Don't fence me in

And the hits just keep on comin’.

As if a productive week of torture legalizing and habeas corpus flushing and indefinite detainment cheering wasn’t enough for the Orc Congress, the Washington Post notes that they also approved 700 miles of fencing along the U.S./Mexico border late last night.

Slipped that one in under the cover of darkness, they did.

The “fence” will cost an estimated $6 billion between now and 2008, when it’s supposed to be finished.

Um, guys? Our soldiers need new fortified vehicles. The old ones are junk, and there were never enough of them in the first place. And body armor. They really, really need adequate body armor.

Those who didn’t have the fortified vehicles and were issued either substandard armor or none at all are straining the military health care system at the seams in their thousands. Six billion dollars would go a long, long way towards thanking our brave and maimed boys and girls for their sacrifices: their arms, legs, hands, feet, eyes and often, brains. They’re going to need lifelong care from the country that destroyed their futures. And you know, it’s not like their numbers won’t keep growing, what with George W. Bush still madly determined America will “stay the course” in Iraq, even as he lobs firecracker-stuffed frogs at Iran.

Of course, the Secure Fence Act is pure politics. There’s a real good chance the fence won’t ever be built, because the terrain it will follow is just too wild – mountains and gorges and rivers, oh my – so I guess that means the $6 billion in taxpayer dough will mostly be wasted. How much you want to bet Halliburton builds fences, too?

Makes me proud to be an American.

***

Via Hullabaloo, I note that Susie of Suburban Guerrilla noticed it was Michaelmas yesterday, the old holiday celebrated by Christians, Muslims and Jews alike that honors St. Michael the Archangel, the protector of light against the forces of darkness. She suggests that those of us who oppose the destruction of America by the Orcs adopt St. Michael as our patron saint.

I’m not Christian, Muslim or Jewish, and I wouldn’t know a patron saint from a Flat Daddy, but hey – sounds good to me. We could use a pissed-off archangel on our side, you know?

There's a lot of excellent thinking and writing at Hullabaloo today, as usual. I never fail to learn when I stop by for a visit with Digby, Tristero and Poputonian. Drop in and say "hi".