Are there still Republicans in Congress? Is someone going to ask why DHS needs 2,700 armored vehicles and billions of rounds of ammo?

"If weapons of war don't belong on the street, Mr. President, explain these purchases."
I guess President Obama was serious when he pledged -- on two separate occasions -- to build a "civilian national security force" just as powerful and well-equipped as the U.S. military. You may also recall from that antiquated document called the United States Constitution (like, dude, maybe 100 years old... right, Ezra Klein?) that using American armed forces for domestic military operations is forbidden.

But that doesn't seem to be much of a hindrance for this administration.

In addition to stockpiling over a billion bullets and thousands of semiautomatic weapons the feds would deny U.S. citizens, the vehicle of choice for fighting the counterinsurgency war in Iraq is appearing on U.S. streets.

The sequestration question du jour is why the Department of Homeland Security, busy releasing hundreds, if not thousands, of deportable and detained illegal aliens due to budget constraints, is buying several thousand Mine Resistant Armored Protection (MRAP) vehicles?

And just who are they intended to be used against?

This acquisition comes on top of the recent news of the stockpiling by DHS of more than 1.6 billion (with a 'b') bullets of various calibers, enough...to fight the equivalent of a 24-year Iraq War, and the ordering of some 7,000 5.56x45mm NATO "personal defense weapons" (PDW) — also known as "assault weapons" when owned by civilians.

...The Department of Homeland Security (through the U.S. Army Forces Command) recently retrofitted 2,717 of these MRAP vehicles for service on the streets of the U.S. They were formerly used for counterinsurgency in Iraq... These vehicles are specifically designed to resist mines and ambush attacks. They use bulletproof windows and are designed to withstand small-arms fire, including smaller-caliber rifles such as a .223 Remington. Does DHS expect a counterinsurgency here?

...A DHS officer, Robert Whitaker, stationed in El Paso, Texas, recently proudly described the agency's new armored toy as "Mine-resistant ... we use to deliver our team to high-risk warrant services ... (with) gun ports so we can actually shoot from within the vehicle; you may think it's pretty loud but actually it's not too bad ... we have gun ports there in the back and two on the sides as well. They are designed for .50-caliber weapons."

This is needed to serve warrants? Perhaps it might have been useful at Waco.

So the question is what does DHS need 1.6 billion bullets, 7,000 Ar-15s and 2,700 armored vehicles for?

Are there still Republicans in Congress?

Do we still have a single journalist in the media?

Does no one care that this president is -- at the same time he whines endlessly about tiny Sequester cuts -- spending billions arming a huge, powerful, domestic security force?


Hat tip: BadBlue.com News Service.