Goose-Stepping Into the Future

The Department of Defense is assigning 20,000 troops to domestic security.

That is just so wrong on so many levels. If the Pentagon can assign 20,000 troops to that duty, then the better choice is to bring the National Guard home from Iraq and Afghanistan and use the National Guard for that role.

Assisting in times of domestic emergency is a traditional job of the Guard. They are the ones who train for that and they are helping their local communities when they do so. It is part of the reason for the National Guard; trained forces under the command of the state government.

Giving the active duty Army a domestic role is anathema to the the intellectual underpinning of our democracy. Of all of the things that the Founding Fathers feared, using military troops in policing roles were very high on the list.

But let's face it: The Bush Administration has not, does not, and for fifty more days, will not give a fuck about maintaining a civil democracy. They are fascists to the core. Every time the Bush Administration has had a chance to militarize anything or to cut back on civil liberties and freedom at home, they have jumped at it.

Congress should zero out the funding for this program.