A voice of reason

This should have been Monday morning's blog, but troubles with our firewalls made it nearly impossible to get on our site. Our apologies for that.

But I want to point you to a column Brad Antle, chief executive officer of SI International Inc., wrote for Monday's Washington Post.

With his column Antle does something that more executives need to do. He not only defends his industry but he also explains the role contractors play in today's world.

Hopefully, this is just a start. More of these reasoned explanations are needed. The next two years will be tough ones for government contractors, no matter which party wins the White House or Congress. I have little doubt that the scrutiny and pressure on contractors will increase.

Some of this is to be expected for the very reason Antle states in his column: Contractors perform vital functions for the government and need to be held accountable.

But the response should be to explain, not whine.