Brad Edmonds on the military and freedom

News Flash: The Military Doesn't Protect Our Freedom

That's the name of Brad Edmonds's recent column over at LRC. Not only do I consider the premise of his piece accurate, but I also agree that the military can actually be a threat to our liberty, in addition to the psychos in Washington. Here's an excerpt:

The biggest threat to our freedom isn’t foreign invasion anyway. The biggest threat is Washington itself – the presidential administration, Congress, and the Supreme Court. We have lost privacy and civil liberties precipitously since 9/11, and our military can do nothing to stop that. The military forces never were intended to protect us from our own government, nor have they ever been in any nation.

As ominous as the taxation required to support the military, though, is the second reason it’s a potential threat to our liberty: It can be turned against us by Washington. We saw this in the civil-rights upheavals of the 1960s, at Kent State, in Waco, and worst, in 1861.

Ah yes, Kent State. That reminds me of something my friend Lazlo told me about awhile back. While he was living in Columbus, OH, his job required him to drop something off at an Ohio National Guard base. He noticed a car in the parking lot there that had a disturbing bumper sticker on it. The sticker said something along the lines of "we shot at your parents in the '60s, and we'll shoot at you too".

There may be some otherwise good folks with military ties, but I find the idea that it's responsible for protecting our freedoms to be rather silly. Or is it sad? Or both?