I guess I’m writing this post just to get my thoughts down with a date on them.  Sometime back I submitted one of the many unaccepted Op-ed articles I’ve sent to the NY Times asking what is going to become of our professional, private armies once America finally withdraws from Iraq.  The thought came to mind again after hearing commentary about the recent Supreme Court decision regarding guns and our “right to bear arms” in America.  While I didn’t get totally involved in the discussion of this decision, I noticed that much of it centered around the reference to “militias” and what the interpretation of that was.  Most of what I heard referred to the “militias” as the National Guard – that being the present day interpretation of the term.  However, I was reminded of my previous thought back when Blackwater employees had killed something like 17 innocent Iraqi civilians and it was determined that they were not subjet to Iraqi or American law.  So I raise the question again, just in case someone out there notices: what is going to happen with these multi-billion dollar para military organizations once there is no Iraq war for them to thrive on no-bid contracts from our militaristic government.  It is clear (or at least I hope I’m seeing this correctly) that the American people are resoundly rejecting the war mongering of bush and, dutifully waiting in the wings, mccain.  However, it is also common knowledge that corporate America has a huge investment in the present direction of our country, and I’m just wondering what’s going to happen to these private armies?  Are they just going to go away?  I’ve heard that blackwater has training facilities that rival our own military.  I’ve heard that they have recruited some of the toughest international thugs out there to “man the ship” so to speak.  I’ve heard they are a billion dollar “industry.”  So the question is, again;  Are they just going to go away, or is there something up someone’s “sleave” that we don’t know about?  I invite anyone who sees this to clue me in!

Well, tonight I was sitting with some friends, I’m 60 years young, and when a couple of my friends actually, with passion, said they hope bush (I can’t even force myself to use a capital letter to spell his name because I don’t consider it a proper noun) “stays the course” right up to the end of his term, it was all I could do to remain polite.  And these are long term friends who I love dearly.  They are devout Christians, as am I, and I know better than to get on the topic because to me comments like that remind me of what Jesus said when he was being crucified: “Forgive them for they don’t know what they’re saying” (I changed it a bit :o).  I refrained from going off on them, but since they left all I can think about are the 4000+ men and women who have been sacrificed for the greed of a small cabal of people who put money and power ahead of human lives – while portaying themselves as “prolife.”  I have a three year old granddaughter, and ever since she was born I started to feel guilty for the lack of commitment I have had in the last 25+ years as I’ve watched our government being hijacked by a group of people who are seemingly insatiable in their greed.  There seems to be no bounds as to what they will do for money and power, as I mentioned earlier.  I’m not going to get into all of my feelings and frustrations at this point, I just decided to create a “blog” after listening to my friends tonight. 

Actually, I don’t even know what a blog is.  I’m kind of getting the idea as I sit here and write.  I hope this works and ends up being posted, I hope it goes to the right spot, and I hope I have set up my domain correctly.  What I know is that I have a domain with 1 and 1 internet services (I got this a few years ago so that I could have my own email address and try to control the spam that comes to my computer) – and by the way, if you’re looking to get your own domain or to start a website, I actually created a website, MostlyMorgans.com, where I’m trying to sell my silver dollar collection and it is working, I highly recommend 1 and 1.  I already feel better just sitting down and writing this, so my plan is to start expressing my thoughts, feelings, frustrations, ideas, etc. on this blog.  If you discover it, I would enjoy the opportunity to share ideas, argue about politics, agree about politics, or talk about whatever – I just hope that anyone who participates in any discussion that might take place on this site would be polite in the language they use – although passion is certainly welcome.  I know that I’m feeling a lot of passion for the coming election and that is what my messages will probably be focused on, but there are a lot of areas that are worthy of discussion, because in my opinion, there isn’t much that is working correctly when it comes to OUR government. 

I’m a public school teacher, I teach my students that my goal is for them to mature into productive and responsible citizens, and I feel the obligation to be more responsible myself.  It is easy to feel that one person can’t make a difference, but I know that it is important for everyone to participate in our democracy because we are “we the people” and by not participating, paying attention, looking past the headlines, we the people are in danger of losing this system that many of my friends and relatives have died to protect.  So, this is my attempt to gear up my participation in our “system” and I hope that somehow people find this site and contribute their thoughts.  I started this election cycle as a John Edwards supporter and have evolved into a strong Obama supporter.  I can’t even imagine a scenario where John McCain could become president.  That’s what really bothered me tonight listening to my two friends.  They would accept McCain because he’s a republican.  They would be happy to see the war continue and they don’t seem to be able to connect the dots when it comes to the state of our economy and the policies of the bush administration.  The fact that our president has admitted to violating the constitution and one law after another, doesn’t seem to bother them.  They have what I call the limbaugh, hannity, orielly justification for these crimes. 

In fact, regarding the bush “outing” of Valerie Plame Wilson, which is a treasonous act, one of these two friend said to me “she was just a secretary.”  How do you respond to that when it’s your friend?  I want to respect what people think, but I truly believe our country is at stake here.  I’ve been paying attention (just not being active) for over 40 years – and I feel that we are possibly going into the most severe economic time since the great depression, and if all the short term “fixes” that the fed has put into place over the last 8 months or so backfire, as I believe they might, it could conceivalby be worse.  Even if Obama wins, I believe that if he doesn’t take strong measures to address the misbehavior of the bush “crime family” our standing in the world is teetering on a disastrous one and we need change, as he campaigns, but we need to show the world that torture, military adventurism, total disregard for the planet, greed, and unilateralism is not the “American way.”  Well it’s time to sign off, I hope someone sees this and it spurs a conversation.