I recently said that our government makes me sick because it is strategically deploying our soldiers for just a day short of what would yield educational benefits promised to them under our own law. This is precisely why some people join the military. I think it is reprehensible to do this to our soldiers, especially for those who accused war protesters of not “supporting our troops.”

Still, after I wrote that, I felt like “sick” might come across as a strong word to some. So, I just wanted to make a brief point of clarification. I’m still pleased that I don’t live in Pakistan, whose government just “executed a nationwide crackdown on the political opposition, the news media and the courts, one day after President Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule and suspended the constitution,” according to the Washington Post. I don’t know the whole story behind this, but it’s been suggested that this is largely a bid to extend and retain presidential powers, more so than an actual response to “extremists.”

I am glad we still have a constitution, an occasionally feisty news media, and a generally reliable court system. If something like that happened here, I would have to find stronger words than “sick” to describe my feelings.

But you know, with so much of our money going to our military budget, I still think some more of that ought to be spent on fulfilling the promises we make to the people we send into wars they may have never asked for.