FEAR & LOATHING OF THE MILITIA

STANDING ARMY GOOD
CITIZEN MILITIA BAD

Not so very long ago, right here in River City, we had a tidbit on the state of MO (pronounced Missour-ee in Iowa and Missour-uh south of the state line) warning LEO's to watch out for the swarms of mean, evil, horrible, nasty militia types who, according to their bulletin, apparently consist largely of those who support Third Party candidates such as Ron Paul, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin.

That reminded me that the neighboring State of Iowa, increasingly infested by big city bed-wetting liberal weenies who have way too much pull in the state legislature, passed some kind of anti-militia law awhile back. The slightest whiff of independent thought immediately sends said libs into a panicky pants-peeing-oh-my-gaia-big-government-save-us mode.

I found the 2001 law as:

29A.31 Unlawful organizations:.
It shall be unlawful for any body of persons, other than the National Guard and the troops of the United States, to associate themselves together as a military organization within the limits of this state without the written permission of the governor, which the governor may at any time revoke, but this provision shall not prevent civic, social, or benevolent organizations from wearing uniforms and swords not in conflict with the other provisions of this chapter.

On the other hand, the Iowa State Constitution says:

ARTICLE VI. MILITIA. Composition--training. SECTION 1. The militia of this state shall be composed of all able-bodied male citizens, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, except such as are or may hereafter be exempt by the laws of the United States, or of this state, and shall be armed, equipped, and trained, as the general assembly may provide by law.

Judging by the 2001 law, it would seem an amendment to the State Constitution might be in order. The last sentence should read, in part, "shall be unarmed, unequipped, and untrained, as the general assembly may deny by law."

Yeah, I know they can sneak that one past, since the new law does say the governor can give permission to someone to train together. Of course, it would be a cold day in hell before an Iowa governor would allow any such thing. The wussies in Des Moines are scared of the Boy Scouts.

Another favorite lib argument is that the National Guard is actually the militia these days. Au contrere. First off, the Guard is not composed of, "all able-bodied male citizens, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years."

In addition, the Iowa State Constitution also specifies of the militia:
Section 3. All commissioned officers of the militia, (staff officers excepted,) shall be elected by the persons liable to perform military duty, and shall be commissioned by the governor.

The National Guard has its officers commissioned by, and in the same manner as, the Active Duty Army. I'm not so sure that this is actually an improvement over the Civil War-era election of officers, as mentioned in the Constitution. For instance, in our modern military system, a horny, vomiting-out-the-dorm-room-window 21-year-old frat boy with a degree in Impressionist Art is somehow qualified to be the next Robert E. Lee while a grizzled NCO with 15 years of leadership experience around the globe and a chestful of combat decorations is completely unqualified and, the way the system works, cannot be commissioned, even on the battlefield.

For a greater understanding of the United States Army's officer commissioning system and how it functions (dysfunctions?), please read Anton Meyer's Once an Eagle or Colonel David Hackworth's About Face. It will make everything perfectly clear.

But I digress. And, as is usually the case when I digress, I don't care. Anyway, back to the fear and loathing of the scary boogieman militia thing. Any government that is so fearful of a citizen militia must really have a helluva guilty conscience about something they're doing.