Portside

The talk about resetting President Obama’s security team is misplaced; we should be focusing instead on resetting his bellicose policies. Secretary Chuck Hagel’s resignation should be a time for the nation to step back and reexamine its violent approach to extremism, which has led to an expansion of terrorist groups, and inflated military spending.

The Pentagon and the White House focus on the core Defense budget, but that’s not the half of it. Much attention will focus on Social Security and Medicare, which have been flashpoints lately. Buy if coverage in years past is any guide, we can expect stories from many news outlets that will significantly understate a third huge slice of spending the real costs of military and other national defense spending.