Kent State? You're going to pull a couple of panicked National Guardsmen from nearly 40 years ago and tar the whole military with them? You are completely irrational. That's like saying MLK, Jr was a killer because the Black Panthers were violent. The military DEFENDS this country. We take the notion of defending our republic very seriously. If we didn't, we would be a tin-pot dictatorship, like the Soviet Bloc was. BTW, the reason this nation isn't PART of that Soviet Bloc is largely because of the military. The world does not run of lollipops, rainbows, and good feelings. People and nations who do not share our values want to kill us and/or destroy our way of life. Who the hell is going to keep them from doing that? Men and women with weapons. I could start ranting here, but Jack Nicholsen did such a could job in the courtroom scene in A Few Good Men, so I'll just refer you to the video store.

Look, I have an Ivy League degree. I could get a job with or without the military, because I work hard. I'm not alone in this. The military is not full of freeloaders. My friends and I stay in the Marines because we enjoy our work (by and large) and because we're doing something worthwhile. It's not the government's job to give everyone three hots-and-a-cot, healthcare, etc. It's the government's job to give you the opportunity to earn those things.

The economy is--1)not as bad as it's portrayed and 2)only as bad as it is because of anticompetitive practices and 2 generations of government overspending (which Rs and Ds share the blame for.