Mercenaries!

I am pretty old. And I have lived in the United States all of my life, sans three or four years overseas. I have never been so frightened as I am right now. If you did not see Democracy Now today you won't know what I am talking about, but I found it frightening beyond belief. Blackwater mercenaries are patrolling the streets of New Orleans. They have a green light to both arrest and kill. They are known killers with a reputation of shooting first and asking questions later. They claim they are under contract with Homeland Security.

I have always been skeptical of an all volunteer army because it seems to me such an army must in the nature of the case be more committed to who pays them than to the nation itself. I guess they still must take an oath to defend the country and uphold the constitution but the bottom line has to be who pays their salary. So having an all volunteer military is bad enough. But Blackwater mercenaries? Who do you think they have any loyalty to? As there is an overwhelming military presence in New Orleans even without the Blackwater killers, why are they there? Who actually contracted them? Why? Why could the regular army and the reserves not do a perfectly competent job? After all, there is supposed to be 40,000 of them. Why do we need professional killers? I think an all volunteer military is questionable enough. I am absolutely opposed to mercenaries of which I gather there are more and more all the time, both in Iraq and here at home. Furthermore, recent changes in the law make it possible for American troops to be involved in domestic matters for the first time in history. This is an extremely dangerous business and brings us even closer to a Fascist state. Why is this being allowed? Where are the defenders of civil rights?

Some people are already decrying one party control as if this is something that is going to happen. It has already happened! Where do you see Democrats responsibly opposing anything? The major Democrats are just "going with the flow." There is no opposition party. They are all into this corporate fascist state together. And once they have established their mercenary armies it will be all over for the rest of us. The American people had better wake up quickly and take to the streets if necessary because there is apparently no other way. Calls for impeachment or resignations will fall on deaf ears because those in power want to remain in power whatever the cost, the public be damned. Let them eat biscuits and gravy (if they are lucky)!