Military Industrial Complex

I received a very interesting comment to Tuesday's blog. It is from a veteran in Minnesota who has a blog my readers would undoubtedly benefit from, and his comment was meaningful. Check out his blog at http://rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com/ and be sure to read the article from Vanity Fair at http://rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com/2006/11/inside-pentagon-procurement-from.html.

The only thing in his comment with which I disagreed was his conclusion that politicians don't matter. He is right in that the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) really calls the shots, but to me the politicians are the tip of the iceberg and as such are the only visible target that you and I can influence in any way.

Granted after years of Sisyphean experiences trying to get politicians to listen to and apply sensible means of reducing MIC influence it is tempting to just back off and say that it's impossible. I have done it several times myself. Still, to me the common people of the world really have only one great hope for a sane future and that lies in the Constitution of the United States and any other similar documents that may exist which grant inalienable legal rights to citizens.

That's why I rail so against the current administration. I see them as being horribly guilty of doing their best to erode the strength of the Constitution as a bulwark against our loss of rights and freedom. Even politicians who are so enmeshed in the MIC as to be unable to see how damaging it is are capable of understanding this concept. Still, the only means I see for ensuring that they don't act to enlarge this erosion is for the common folk to be so active in their support of the Constitution as to be an clearly perceived threat to the jobs those politicians hold.

So, although it almost always seems futile, I continue to advocate here and everywhere else anyone will let me that more of us need to be making it clear to our politicians in any way we can that when they back things like the Military Commissions Act, many sections of the Patriot Act, and "special renditions" they are acting against the interests of the American people and against the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Politicians, like it or not, are the guardians of those documents and their power to continue to protect us. That's why I like Dennis Kucinich so much and so deeply appreciated Robert Byrd's comments when we were poised to invade Iraq. Those two, and not many others, were willing to stand up and try to counter the MIC's intentions.

I've been reading the Federalist Papers again, so am planning a series of essays on the subject for future articles. Please stay tuned, please keep leaning on your least favorite politicians, and please continue to comment when something in this column moves you to do so. Those comments are any blogger's life blood. Thanks for being there.

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. – Jimi Hendrix