Brilliant idea, that privatization of all government functions

This post will tick off the blindly ideological talking heads at the Goldwater Institute, ALEC, and the like, and will certainly rouse the ire of their elected water carriers like Jeff Flake, but there are *many* governmental functions that are utterly necessary but that the private sector cannot be relied up to perform.

The latest example? Troops that have served their tours of duty in Iraq cannot return home because of a lack of private airline flights.

From The Military Times -

Vermont soldiers who have completed their tours of duty in Iraq cannot get home because of flight delays caused in part by the recent bankruptcy of ATA Airlines, the Vermont congressional delegation said Wednesday.

I suppose it could be part of a wily Pentagon scheme to ratchet up 'stop loss' without doing so officially, but this really just reeks of "let's use our troops as an excuse to funnel defense money to corporate America, and if it gets messed up, who cares? They're only troops, right?"

Regardless of your opinion of the war, everyone should call out the Bush Administration on its never-ending contempt for the welfare of active-duty servicemembers and veterans.

It's despicable.


Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) statement on the troops' plight here; the Vermont delegation's letter to the Secretary of Defense here.

Later!