General Walt, Answer Me This

So you wracked up a million bucks worth of jet taxi fares.   Fine, maybe it was just a mistake, an error of judgment.  Forget about reimbursement.   Military types aren't paid like their civilian counterparts.  No stock options, no big bonuses.   They give up that stuff and more to serve their country and we have no right to forget that.

However.

I'm ready to see you let off the hook, Walt, this time.   But.  You've defended a practice that rankles the Canadian people.   In case you haven't noticed, we and the world are hovering on the slippery edge of a global recession.   Conspicuous consumption, especially of our government's assets, simply isn't on.

So my question, Walt, is this.   If we let you off the hook this time will you promise to go and sin no more?   We can throw in first class airfare but you'll have to go commercial.   Is that too much to ask?

And as for those under-utilized Challenger jets and the pilots needing stick time to maintain their proficiency.   Can't you find something for them to do other than ferrying your sorry ass down to the Caribbean for holidays?   That sort of thing used to be called "ServiceAir" and operated as a handy shuttle for service personnel who inevitably get shifted from one part of the country to another.  Maybe these Challengers are too fancy for the plebs but, in that case, maybe we don't need them.