14 June 2013 Wave that flag

Cassi Creek:

         

          The concept of an all-volunteer military is a noble one.  Among the offered justifications for volunteer staffing is the greater economy of such a plan.  The turnover rate for volunteers is expected to be lower than for a conscript force and the level of training and readiness among the volunteers is expected to be higher. 

          The shift in military manpower and staffing was unfortunately linked to a huge privatization drive that transferred many duties that could be and should be performed by active duty servicemen and servicewomen to private contractors such as the former Blackwater and the still greedy Halliburton. 

          The drive to privatize government functions also led to the outsourcing of other agencies’ functions.  The NSA should be staffed by professionals rather than by contractors such Booz & Allen and their employee Snowden. 

          The current flap over the security breaches and the public awareness of the levels and amount of surveillance taking place would not be a problem for the GOP if Bush II were still in office or if the GOP had been the source of the leak. 

          Touching again on the supposed economy and readiness/efficiency of the “volunteer military concept, it should be pointed out that due to the GOP/teavangelist driven sequester, front line military units now lack the funding to perform training and maintenance duties.  Entire Air Force squadrons are being down checked and declared not ready for operations due to the lack of required training hours.  Pilot and aircrew readiness are seriously degraded.  The same problems are affecting naval aviation, which requires even greater readiness levels. 

          Despite this, private contractors are being paid exorbitant fees to perform tasks that should be performed only by the U.S. government. 

Today is Flag Day.  Locally, the Teavangelists will rally to label the Obama administration as fascists and socialists, trying to associate Obama with Hitler.  The organizers are using a revisionist and fictional history to convince poorly educated local people that they are about to be stripped of their guns, forced to pay taxes they disagree with, and persecuted for their protestant religious views.  Sadly, they will have an easy time doing so.

*Wave the flag, *pop the bag
*Rock the boat, skin the goat
Trap the rat, bell the cat
Ball the jack, chew the fat

Shoot the breeze, lose the keys
Feed the poor, stop the war
Make the signs, connect the lines
Pay your fines, save your dimes

Chorus
*Wave that flag, wave it wide and high
*Summertime done come and gone, my oh my