This is not a joke.

How many Air Force generals does it take to choose upholstery?

At least four. At least that many ranking generals had a hand in choosing the decor of deluxe ''comfort capsules'' for themselves and their peers aboard military transport planes, so the brass don't have to suffer with the enlisted hoi polloi.

The story in today's LA Times describes private jet-like touches -- sofas, beds, leather swivel chairs, flat-screen monitors with stereo -- and also names a price of $16.2 million from the War on Terror budget. That was for the original ten luxury capsules; the number's been dropped to three, and some chairs, which cuts the cust to a mere $7.6 million -- a consolation, no doubt, to men and women who have served their country and then can't get the post-war care they need.

When Air Force brass changed theier minds about color and wanted Air Force blue leather seats instead of brown, and a seat pocket, that added $68,240 to the tab.

The description sounds like a brochure for a Gulfstream 5, and the sales job was all about waving the flag. It's patriotic to encase high-ranking butts in luxury that ''the people of the United States would be proud of.'' When, pray, would the people of the United States be seeing this deluxe set-up? And I don't think ''proud'' would describe the sentiments of the enlisted people who got an eyeful of the first-class section they weren't allowed to occupy.

Me, I'm proud that we know how to win one war -- the war on generals' hemorrhoids.