On a more somber note, while Martin likens these guys to the Japanese “warrior class,” an interesting comparison to be sure, I liken them more to Oliver Cromwell’s “Ironsides” – his elite personal guard who drank the kool-aid on his personal vision of England as the “New Jerusalem” – funny how that term keeps popping up, but these guys are often motivated by more than mere money – they’re joining this private army for some reasons I don’t think we’re facing squarely enough yet.

While some of them are true mercenaries, I fear that a goodly number are recruited from the “evangelical/dominionist” trained and educated ranks (places like Patrick Henry College here in VA turn out potential Blackwater troopers by the busload every year now, thanks to the fast track approval of their “security administration” major programs by the dept. of Homeland Security) and are in this for Prince’s – and Bush’s – vision of America as a “New Jerusalem.”

Shiver inducing, indeed….

As for voting out the Republicans as a solution, I don’t think that will stop their planning and acting to bring on that New Jerusalem. I think they’re creating a separate nation under their particular god with freedom and justice for – those who adhere to their tenets.

I think we may eventually be dealing with – all jokes about Bushisms aside – real freedom haters…

The sight of those black-clad stormtroopers stalking the streets of New Orleans fills me with dread to this day. We’re building a permanent “warrior class” like the shogunates of Japan, but where the old samurai had codes of honor and conduct to live by, these new soldiers are guided by the terrible combination of naked greed and extreme Dominionist/evangelical ideology.

The most amazing thing is that even with all of these massive private armies at work, we have still utterly failed to gain any headway in Iraq, and yet I’m sure that won’t stop Prince and his company from taking ever more turns at the pig-slop trough that is government contracting.

Disgusting and horrifying. Again, good work, Jim.

If that leads to a bigger military, great. We need that too.

Would this happen under Hil or Barack or Edwards or Richardson? Who knows. But we need to be asking that question of them. And if the answer is no, then we need to move on to the next candidate, and keep moving until we get a yes.