WARNING FROM A DEMOCRAT, NO LESS – AT 8:06 A.M. ET:  Mr. Putin is playing games with his submarines, and even a Democratic senator from the northeast has noticed.  From the Washington Examiner: 

Russian President Vladimir Putin is deploying nuclear-armed submarines "dangerously close" to the United States and European allies, a Senate Democrat said following a trip to the Arctic Circle.

"No one is suggesting that Putin is contemplating a nuclear launch against a NATO country, but it's not clear how tethered to reality Putin is," Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy told reporters Monday. "And it should make us nervous that many of his submarines are starting to get dangerously close to the U.S. and our allies."

Murphy made the comments while arguing that the U.S. Navy needs to pursue an aggressive plan to replace aging submarines, which can thwart rival countries from gathering intelligence and maintain the security of global shipping lanes.

In recent years, Putin's navy has pursued a more aggressive strategy than even during the Cold War, Murphy said. "Russian submarines have been pushing out to the very precipice of NATO-ally waters," he said. "We have seen Russian boats coming closer to the U.S. and to our European partner ports than ever before, in immensely provocative ways — in ways that were rare even during the days of the Cold War."

COMMENT:  Of course, it should be pointed out that Murphy represents the submarine-building state of Connecticut.  But he's also right.  Both Russia and China are outbuilding us, and have become extremely aggressive.

I doubt if Murphy will get any satisfaction during the Obama administration, which has little interest in national defense.  Our equipment budgets have been cut to the bone.  But plenty of money has been found for "diversity" training in the armed forces. 

March 22,  2016