The only way to stop what goes on in Washington, DC is to implement term limits on all Senators and Congressmen and their principle staff personnel. Kennedy, Thurmond, Byrd, and Murtha, to name a few, were/are continually voted into office based on their ability to get "goodies" for the folks back home because of their seniority and their selection to chair or serve on important committees. Gingrich had term limits in his "Contract with America" but it was given lip service only and allowed to die a quiet death. Until "we the people" get term limits implemented not a whole lot will change for us. We have developed a political class who has little connection with America, is easily bought and sold by special interest, and has not had...

The missile shield does work. It was never designed in it's current form to stop an all out attack by Russia or China but to stop a "rogue state" from launching a few missiles at the US or one of our allies. Their are more than just a few missiles in Alaska involved in this program. There are several Aegis Cruisers assigned to Japan and Hawaii that are on a very short string to deploy into their shooting areas in the event any "rogue state" decides to fire a missile. This technology scares the Russians since we could deploy a very large shield force if we were so inclined.
Star Wars was a strategic initiative that scared the hell out of the Soviet Union in that they knew they could not match it if it were successfully deployed....

We are going to war sometime in the near future based on Iran's quest for nuclear weapons. Most likely we will be dragged in after the Israeli's do a half a#* job of trying to wipe out Iran's program. The Iranians will try and close the Straits of Hormuz and we will be forced to react. Obama will stain his underwear and vote "present" and Joe Biden will get his big chance. Anyone nervous yet? God I love the smell of napalm in the morning...