i don’t usually swear in this blog. at least, not in the post titles. but it’s friday morning, and i don’t want to get out of bed. and i’m ANGRY.

why don’t you want to get out of bed, my dear readers (all six of ‘em) ask.

because, i answer, due to our Fearless Leader’s wartime plans and use of stop loss as a back door draft (the better to hide the effects of this war from the general population and control public response), 3200 soldiers from fort drum (NY) have been forced to extend their tour in afghanistan by at least four months.

well, my dear readers say, that’s not good. but how does that affect you?

it’s a domino effect of sorts. with soldiers not coming home (and others leaving within a month of having returned home), the army is concerned that the families of those soldiers may get a little, shall we say, upset?

upset people need mental health services. the army realizes this, even in the far reaches of upstate new york. but with this war going on, the mental health providers in the army are stretched pretty thin. a lot of them have been sent to the sandbox. the rest are being shuffled around the u.s. and other bases, trying to fill in an ever-increasing need with an ever-decreasing population of providers.

my husband happens to be one such provider. he returned from a year in the DMZ (korea) six months ago. there, he was the sole mental health provider for an entire division. (amusingly, if you try to access the medical services page on the site, it tells you it’s under construction.) a year apart is hell on a marriage, even when you’ve got video chat and can visit every few months. it’s taken us until now to get our feet back under us, to really feel comfortable with each other and our relationship. things had finally settled in.

on wednesday (two days ago) he was told he was on the short list of providers to be tasked to fort drum. starting february 12, ending… well, when the troops come home, i guess. this was not good news.

on thursday morning, he was given to understand he wouldn’t be sent up north. and then on thursday afternoon, he was told, “hey, bud, pack yer bags. NY is calling.” so.

on a personal level, the stability of my marriage (like those of thousands of others) is being offered up on the altar of exxon, mccain, and the hubris of bush. it could be worse - he could be sent to the sandbox, instead of the snow. i know this. but it doesn’t fuck with my head any less.