And pigs still can't fly

When Ronald Reagan instituted the Star Wars Missile Defense System it was pork for defense contractors because it would never work. Bush reincarnated the program and it was even porkier because now there is no enemy to use it against. One thing remains the same however, it still won't work.
U.S. missile defense test flops

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first test in nearly two years of a multibillion-dollar U.S. anti-missile shield has failed after the interceptor missile shut down as it prepared to launch in the central Pacific, the Pentagon said.

About 16 minutes earlier, a target missile carrying a mock warhead had been successfully fired from Kodiak Island, Alaska, according to a statement from the Missile Defense Agency.

The aborted $85 million (44 million pounds) test appeared likely to set back plans for activation of a rudimentary bulwark against long-range ballistic missiles that could be fired by countries like North Korea.

In 2002, President George W. Bush pledged to have initial elements of the program up and running by the end of this year while testing and development continued.

Pork is one thing, but this is pork that is taking money away from the real threat. The threat today is international terrorism. Terrorists are not going to launch missiles they are going to put devices in cargo containers, only about two percent of which are being inspected because of a lack of funds. But there is still plenty of money for defense contractors to try to make pigs fly. I guess that tells us where the administration's priorities lie.