The Tanker Soap Opera, Part 1 of Way Too Many

Well, you can check out just how aggressively the politicians from Boeing Washington and Kansas are flipping out, here, and here.

I haven't heard such hystirical muddled thinking since I argued with someone over the lone gunman theory.

Mostly, I see this as parochial politics, though there are Democrats out there who also see it as a club to use against John McCain, who torpedoed the original, highly corrupt and expensive, deal, it what might have been the only time he's been right in his entire career.

There is at least a small good coming from the folks running around like chickens with their heads chopped off though, it appears that the outbrief on the decision, giving a rundown of the competition, will be accelerated to provide data as soon as possible to lawmakers and the public.

Even so, I expect a challenge from Boeing that will not be resolved until 2009 at the earliest.

There are also some indications that Boeing was sloppy on its bid. It appears that they did not provide a lot of deal on some of their cost estimates, which led to some downrating.

DID also has an analysis of the 9 Key Performance Parameters (KPP) for the bid, and it's pretty clear that EADS won or tied them all, and I would particularly note that it demolished the Boeing bid for cargo capacity, and tanking at 1000 and 2000 miles from a base, both of which are critical in the Pacific theater.