Word: wednesday
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...That was essentially the verdict delivered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday, when he officially gave up on the Bush Administration's tortured quest to purchase flying gas stations to replace the current fleet of KC-135 tankers, which average 47 years old. "How incompetent can the Air Force be?" Danielle Brian, head of the Project on Government Oversight, a private watchdog group, wondered following Gates' announcement. "Buying a tanker really shouldn't be this complicated...
...Given that track record, Gates says he had little choice. "It is my judgment that in the time remaining to us, we cannot complete a competition that would be viewed as fair and competitive in this highly charged environment," Gates told the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday. "I believe that the resulting cooling-off period will allow the next Administration to review objectively the military requirements and craft a new acquisition strategy" for future tankers...
...Moreover, the delay is further evidence that defense choices are always made on a sliding scale, balancing costs against risks. While Air Force officials have been arguing for years that new tankers were needed yesterday, Gates made it clear Wednesday that's not quite the case. Stepped-up funding for the aging tanker fleet, he said, will ensure they're kept safely flying until the Air Force finally gets its act together. Even Lichte, who began his career flying KC-135s more than three decades ago, conceded as much. "The 135 is doing pretty good," he said...
...Although the conventional wisdom was that the Democratic National Convention would have a dramatic lead in viewership, Palin's selection to the ticket helped make the RNC the most-watched Convention in history, and that curiosity and excitement showed during Palin's speech Wednesday night...
...McCain announced his running-mate, Obama led McCain by about seven percentage points in an average of five national polls. The RNC’s repercussions may be different. The convention’s focus on Palin left a lasting impression on Americans. After Palin’s speech Wednesday night at the convention, Obama’s campaign made $10 million—a one-day fundraising record. Coincidence or not? I leave the comparison...