CSPAN reveals...

[Dr.Rob]

Was watching c-span about the new homeland security office and one of the "expert researchers" the panel was talking to was GARY HART (wierd huh)..
but one of the oddest bits was the discussion of WHO and HOW the defense was to be done.. the arguement was something like this..

The US Military can't be in charge b/c it violates the Posse Comitatus act., SO it falls back to the states to provide the defense, (this is thier language and I'm paraphrasing) since the Militia was 'organized in the early 20th century into national guard units, under the control of the state the national guard will be in charge of defense. Basically its a way to say The GUARD is the STATE'S army, NOT the FED's.

What bothers me is this "finding" would seem to suggest that WE AREN'T the militia, and this language can hurt our RKBA rights later. newt Gingrich supposedly had a hand in writing the chain of command and researching the history of defending american shores.

Any Thoughts? Am I being too paranoid? Please discuss.

 

[Long Path]

This has been the holding for a while. The National Guard has been considered under the asstd. states' purview for a long, long while. Remember the Jefferson school integration? Nat. Guard (state troops) stood toe to toe with Army regulars. State vs. fed. The Fed folks have been calling the state Nat. Guard our "militia" for awhile, now.

Sigh. I don't like it, either. Since when does a State get a RIGHT, just like a person?

 

[labgrade]

The National Guard isn't a state agency. They may be stated as such, but take a look at their pocket - where it says US ARMY, etc.

These are federal troops.

& since when has any constitutional provision stopped anybody from doing whatever they want?

 

[KAM_Indianapolis]

The organized militia may have been called up, but the un-organized has not. That can only be called up by the states (if I remember my laws correctly.)

 

[Oatka]

Sometime, back in the 50's I think, the government took the funding of the NG away from the States with the proviso that they could them use them any time they wanted. The Governors jumped all over it as a way to save money.

A few years later, the Governor of Minnesota complained when the US sent their NG engineers down to Guatemala. The US lost no time in reminding him who paid for the them.

They are basically state trrops unless federalized by the US. Then they are out of the states' control.

That's why you see pictures of State Troopers (the next line of State defense) trying to block those little black girls from that Arkansas school. Gov. Faubus called up the NG, only to have Eisenhower federalize them and yank the rug out from under him.

The states are soverign only as long as the government allows them to be so. The only thing they have left is the Unorganized Militia, and a lot of the states are trying to disarm them.

An interesting side effect of this is the almost total defenselessness of the state if all their NG units are called up and sent overseas. To a degree, this happened during the Gulf War and the topic was discussed in the newspapers. The obvious point of organizing an armed citizenry was not addressed.