homeland security....old style.

[cloud_chaser1]

I dont know how many of you are old enough to remember back to WW2 but I do and now, at the age of 70, I can remember when, as a kid, I took part in the 40's & 50's version of Homeland Security. It was called Civil Defense.

Civil Defense was an all volunteer operation that involved kids like me, all the way to men old enough to be my grandfather. I joined just prior to my tenth birthday and just before Japan decided to pack it in. My job in Civil Defence was as a messenger. I was handed a helmet, a canvas shoulder pack, a badge and gas mask. After a few hours of training, I was ready. When they had a blackout and all the lights of the city went out, I woukld be required to report to a small command post in my neighborhood and if anything terrible happened, I would be given instructions and messages and would run between command posts. There were about 15 of us messengers in my area. Then we had men positioned on the roofs of apartment buildings, with binoculars, looking for invading bombers. There would be trained veterans patrolling the beaches, looking for spies who would come ashore.
Other jobs included medics, stretcher bearers, nurses, doctors, wardens to make sure lights were turned off and could not guide =bombers to their targets.

Today, this sounds pretty bush league. It certainly does not fit the high tech of today but by God, it worked because we were average guys who wanted to do our part in protecting America. The rules were simple, the training straight forward and it worked. And we were not divided, not at each others throats ansd there was no such thing as neocons. There was just AMERICANS.

Now, we have Homeland Security, an unwieldly huge apparatus that is a mish mash of previously existing departments. And its because of this mess that we had the FEMA disaster in New Orleans and why our harbors are unchecked, our airports are easy targets, our cities are sitting ducks and our infrastructure is just sitting there waiting to be attacked. Because bureaucrats are incharge, each seeking to get the jump on the other. And the man at the top has no use for any of it, including our United States Constitution.

How in God's name did we allow this to happen? Even RepublicaNS WHO CLAIM TO BE SUCH PARAGONS OF PATRIOTISM, sit by day after day watching everything get trashed and they nod, grin and approve of it all. Even far too many Democrats, Liberals, Progressives, etc, also maintain a low profile either out of fear or simply to protect their own bailiwick.

Its time we remind government officials who they work for....they work for us. And we can fire them if they dont perform effectively. And we must remember back to the days of Civil Defense, when WE took it upon ourselves to stand side by side and protect this great country.

I dont know how many years I have left, but by God, before I go, I want to see this country return to its former place as leader of the world, admired, respected, loved and depended upon by others.

Is that possible?

[uppityperson]

1. We live in scary times

What I am having a hard time dealing with is what is going on here has happened historically, to many other countrys, now is here. I thought we were better than this. That is what I am having a hard time with, my pride. Good writing, good summary, good luck to us all and onward with the struggle.

[havocmom]

2. "we were average guys who wanted to do our part in protecting America"

Yeah, were did that American can-do participation go? Democracy is NOT a spectator sport! Yet, so many go through their days with mundane busy work, expecting somebody to take care of things for them.

And that is how evil triumphs, be it a enemy from some foreign shore or the plain old domestic variety of greedy criminals who use lives to build fortunes.

Democracy is NOT a spectator sport. We used to understand that.

The good news, cloud_chaser1, is that we do have some young people who get it and are getting involved. We may not restore America in what time you have or even in the little longer time I might have, but don't give up the work for that end. Nothing is more certain than change.

We can lead by example. We can light a path.