwar groups. Right-wing bloggers, commence cackling.

• What happens when you throw a Russian ambassador in a room with two hawkish Republican senators? Sound bites galore.

• Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed his old chief of staff to oversee a new state Veterans Hall of Fame. On the list of inductees: Rick Scott! And six Confederate ex-governors. And none of the state’s dozens of Medal of Honor recipients. Shockingly, this plan may change.

• After decades of delays and cost overruns, the Air Force’s top fighter jet, the F-22 Raptor, has a strange problem: It’s leaking anti-freeze into the pilots’ oxygen systems, making the aviators dangerously woozy during flights. It may take many more flight hours to identify the cause, at $44,000 an hour. And you thought your mechanic was expensive.

• The Pentagon launched its new cyber strategy website on Monday…the same day the GAO issued a report concluding that the DOD is dreadfully unprepared for a cyber attack. Evidently, the military is also dreadfully unprepared for negative media reports.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate