If you get rid of companies like Lockheed-Martin or you destabilize them so they are unable to do what they are in the business of doing, who will do that when we need that capability. What, do we outsource our military production offshore? And don’t tell me we don’t need a military arm to our government. Do you have locks on the doors to your house, or your car? Do you walk around the streets in the rough parts of town blithely unaware that you are putting yourself in harms way? Of course not.

Where do you think the competent trained people who come out of the military go when they are released from the service? They go to government contractors, who need that expertise. Whether it’s a software developer (who busted his ass to get a CS degree on military assistance – which he EARNED by putting his butt on the line for however long), or a welder who works in a shipyard welding HY-80 steel plates on a submarine because he knows what he’s doing and is good at it. These are all parts of our infrastructure, and we need to support it.

Of course there were many international companies in Europe in the 30s that had to supply the Axis when they rolled into Poland. No one at the time could really believe that anyone would commit such an evil act, and they ignored the clear warning signs. How do you stop a jack-booted storm trooper armed with an MP-40 who just kicked down your front door and said he wanted all your inventory? Do you drive a BMW? You might have to give that up.

I could go on, but frankly I’m getting tired of this. My point is that sure it needs to be cleaned up, but be judicious. Like everything else in the world around us, there are parts that need to be husbanded and nourished. Scorched earth is never a good policy.

They were supposed to be beating their spears in plowshares and pruning hooks no?

Why do you believe this white wash? IBM gave the nazis the equipment to encode all the odious data for managing the 3rd reich and the holocaust.

There is ample evidence of this.

And the State Department didn’t fire the contractor, nor are we sure the contractor fired the perpetrators — they may have simply been reassigned.

This is all crap.

Why would someone (I’m sorry, 3 someones) risk losing their job, even as a contractor, to snoop in a security code protected passport file of a US Senator who just happens to be running for president?

It’s like chess; sacrifice a few pawns to get the info you need to do your upcoming dirty work. But unlike chess, due to wingnut welfare these fired ‘pawns’ will resurface as contractors elsewhere.