Another interesting week and ripples swirl on the exposed part of the Swamp. Retired General Austin has taken his post as Secretary of Defense. His first decree was to announce a “60 Day Stand Down” for DoD to ensure the new Administration’s priorities are implemented across the Department, including the spooky parts. There are some fascinating aspects to the stand-down, which I tried to decipher from previous edicts and Executive decree. The crowd I hang with includes a lot of veterans, who have opinions about whether allowing transgender people can be allowed to serve in an effective force. Tensions are rising in the former Burma, and over Taiwan, and with Iran and Russian succession of power.

But we are tied to our customer base, and that means complying with new or changed requirements. So, here we go. It is clear that everything is political, including the vast spread of the Defense department. That is the better part of a trillion dollars each year, so there is considerable interest in moving portions of it around. Include the folks at the Department of Homeland security, which has announced that the personnel base in the National Guard and active force may contain domestic terrorists.

I have no idea who that might be, but naturally support any sensible course of action that results in a purer yet more diverse force that is perfectly reliable for whatever the POTUS decides to do. No footnote is needed for that, unless I have to mention the 57 genders, definitions of men and women and all that other stuff.

That would be included in new Footnote 5, which stipulates complete adherence to whatever comes out of DoD in the interest of building back better a force that used to be pretty good. We have tried this before, but recent Administrations seemed to be hung up on purchasing parts and things to keep the astonishing number of potentially lethal machines working. There may be a higher calling in ensuring parts, if we can afford them, are installed and operated by people of the right opinion. We will see how that all goes.

From the Socotra perspective, management and personnel will collectively keep our mouths shut about whatever systemic evils we might not have noticed before, even if (or particularly if) we were all part of it.

It does seem remarkable that the richest, freest, most competent and welcoming society in this world should be such an egregious offender that millions of people want to come here, legally or not, to help change us into something better.

I am not sure this is correct as an observation and would normally wait to see what the Swamp folks tell me what mine is. But Press time is here, and we need to close. That is this world in this country this week.

Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
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