Liberal Anxiety

I always get a little nervous when I read something about the expansion or changing of the industrial-military complex, the liberal inside of me squeaks in fear and hides behind the NO WAR signs and gay-pride banners. The need for and use of a well-regulated militia these days seems only to be understood by gun nuts and recluses, the average citizen preferring to remain laissez-faire about their own state of security, since 'somebody else will take care of it.' They sure will, with or without your support. SO when I found this article, I was immediately struck with some apprehension. At the idea of having 20,000 dedicated troops on American soil to 'assist in times of emergency,' that little liberal started frantically waving the red flag of doom and shouting 'police state! military state! lock downs!' inside my head. Hoping this was an unwarranted assumption, I actually read the article, which outlines a plan already in effect to have that large number of military personnel standing and ready at a moment's notice in case of "a domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or high-yield explosive attack, or CBRNE event, as the military calls it." Basically any large attack, or massive emergency. The article cites Hurricane Katrina as an example, possibly intimating the extremely poor and slow response to the disaster. This could be a good thing, if the force is well-organized and well-trained enough to handle such problems. However. There is still some residual consternation due to the fact that you have to put these people somewhere, and they need something to do, for we know what idle hands are. My biggest fear is the abuse of control over this force, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Executive Branch. That's Mr. President and his cabinet/cronies. And after Bush began an unwarranted invasion on Iraq (which the Congress did support and continues to fund), I think some worry is justified. I'm going to cross my fingers on this one, and hope we don't hear about abuse of civilian rights when a large military force is suddenly introduced into a city. Think a larger, better funded and well-supplied National Guard would have the same effect, without having to create an entirely new name for something. I hate the the different suspicious government names for groups like this.