30 September 2001 - last filing cabinet

I look on with awe at the astonishing organizational acumen of the U.S. Congress. Knowing that a great bureaucracy like the American military will fight to the last filing cabinet against any loss of turf, and yet needing to smack the army around to face new threats, the Congress has implemented the first phase of a plan which is simpleminded in its elegance. First Congress floods the Pentagon with money for the new job. Then—here’s the beauty—at the correct time, after somebody else has been elected, they’ll take away money from the Cold War job.