It Has Begun

...Of the end. What's a man to do?

It is almost inconceivable for a military campaign to be successful without peace of mind. Also, it is infeasible for a fighting force to have peace of mind without a relatively firm confidence that the home front is secure and being carefully watched over.

I don't remember much about the sullen young man who is in this picture, or even my own frame of mind when I took it. However, I'm willing to wager that his parents hardly recognize the country that they call home; even if we just consider the time from when they discovered his conception.

Which reminds me of a few "frightening facts and figures": No less than 935 falsehoods were conveyed to the public in order to garner support for the conflict that decimated his homeland; and his now disgraced and deceased leader (Hussein) was reportedly looking to cut out the middleman (USA) in regards to the desert country's economic rallying.

As I reflect on the young man pictured above, I'm reminded of that J. Cole instant classic "Middle Child". The minor male was too old to be my child and to young to be a direct peer.

I wonder if he might not have escaped his war ravaged country with some semblance of sanity and a mostly intact physical frame, to the extent that he might not feasibly be able to comprehend my ramblings and reach out somehow to help fill in the blanks for me on this particular mission.

I know that officially we were on a "peacekeeping" mission; but I can't for the life of me figure out why there was reportedly not a single politician's son or daughter going about those pointless patrols and such with my unit.

So, unpopular opinion: The "original" 13th Amendment, more or less as I recall it, ought to be reinstated immediately! It follows as such: "No American politician may accept a royal title; and no lawyer may be elected to any public servant role" (paraphrasing based on memory).

I'm largely ignorant of regality as well as law and legalese. However, it's evident that lawyers were not nearly as highly regarded then as they are now.

If there ever was a "just war", it would have to be specifically the complete and immediate disbarment of lawyers from public service.

Rumor has it that prior to the "original" 13th Amendment being burned to nothing, along with the original White House, in the War of 1812, and even some years after that catastrophe, the number of professions represented in both chambers of Congress much more closely resembled the makeup of our country as opposed to the vast majority of lawmen presently holding office all over the USA.

So, maybe the most unpopular opinion of all time from a political standpoint; but I'm absolutely certain that if we kicked the lawyers out tonight or tomorrow, it would be the beginning of the end for most of our significantly dire and mind bogglingly pressing matters.

Of course, I prefer to refrain from making claims and assertions that are not necessarily easy to vet. But then again, maybe that's just the Vet in me.

With that being said, I'm firmly of the opinion that our country could take a note from the military and begin to implement regular Preventive Maintenance Checks and Servicing (or PMCSing for short).

Tl;dr- I'm a firm believer that rare is the defenseless soldier; be they armed or not. However, between the corona virus, the looming World War 3, and the economic storm clouds gathering; the entire world may or may not be hamstrung soon.

As my "Old Head" would say when I was coming up: "The ball's in [our] court now."