But much of what Obama considers "squishy" is seen by senators like Grassley as a principled defense of basic freedoms.

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The basic idea is that when defense is up, as it was after 9-11, commercial will often be down, and vice versa.

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The basic question was whether the defense could put the war on trial, and the judge said look, that's a political question.

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Having taken all the easy steps to prepare for a continuation of the post-Iraq, post-Afghanistan downturn, industry leaders now need to consider something more basic: getting out of defense.

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The other thing Butler does so sneakily well on defense is even more basic.

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What does America have to do so women can stop playing defense to protect their basic rights and focus squarely on playing offense to drive greater business growth and job creation?

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Somewhat surprisingly, one of the basic assumptions guiding the formulation of the new defense strategy was the need to conduct two major conflicts at the same time.

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The two matters, Proposition 8 and defense of DOMA, feel interrelated since on a basic level, they both touch on same sex marriage.

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It is, " he continued, "like military defense, physical infrastructure, education, public health, and basic research.... it is something society requires, and people want, but the market cannot generate in sufficient quantity or quality.

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