I Begin In Florida and Somehow End Up In Mexico...

"Last night folks, Republicans held their eighteenth debate. The question on everyone's mind: Who cares?" – Stephen Colbert

"After Iowa and New Hampshire, Newt's campaign looked terminally ill, which is when he generally moves on to something better." – Stephen Colbert

“Rick Santorum (is taking) fire from the left. He may want to get a Kevlar sweater vest.” – Stephen Colbert

"We were ready for Romney to win the Republican nomination, so we had our puns ready: 'Bright Lights, Big Mitty,' 'Mittizen Bain,' and "Mormon-y, Less Problems." But then ... 'The Gingrich Who Stole South Carolina.'" – Jon Stewart

Someone please hit me in the head with a hammer, there's the 19th Republican candidate's debate tonight. Yes, they have been wonderfully entertaining, but also awfully boring with the same cast of characters, like life with the Kardashian sisters... And again, it will be another two hours not allowing Ron Paul to speak... The hype has all been on the ads run by Gingrich and Romney campaigns, telling what bad citizens the other guy is, no GOP solidarity to be seen for miles and miles. Throw in the fruitcake who was elected governor, and you have a fine mix, indeed. And, after the primaries, all the Obama campaign has to do is buy up the Republican ads against the Republican candidate, and have Obama appear at the end, saying "I approve this message..."

I just read my last post; what a disjointed, depressing mess it is. It shows that I could use a good editor. I suck at typing, and the keyboard on my laptop does weird things, like the cursor jumping around the page, so if I stop typing and then begin again without looking for the cursor, the rest of my sentence appears in another paragraph somewhere on the page. I missed making my main point with the rising rate of suicide, alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and oxycontin abuse in the military - that they either have to change the military culture, or find a better way to help soldiers decompress once they come home from war. Right now it looks like their only plan for the future is to use less boots on the ground, and to use a variety of drones to replace them.

Of course, drones were a part of the last two successful operations by Seal Team 6, but the most effective parts, shooting bin Laden and putting his body in a bag, and in Somalia, by killing off the drugged pirates in the middle of the night, were done by well-trained soldiers. This combination, of using drones and smaller teams making surgical strikes, is what the Pentagon is aiming for. We save money by having less troops to support, and drones are cheaper to build than multi-million dollar jets. One solution has been the proliferation of mercenary companies, touting themselves as professional security outfits. The US State Dept still is using 5000 mercenaries to guard the embassy staff in Iraq, while the Iraqi government is making it harder for other companies to renew their licenses and gun permits. Though the mercenaries continue to use the US for their major meal ticket, they are following the CIA around the world, wandering from continent to continent, hoping for work that needs to be contracted out. Hence, there are now 1,400 mercenary companies registered with the Mexican government, with an estimated 8,000 more working below the radar.

In Mexico, the ex-US trained troops meet and clash with the drug cartels ex-US trained henchmen. Yes, one by-product with the influx of Hispanic population over the last few years, has been the young men who sign up for US military service, get rained in all aspects of modern technological warfare, then go back home to become soldiers in the drug cartels. It's one reason the DEA has been outgunned and is losing the war on drugs...

Here in Colorado, we may have an initiative on the ballot this Fall, legalizing marijuana use. We already have a liberal law allowing medical marijuana use. I keep wondering why I haven't tried to get one, I'm certain that it would help my sister on days when her Crohn's disease, or those days when I can hardly hobble around the house... Anyway, the DEA has been making raids in Colorado and California on many of the larger growing operations, to discourage placing the initiative on the ballot in these two states. Colorado is a funny place, with displaced Texans nudging up the bar along with ex-Californians, and the ex-military guys pretending to see who can be the most conservative sounding group, yet most indigenous folks sit back and indulge in a joint or two, enjoying the show. Our legislature is one of the few that can work together if they have to, despite all of the whines and whimpers. And, by God, we have the best tasting water in the whole country, even from the tap... What we don't have, are decent mid-priced restaurants owned by locals...

Fortunately for the part of our economy that centers around foreign wars, all GOP candidates, except for Ron Paul, are hawks who pledge to become the world's top cop, dragging whomever promises to be our allies along with us. And it looks like the next operation for Seal Team 6 may be in Tehran, if for no other reason to prove that a successful operation can be run in Iran...