One Day Short, too many too long. The Incident of the Minnesota National Guard and the 729 Days.

The Minnesota National Guard which goes by the moniker Red Bull, found itself on the short end of the real meaning of the support the troops slogan, which as the history of the Iraq War teaches has only been a diversion from the absence of material for the Republican led Bush War in Iraq.

Certain well earned benefits, for example educational benefits are being denied members of the Guard unit in question. Because some one with authority to do so, insidiously and with utter disdain for their service terminated their tour of duty One day before they would have been eligible for benefits.

The Minnesota troops would have been eligible for benefits on the 730 Th day of their duty, but orders terminating their duty named 729 Th day as official termination.

Spokespeople for the army are as usual characterizing and describing this misdeed as a simple snafu, an administrative bungle and it's being corrected. But that is not the issue. The issue is this institutionalized disdain now rife in all branches of Government, locally and nationally. Regardless of the reasons, the result and consequence as experienced is mediocrity, incompetence and an exercise in reinventing the wheel, that bespeaks colossal stupidity.

By Apropos