BRAC Commission Bails Out Thune

Well, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has gotten his wish. The Base Closure and Realignment Commission voted 8-1 this morning not to go ahead with the Pentagon's plans to close South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force base, which, in 2004 during his Senate campaign against Tom Daschle, Thune made unsubstantiated promises to protect.

In a press release issued this morning, Thune stated, "This is a tremendous victory for the people of South Dakota and America’s national security. I commend the BRAC Commissioners and their staff for listening to our arguments and recognizing Ellsworth’s military value."

I have no doubt that the thousand or so civilians employed at Ellsworth are relieved at this decision. If the reaction of employees in my DFAS office (Patuxent River, Md.) -- which the BRAC Commission voted yesterday to close -- is any indication, Kleenex sales reps won't need to worry about increasing shipments to South Dakota over the next couple months. But this decision isn't as much of a victory for the people of South Dakota or national security as it is for John Thune.

Here's an excerpt from a column I wrote on this topic back in July:

Since the release of the Pentagon’s BRAC recommendations on May 13, Sen. Thune appears to have spun into full panic mode, no doubt fearing that unless he can successfully lead an effort to thwart the closure of Ellsworth, he’ll be a one-term senator. As such, Thune has introduced legislation to delay BRAC indefinitely, has threatened to sue the Department of Defense, and announced in a June 28 press release that “the U.S. Department of Labor is granting $1 million to the South Dakota Department of Labor to help the State initiate early planning for workers who could be at risk” as a result of Ellsworth’s closure.

Such irrational behavior by Sen. Thune was immature and irresponsible, not because a senator has no obligation to his constituents, but because Thune made a conscious effort to exploit Ellsworth for his own personal and political gain during his Senate campaign.

John Thune decided to stand in front of Ellsworth AFB with Sen. Bill Frist during his campaign to give South Dakotans the impression that he had powerful friends in Washington. He chose to campaign on the grounds that a freshman Republican could command the president’s ear more easily than a seasoned Democrat. John Thune decided to take advantage of the BRAC process, which is supposed to exclude political favoritism, and he won a Senate seat. But once he realized his baseless promises backfired as Ellsworth landed on the BRAC list, Thune's true colors emerged, and he looked more like a spoiled brat than a distinguished senator.

But John Thune has sidestepped the land mine. South Dakotans are much more likely to remember the BRAC Commission's conclusion that closing Ellsworth wouldn't save any money over 20 years -- that it would actually cost the American taxpayer almost $20 million to move all its B-1 bombers to Dyess AFB in Texas -- than they are the smarmy rhetoric of an opportunistic politician.

Admittedly, it is somewhat unrealistic to believe that the BRAC process can be entirely devoid of political maneuvering. After all, like all government entities, the military answers to its citizens. We deserve to have a say in how our tax dollars are spent, and our federal representatives in Congress afford us our best opportunity to have our voices heard on the national stage.

It was not wrong for John Thune to stand up for his constituents and fight for his base, especially if he truly believes in its viability and importance. That said, I hope the BRAC commissioners made the correct decision in keeping it open, and didn't merely cave to existential pressure from influential politicians. But because no congressman wants to see jobs flee his state or district, it's nearly impossible to discern the veracity of our representatives' claims in such situations. And so John Thune was markedly out of line to make the empty promises he did along the campaign trail.

Thus the gravest disappointment of this entire fiasco: Whereas our political process could have been improved with the voters' awakening to such selfish political calculation, our system churns on largely as a machine of deceit, and Sen. Thune not only pays no political price for his dishonesty but likely will be rewarded with re-election in 2010.