Q. How much has the war crippled the U.S. economy? What can the country do to lessen the damage?

A. I wouldn’t really attri­bute the difficulties we’re hav­ing in the economy right now to the war. The fact is when it comes to funding our men and women at war, we as a country have always and will always do whatever we need to do to make sure they have what they need to be successful, safe and to come home quickly and success­fully. But now, that doesn’t mean it isn’t an expensive en­deavor. But when you look at the problems we’re seeing in the economy now, they have much more to do with market forces than anything we’re doing in another theater of the world, militarily.

I stayed up and watched SNL last night. I was amazed to see Tina Fey as Sarah Palin. Fascinating, and mesmerizing.

I warn my friends not to watch her too much. You won’t get any work done.