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I grew up thinking that the National Guard didn't leave our borders, except to patrol territories, like Guam.
I thought, and so did as many friends as I can remember from years ago, that the professional military were the ones to go conduct wars.
I remember that I had an impression that the National Guard was a pretty safe side occupation--a place to get some health benefits, some fun training, and extra money. This isn't to say that anyone I knew joined the Guards because they were lazy, they just believed that they could serve their country by doing limited risk duty that was still important to the country--having people ready at home in case of an attack. I don't think my generation ever conceived that we would use our backup (resisting a domestic attack) military as an invading force, and we also didn't think anyone would ever invade us.
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"The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann
"You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman
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