Recent Constitutional Amendment and where I stand...
Animis
As probably the person who, not behind the scenes, but more openly in Congress, worked very hard to bring these two sides together, even through the last hours of voting, while others worked behind the scenes for similar goals, I will say the compromise did not appear to be the word of the day. This has been developing for many months, some would probably agree, even longer.
This, and Congresses before us, have heard the out pouring from citizens about wanting tax relief. This is on top of the worldwide economic mess regarding Gold, and the use of Gold as an economic weapon. We cannot achieve any economic stability without the full cooperation of the military who receives about 70% of every tax dollar. Congress wants accountability, and to see that the military is operating at peak efficiency. Any discussion of these matters has been denied to Congress based on operational secrecy.
The second issue are the continued complaints of unfair decisions made by the military regarding citizen volunteers. Regardless of whether these claims are purely accurate or sour grapes or somewhere in between, Congress must protect citizens from injustice. Again, operation secrecy stops all information from coming out of Military.
Lastly, conflicts between the Mil and the WH regarding who and where we fight, not how we fight, but who we fight. I say this with a heavy heart because I had one objection to PANAM, the forsaking of past friends that was inevitable to occur. Perhaps the battles of past weekend, are a good example of why that sentimental thinking might not be the best choice - I had one hell of a good time beating up on poles everywhere - hey weren't we best buds with them just a few months ago! So, in many ways; Lesson learned - Military, like us in Militias have made plenty of friends all over the world, as a result in our joint work. Unlike RL, in this game, this cannot determine eUSA foreign policy.... which comes from the WH, who also have, at least in terms of POTUS, almost monthly turnover. So, if we are unhappy, vote the POTUS out. This is especially true since citizens pay for these battles by supporting the military.... which brings us back to beginning, rinse lather, repeat...
I wish this Amendment had not been necessary, and I pray it does not go too far. For the record, I did not vote in favor of it. Not because I do not support change, but because I was holding out in hope that the military would produce a counter-proposal response that would be a working solution, or at least a good start of one. I also has some reservations about some technical aspects of this particular resolution, but they were merely details. In the end, we as a Congress needed to put it in place in order to make progress.
For the record Avruch has denied that his dismissal was over the Amendment Cavalry XO and I think if there were retributions for this Amendment, because of the terms of the Amendment, there would be consequences to the military, so I do not expect we will see them.
sorry about the tl: part, thank you if you did read. Thanks, Simina errrr, Animis
Comments
Congress, who refuses to be accountable or transparent to anyone, wants the Military to be accountable to them?
Oh CHS, don't be such a grouch. Drop all your stingy "morales" and play the game bro! ^__^
Pretty good article! Voted and already subbed. Also, what athanaric said about Mr Grouchy grouch CHS.
RAWR!
didn't know you had it in you animis,
v&s
Love them full-bodied girls, Animis. Way to go.
Voted and Sub'd
What morals? Congress does everything in secret, including amendments to the constitution, but wants the Military to be transparent. That is like the pot calling the kettle black.
CHS: don't spread lies on my article, this was not in secret, it was done in open public congress
I would read it but WTF man all its all pictures of chicks. I like a hot piece as much as the next guy but come on can we all stop posting bikinis EVERYDAY. Write srsly for a change, geez.
/end rant
I agree with Joe. While I appreciated the pics, I couldn't read the article as it was laid out. If you want to write a serious article, you should throw them at the end.
Luv them CURVES! Oh, and uh, voted.
Guys: earlier I was told to break up the text walls with pics... there is no point trying to make everyone happy. I would prefer to look at hot guys, since I'm a chick... so it's up to you, read, gawk, close the page, I can't make everyone happy at the same time but I tried to get it in a better arrangement.
Joe, sorry, but I think these guys are outvoting you about curvy chicks in bathing suits.
We did provide a counter amendment.
Morrigan, in all fairness I completely concur, an alternative proposal was sent in. However, with all due respect, and I mean that with utmost sincereity, it was not a true counter-proposal in terms of negotiating towards a common goal.
Now that it is public I can quote it:
"1. The CJCS coordinates battles and directs support as set by the joint objectives of the President and JCS.
-and-
2. The President may request the removal of the CJCS which must be confirmed by super majority (two-thirds) vote of the Congress and a super majority (two-thirds) vote of the JCS. Valid reasons for impeachment initiated by the president include prolonged and unexcused inactivity, failure to direct support to a joint objective, or making foreign affairs commitments outside of military support. The JCS reserve the right to remove a CJCS without Congressional or Executive approval."
This would have effectively taken both Command & Control of the Military AND Foreign Policy away from the POTUS and WH and made it a joint decision with a group of leaders who are unelected, near unimpeachable, and without term limits and had yet to propose any form of a Uniform Code of Discipline or very much in the way of Accountability. It gave the military more authority than the current system instead of bringing it in line with what was very apparent were the desires of the majority in Congress.