WTF -- The military may be deployed in Florida
The New York Times reported today that Obama spoke before a large group of army, navy, marine and coastguard forces in Florida and said he might have to deploy them to help with the cleanup -- a war on environmental hazards, or some such thing. They cheered him on.
Notably (to me) missing from the audience list was the National Guard. You know, the people who used to be advertised fighting forest fires, saving kids from floods, reversing major problems like tainted water? The Guard which wasn't available to help New Orleans folks survive because it was ALL DEPLOYED IN IRAQ??? The Guard whom everyone forgets was named to GUARD the NATION, LIKE THE COAST GUARD?? (which will probably be sent to Gaza to guard the coastline for Israel, or something equally logical and appropriate for them.)
There's something definitely upside down here, when the army, trained in combat, is sent on a domestic rescue mission at the same time as the National Guard, trained to help in domestic emergencies (yeah, yeah, they got boot camp) is in Iran. I knew a few young people over there when I was teaching. People who join the National Guard are often older, with small children and other commitments, and thought about it as a good way to earn money for college while doing. One of my students was a young mom, with two kids at home, and her husband, also in the Guard, in Iraq. She was notified to be ready to leave by the end of the semester. Was her husband coming home? No, he had to finish his tour of duty. What about their kids? That was their problem. The fact that when they joined it was training and then mostly weekend duty was their problem too.
The "armed forces" on the other hand are usually young, with few commitments. (Unless the demographic's changed in the last few years; I didn't try to research this to the present. Please let me know if it has. But judging from the Times photo, they're definitely still young.)
Gah. I can just see the internecine struggles to meet quotas among different military: "DON'T go into the National Guard or you'll die. Join the Army, and you'll never have to worry about combat."
Notably (to me) missing from the audience list was the National Guard. You know, the people who used to be advertised fighting forest fires, saving kids from floods, reversing major problems like tainted water? The Guard which wasn't available to help New Orleans folks survive because it was ALL DEPLOYED IN IRAQ??? The Guard whom everyone forgets was named to GUARD the NATION, LIKE THE COAST GUARD?? (which will probably be sent to Gaza to guard the coastline for Israel, or something equally logical and appropriate for them.)
There's something definitely upside down here, when the army, trained in combat, is sent on a domestic rescue mission at the same time as the National Guard, trained to help in domestic emergencies (yeah, yeah, they got boot camp) is in Iran. I knew a few young people over there when I was teaching. People who join the National Guard are often older, with small children and other commitments, and thought about it as a good way to earn money for college while doing. One of my students was a young mom, with two kids at home, and her husband, also in the Guard, in Iraq. She was notified to be ready to leave by the end of the semester. Was her husband coming home? No, he had to finish his tour of duty. What about their kids? That was their problem. The fact that when they joined it was training and then mostly weekend duty was their problem too.
The "armed forces" on the other hand are usually young, with few commitments. (Unless the demographic's changed in the last few years; I didn't try to research this to the present. Please let me know if it has. But judging from the Times photo, they're definitely still young.)
Gah. I can just see the internecine struggles to meet quotas among different military: "DON'T go into the National Guard or you'll die. Join the Army, and you'll never have to worry about combat."