Go Winding Down

There's not much left to do here except count down the final few hours till I get on a plane and go back to Connecticut. I've gotten everything I can packed, loaded or otherwise secured, and there's still a few hours to kill. Sleep isn't going to be a big issue, seeing as I have to leave the house at around 2 to allow plenty of time to get to the airport. Probably more time than I'll need, but it's better to be early than face the wrath of my soon-to-be wife. This upcoming Saturday, actually one week from today, is the date slated for the wedding- the general consensus seems to be about damn time among the members of our two families. And no, it didn't take me going to Afghanistan to finally ask her- we did agree, however, that it's best to make it official beforehand. That way, she'll have a good deal of say in my life back here. Never assign a power of attorney to anyone you don't trust- luckily, I trust her completely. Other weird things we're planning on doing- having matching tattoos done. Kind of an old-fashioned romantic notion, I know, but what the heck. Further advice- never get a tattoo unless you're sure of its meaning, both to you personally and to the rest of the world. Now, as if all this wasn't mushy enough, I'm planning on getting it done over my heart- a claddagh, with a pentacle on the center of the heart. The one on the claddagh, I mean, not the one in my chest. Tattooing that would be a challenge indeed. At any rate, we picked this symbol because first, Tabatha is Irish, (wow, would never have guessed that one, ha ha) and secondly, because it has personal meaning to the both of us.

In national news, it looks like Washington's credit rating has dropped. There are credit ratings used in the stock market to indicate the solvency of a given financial institution- the larger and stronger the organization, the better rating they get. You would figure the government, long considered one of the most stable entities and least-risk entities in the entire free market, would be untouched by this. Actually, I always figured the same thing. This is because, at least on paper, the government has unlimited powers of taxation- thus, it will always have money to meet its obligations. At least, I'd like to think so... What has happened here that caused the credit rating to drop is that the government no longer has the financial resources to meet its debt obligations. In other words, the government owes more than every single working person in this country can be expected to pay. Exactly where this came from is an interesting point. I've heard it said, and I kind of agree, that a President can be best judged by what happens after he leaves office. The prior President ran us into a quagmire of a war, and guess what? Wars don't come free. Equipment, vehicles, logistics, and supplies come with a price tag- yet the government spent money as if they were free. Not that, in my opinion, our current President is a whole hell of a lot better- at the time when the country needed a no-BS leader to smack the executive branch upside its collective head, our fearless leader prevaricated and bickered. I'm rapidly becoming of the opinion we should just stick a circus tent over the whole mess and call it the freak show that it is. Thomas Jefferson once said how the tree of liberty must sometimes be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants. He didn't say anything about damn fools, but I think that would work just as well. I'm also reminded of Thoreau-to paraphrase, he was big on the idea of a social contract- government has its obligations and priveleges, and we have ours. In this case, I'm guessing it's something along the lines of we pay taxes, don't revolt, and follow the laws, and the government in turn provides order, stability, and takes care of the people. We do pay taxes, revolt within the confines of the law for the most part, and generally follow laws. How then, does this allow for the gross misconduct of the government? True, I'm bound to follow the orders of the President, but throughout the Army, it's always encouraged that we speak up and say what's on our minds. There's usually an explanation, or failing that, things can be modified. This would be where many of the new military vehicles you see today came from- and probably why we're not rolling around in mule-drawn carts to carry the artillery in. But holding onto a system that doesn't work is a mark not of democracy, but rather of tyranny. Just for the record, I propose nothing- merely observe. (CYA applies to more than just mortar attacks, ha ha). The rift between the governed and the governors grows greater and greater- it seems to me it has never, in the history of this country (not of this land, of our actual nation) been greater than it is as of late. It's an interesting time to be here, and will hopefully prove another turning point in history.