Mercenaries in Texas
Written by Elizabeth Moon
According to the Washington Post, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and a couple from Tennessee have colluded to privately fund the South Dakota National Guard’s expedition to the Texas border. The foundation of Willis and Reba Johnson has pledged and followed through with payment of $1 million in support for the mission to the U.S.-Mexico border. The South Dakota National Guard, according to another source on Twitter, considers itself “self-deputized” to perform Border guard duties.
South Dakota is a heavily racist state, a state that disenfranchised its Native Americans living on reservations because they don’t have street addresses for mail delivery (never mind there are white people in this state who don’t get home mail delivery, including the town) and thus can’t get the right kind of voter ID.
Chances that South Dakota National Guardsmen will recognize *our* brown people as native Americans, be fluent in Spanish, and understand any of the local customs? NIL. We had both North and South Dakotans as tourists in the Valley when I was a kid and that whole northern tier of winter Texans were….annoying. Chances of South Dakota National Guard troops killing American citizens in this venture: high and the chances of them causing an international incident with Mexico are even higher.
But worse than that: National Guard troops are not supposed to be for hire to any political activist who wants to show off how rich they are. They are part of our national military force, not the Governor’s private militia she can hand off to someone for a payback to the state. Their deployment outside South Dakota is supposed to be approved by the Pentagon. Remember that the governor of Maryland could not send the Maryland National Guard to Washington D.C. on January 6, for a genuine emergency, until they were released for interstate duty through channels–the Acting Secretary of Defense and the Army’s Chief of Staff.
Was this out-of-state deployment approved by the Pentagon? If so, by whom at the Pentagon? Under what existing rules that govern National Guard deployments? The South Dakota National Guard, like all National Guards, is supported and provided with supplies, including vehicles, weapons, uniforms, etc., by the Department of the Army. The equipment belongs to the military–ultimately to the Army, and is not to be used for purposes not approved by the military.
Having a rich person from Tennessee hire a National Guard unit from South Dakota to traverse multiple other states to get to the Texas/Mexico border and involve itself in an international situation is frankly horrifying. It’s against normal procedure. The Guard is being treated like a mercenary company, available for hire by anyone–any private person with enough money–rather than as part of the United States military. Its equipment is being treated as it belonged to South Dakota, rather than the U.S. military, which amounts to theft from the federal government.
As a matter of national security, our military units, including National Guard units, have not been, and should not be, for hire like mercenaries. It’s unethical and I believe illegal under the laws that govern our military. Whatever unholy clandestine agreements that resulted in this mess, we need a swift and thorough investigation of exactly who said what to whom and when. What rules were ignored, which weren’t followed because someone in the central chain of command was willing to break them. Were more Texas politicians than Greg Abbott involved? Do we still have an insurrectionist of rank in the Pentagon? Colluding with civilians to suborn a National Guard? This naked power-grab by a right-wing civilian to “buy” a military unit must not stand.
If this happens, this is a frightening precedent. There are several other Dakota like states and plenty of Qgop mega donors that would love to be heroes to the repugnantican cult base by making the National Guard mercenaries for their agendas. Biden needs to step in and stop this.
1Multi state, interstate governor authorized and sanctioned military operation on our national border, requiring national guard troops to travel a thousand miles with full support services. With no benefits for South Dakotans, and of questionable value for almost all Texans, especially those on a border now with armed guardsmen in unfamiliar territory. Do they know where every house, or farm, or the livestock might be when they start shooting?
Maintaining free and fair election laws for the benefit of all residents within their own states of Texas & South Dakota? Not so much.
2EM, you have better knowledge of the post-1970 military than I do. Can’t Biden nationalize the SD national guard … and then order them to stay in SD? That seems like the simplest and fastest way to stop this (although I agree, we need to find who if anyone in the Pentagon approved this).
Also, I’d blame this on Noem, not on the 50 guardsmen. Chances are good that most of them are not happy about being packed off for a political stunt. Especially when they find just how damned hot it gets along the Rio Grande in July-August. Some of them may be happy to go and shoot at brown people, but let’s treat them as partial victims until they show themselves as bigots.
3… and not to take away from the serious nature of this becoming a precedent, but this is at least slightly related:
http://thecomicnews.com/edtoons/2021/0630/other/02.php
4Will they be issued white hoods?
5Kristi Noem appears to be a politician with all of the instincts of her idol, Donald Trump.
Each step of what is being done is legal and questionable. It is the combination that creates the worst possible optics and earns Noem extensive derision.
Apparently, Texas requested additional National Guard units from other states to deal with what its governor considers an emergency. No one seems to doubt your Governor’s ability to ask — though the “emergency” designation seems bizarre to most. Ordinarily, costs of the troops become the responsibility of the requesting state (or the federal government)
Gov. Noem has a right to respond by sending members of the National Guard. Ordinarily, sending guard units is uncontroversial, perhaps irritating to the “part-timers” who thought they were signing up for a weekend each month and two weeks of training each summer. Even if Texas didn’t pay, South Dakota finances apparently are sound enough that the deployment could be covered.
Rich people can spend their money as they want — including making voluntary deposits to a state fund. In Colorado, we’ve had rich people buying vehicles and other equipment for county sheriffs, people donating to a road fund that coincidentally will be improving a road close to their property or business, and offering to give money in order to have the state buy some property (and thus blocking development on an adjascent property). Giving money to a fund to support the National Guard doesn’t seem much different than those payments.
Noem strings them together, apparently thinking that helping guard the border at no cost to the state would be a win-win-win situation. And I guess for some, the combination is perfectly fine. Meanwhile, for the rest of us, it looks like the Governor is turning patriotic citizens into mercenaries.
It’s a gift to have that sort of political skills, really.
6Every day Republican officials demonstrate the fact that they have no interest in governing-they want to RULE.
7Is this a test and the next trip to DC?
8Is the $1,000,000 donation from the Johnson foundation also tax deductible?
9A “privately funded” army, sent by the Governor of South Dakota to help Texas in a non-emergency at the Texas border? When did the US start permitting private armies? Joe Biden needs to stop this, ASAP.
10I haven’t seen anything about this in national media. I completely agree that the president should put his foot down
11hard and fast as Commander in Chief so other RWNJ / GQP
extremists don’t jump on this very dangerous bandwagon.
She was a lousy Congresswoman and has remained so as Governor. She also cannot tell the difference between Guv and Commander In Chief. Now – the “border” covers the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico as well as Texas. Is this squad of newly minted mercenaries headed only to Texas? I know Abbot will probably welcome them with a bunch of roses! This makes him a co-conspirator. A thousand mile trip in trucks on public highways is something that cannot be hidden or does the Million cover air fare in cargo planes? Or maybe they are marching a thousand miles for Kristi so she can make some damn point?Whatever her inspiration and plan, she has just been awarded by me the eternal badge of Vanilla Isis! There it is Kristi-girl! Eat it!
12You say the Department of the Army issues the Guard supplies. What if the Department supplies the Guard with – say – flipflops and surfboards? And forgets food. That might even be funny.
13is this real? scary as hell, need more info.
14OT ~ Fourth Follies: Trip Go Boom!
These GOF@%kheads thought it would be a good idea to bring along a guest capitol rioter on their border visit. For Good luck… Uh, NOT. He’s in custody and was a close ally of MTG and a CONVICTED FELON. And the idiots who dragged him along are in a group photo for Your Fourth festivities.
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Sister says speaking with GOP lawmaker brother is no longer healthy Jul 4, 2021
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), a vocal Trump supporter who backed efforts to overturn the election, sought to undermine the notion that Ashli Babbitt was killed in an act of self-defense by Capitol police during the January 6 insurrection. CNN’s Pamela Brown discusses with the lawmaker’s sister, Jennifer Gosar.
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CNN Mugshots: Lauren Bobert, Madison Cawthorn, Chris Jacobs, Michael Cloud, John Rose, Ronny Jackson, Mary Miller, Randy Weber, Tom Tiffany.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv78_kpmc0A
15Handy Curses and Spells ~
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The Cruciatus Curse also known as the torture curse, one of the three unforgivable Curses may be inserted below (to be used for contempt only.)
~_Uncontrollable rectal and palate hemorrhoids_on all of you_~ forever ~_and a day or… at the end of your political careers if not indicted. ~
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16On the fourth… ‘Inherently un-American mindset’: Sen. Josh Hawley’s home state paper has a dire warning about the GOP’s path
17Independence Day Celebration: Raising Arizona
Jul 1, 2021 Stream: Nicholas Cage* Holly Hunter* *John Goodman
Nineteen hunert an’eighty-seven… Y’all
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H.I. McDonnough is a multiple-convicted armed robber who falls in love with Edwina, a young policewoman who takes his mug shots. They end up getting married, with H.I. vowing to stop robbing convenience stores. They try to start a family, but Ed finds out that she is barren. Since they can’t adopt, due to H.I’s extensive record, their marriage is going nowhere. Ed goes into a severe depression until she sees an item in the news saying Nathan Arizona, owner of a chain of unpainted furniture stores, has become the father of quintuplets. Mr. and Mrs. Arizona have been blessed with quintuplets, after Florence Arizona’s fertility treatment. Desperate, Ed convinces H.I. that the Arizonas wouldn’t miss one of their babies, having been blessed with so many.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcD4a3NqPyY
18The Supreme RW Chorus renders an incision on voting rights ~ Jul 4, 2021
How’s The State of Democracy Doing This Fourth of July?
Jonathan Capehart and his panel of experts discuss the current state of our democracy as the Supreme Court upholds voting restrictions in Arizona.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3coAXwUvWk
@ megasoid. Many strange off-topic contributions today. Are you okay?
20Gale: And as per usual, I wouldn’t be surprised if the source of the marital friction weren’t financial.
21H.I.: Well as a matter of fact, (sigh) I did lose my job today.
Evelle: Wuh Hi, you’re young and you gotcher health. What do you want with a job?
megasoid, that’s one of my favorite movies. There’s so damn many quotable lines.
One of my favorites is Glen, in the middle of a conversation, saying “say dat reminds me”, before bringing up something that has absolutely nothing to do with what was being discussed.
I’ve gotten a lot of milage out of it.
When I’m texting either one of my daughters, most times I end up with Say that reminds me. I love you!
Cause there ain’t too many things that don’t remind me that I do.
Doesn’t even take a lot of imagination.
Happy Fourth of July everybody.
In this joint, I feel like we remember what we love about America. Without needing a holiday to beat our chests about it.
P.P. @ 20, I knew everyone would be out grilling and gawking so I spent the day raking up stories that were off Elizabeth Moon’s topic for when everbody got home. The fireworks in Seminole County were a fog and/or smog bust, and the feral cat I adopted claimed the center of the mattress for 8 hours to avoid the heat and the humid off/on rains.
Elsa hasn’t even reached the keys yet but she’ll skirt past Tampa in a day or so. That cat loves his butter pecan melted ice cream and licking the butter off the slice of toast I give him in the morning.
22This woke me up in the wee hours. Isn’t there some way that such a National Guard unit could be decommissioned with a simple CIC order? After all, their uniforms et al. are not freebies. They are the result of tax dollars.
23Heard a terrific homily yesterday at church. Seems that during the American Revolution churches were actually closed because of the war. Plus, even if they had stayed open there would have been trouble in the pews, especially when it came to praying for King George which was part of the ritual! There were also folks in England who did support the idea of independence from the crown. These church goers lit out for Canada! The British navy was all over the colonial coastline and had they even tried to make port in Boston or wherever, they likely could not due to cannon fire from a British frigate.
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