Crooks and Liars has a pretty grotesque story about Pentagon procurement. We’re not only out of bullets and buying them from Israel, but we’re also out of Purple Heart medals, too.

Nyles Reed, a 75-year-old Texan, sustained injuries during combat in Korea in 1952. Last week, the Pentagon sent him a letter to let him know he qualifies for a Purple Heart.

But the Defense Department didn’t actually give Reed a Purple Heart; it just sent him a certificate saying he’d earned one. The mailing included a notice explaining that the medal for injured troops was “out of stock.”

Mr Reed solved the problem in the good, old-fashioned American way – the Bu$h malAdministration way – he went to a military surplus store and bought his own medal. George Bu$h just loves it when Americans assume the costs of government out of their own pockets.

It’s “uniquely American," isn’t it, Mr Bu$h?