If one could take a picture of this entire action, you would put it in the dictionary next to the word "dumb".

As the article I have a link to describes, the Berkeley, California City Council passed a resolution wanting to expel Marine recruiters from their city limits. In response, Federal and State lawmakers are trying to withhold funds from the City.

This kind of action solves nothing. It is a classic case of shooting yourself in the foot and admiring your marksmanship. Harry Truman was right. There's really nothing new in the world. There's only all the history you don't know. One of the lessons I had hoped we learned from the Vietnam era was this. During that era, soldiers returning from that war were subjected to insults for having served. In the aftermath, Americans learned that soldiers do not choose to go to war. They go to war based on orders from their President as Commander in Chief based on authorization provided from the Congress. If you as a citizen disagree with a war this country is fighting, then express that disagreement to the Congress and the President. Work to replace existing representatives with people who agree with you. Targeting the military for doing the job they're paid to do by the people we elected is not productive. It's a waste of time.

Some people seem to have the flawed belief that if there were no warriors, then there would be no war. On the contrary, if you have no warriors, then someone else's warriors will come and take you over. Do you think that if there were no police, courts, or prisons that there would be no crime?

We are having these issues because we have failed to address one of the transcendental issues of our Republic. We have solved issues like Slavery, Women's Suffrage, and Equal Rights. Now we need to solve this issue that ranks on a par with the ones I just listed. How do we find the proper balance between the military readiness necessary to preserve our freedom and the economic and social costs of preserving that readiness? What is the fairest way to decide how we equip, staff, train and decide to commit to combat our armed forces?

I feel that part of the reason we have the difficulty we have in this area is the current system of a volunteer military. This system enables our citizenry to be detached from their responsibility for national defense. National Defense is someone else's job. Your perception of the need for new weaponry, for example, is directly affected by whether you think you will need that weaponry to defend yourself and stay alive so your country and your way of life continues to live, too.

This is a difficult and complex subject. I won't solve it here, but I hope writing about it has heightened your awareness. Remember this. Someone wrote once, "If you want peace, then prepare for war."

Here's a link to the article.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_8260944