(A1C Lindsey Vulich places a pitot tube on a 50-year-old KC-135 tanker at Fairchild Air Force Base. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review.)

In our editorial March 4 we had a lot to say about the Pentagon’s surprising choice of Northrop Grumman and a European partner to build the Air Force’s next refueling tankers.
There was a lot of disappointment in Washington state, Kansas and other areas with Boeing payrolls. But we thought...

It wasn’t an outrage.
Air Force officials stressed that the Airbus design offered by Northrop and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. bested Boeing’s proposal. They called it more flexible and more dependable, with greater capacity for fuel and cargo. Those considerations are more important than where the jobs from the $35 billion deal will go, even if some go overseas.

We also wrote:

Credit Spokane Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers with enough circumspection to await more details rather than blurt out a hasty criticism.

Today, she visited with the editorial board and the tanker issue was one of our first discussion areas. An interesting comment by McMorris Rodgers: The country shouldn't waste too much time handwringing this issue.

Listen here for her reasons why.

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