The Imperial Glory print is a comment upon the U.S. military industrial complex. In 1961, as President Eisenhower was leaving office, he delivered a farewell speech in which he warned that "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex." Judging by the fabrications and misconstructions that sucked us into the Iraq War, and the virtual blank check we've handed to defense contractors, I'd say as a nation we've done a generally horrible job of keeping the military-industrial complex in check. Personally I feel that wars, especially under the circumstances in which we've engaged in them, create far more problems than they resolve (Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and the Cold War come to mind). But even if you feel that a strong military is vital to protecting our allies and our interests abroad, you may be alarmed by the Pentagon's extravagance. In 2011, the U.S. government is projected to spend $680 billion on defense -- nearly as much as the rest of the world's militaries combined. Within the federal budget, we spend more on defense than on all other Cabinet departments (Education, Energy, Agriculture, Environmental Protection, Justice, etc.) combined. Our navy has more firepower than the next 20 largest navies in the world combined. And yet every time defense budget cuts are on the table, lobbyists for the Aerospace Industries Association (whose members include the 5 largest U.S. defense contractors) cry out that we're hurting the economy, empowering evil nations like Iran and North Korea and imperiling the rest of the world.

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