My Take | Chickens come home to roost as Pentagon prepares for unrest
Reissued directive from the US Department of Defense clears the way for long-banned troop deployment to enforce law on domestic soil
The peaceful transfer of authority is rare in history, yet common in our country. - US president George W Bush’s first inaugural address
As Washington was escalating its war in Vietnam in 1965, musician, mathematician and satirist Tom Lehrer penned these immortal lines.
When someone makes a move/ Of which we don’t approve/ What do we do?/ We send the Marines! /To the shores of Tripoli/ But not to Mississippoli …
The song, “Send the Marines”, is as relevant today as ever. But the last line above may need an update, in light of the Pentagon’s directive from last month. I don’t pretend to have anything like the satirical genius of Lehrer, but it may more appropriately be reworded to keep up with the times. Apologies to the nonagenarian Lehrer for the artistic butchery. So, here goes: To the shores of Tripoli/And those of Mississippoli …
Why? Because Mississippi could well become “Mississippoli”, as Americans may wake up after next month’s election to find US troops outside their homes and on their streets.
Many observers have already warned that civil unrest or even a second civil war is possible if the election result next month is too close, and one of the candidates, most likely Donald Trump, decides to dispute the outcome like last time.
After all, he will have nothing to lose as he faces spending the rest of his life in and out of courtrooms, if not actually landing in a jail cell.
