The last blog presented some of the most costly weapons-related items on the Pentagon's shopping list. The continuation of that list focuses almost exclusively on the non-lethal items needed to sustain the modern U.S. military. The list is taken from the special report found in the January/February 2014 issue of Mother Jones magazine.
I. An Itemized Pentagon Budget (2012 figures)
$21.6 Billion - Petroleum and oil
$4.0 Billion - Dairy and eggs
$2.5 Billion - Nuclear reactors
$2.5 Billion - Drugs and pharmaceuticals
$1.2 Billion - Meat, poultry, and fish
$978 Million - Small-arms ammunition
$834 Million - Night-vision equipment
$783 Million - Fruit and vegetables
$738 Million - Bakery and cereal products
$554 Million - Nonalcoholic beverages
$547 Million - Land mines
$413 Million - Small arms
$294 Million - Sugar, confectionery, and nuts
$260 Million - Composite food packages (MRES)
$226 Million - Soap, toothpaste, and shaving preparations
$152 Million - Footwear
$103 Million - Bulk explosives
$102 Million - Live animals (not for food)
$86 Million - Bolts and screws
$85 Million - Soups and bouillons
$85 Million - Tobacco products
$73 Million - Coffee, tea, and cocoa
$26 Million - Grenades
$18 Million - Underwear and nightwear
$16 Million - Badges and insignia
$1 Million - Blood and blood products
II. A Well-Regulated Militia
This history of militias in the United States is found in: "Patriot Games," Mother Jones, November/December 2016.
1776: General George Washington gripes about the militiamen among his forces, "whose behavior and want of discipline has done great injury to the other troops."
1787: Constitutional Convention delegates clash over whether the militia should come under national control. As a compromise, the Constitution grants the federal government the power to call up the militia but leaves the appointment of officers to the states. The Second Amendment emphasizes that a "well-regulated Militia" is "necessary to the security of a free state."
1831: As mandatory militia duty becomes unpopular, states begin to abolish it. By the 1840s, many states set up an "organized" militia with actual responsibilities and an "unorganized" militia that exists in name only.
1903: The Militia Act of 1903 (also known as the Dick Act) beefs up state militias with federal funding and gives the feds the power to review state militias.
1916: The National Guard, which evolved from the organized militia, becomes part of the Army.
1971: William Potter Gale, a white supremacist and anti-Semite activist, forms a proto-"patriot" group called Posse Comitatus (Latin for "power of the country"), which purports that the highest level of authority is the county government. Gale says sheriffs who violate the Constitution should be taken to a "populated intersection" and "hung there by their neck." The group spreads across the West and Midwest by the 1980s.
1976: Congress passes the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, kicking off the Sagebrush Rebellion, which seeks to establish state and local control over public lands in the West.
1983: Posse Comitatus member Gordon Kahl murders two federal marshals trying to arrest him in North Dakota. He's later killed in a shootout, during which he kills a sheriff.
1990: President George H.W. Bush welcomes "a new world order," popularizing a phrase that conspiracy theorists equate with the coming of a global totalitarian government.
1992: White supremacist Randy Weaver surrenders after his wife, his son, and a US marshal are killed during a standoff at his cabin in Ruby Ridge, Idaho. The event energizes the far-right "patriot" movement, which includes armed militias.
1993: Federal firearms agents attempt to raid the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. The ensuing battle kills four agents and six Davidians. A 51-day siege ends when the FBI sprays tear gas in the building, which bursts into flames, leaving 76 people dead.
1994: Responding to the Brady Bill's mandatory five-day waiting period for handgun sales, Michigan Militia leader Norman Olson tells the New York Times, "We are ceasing to be a republic...When people sense danger, they will come together to defend themselves. That is what's happening."
1995: A truck bomb destroys the Oklahoma City federal building, killing 168 people, including 19 children. Bomber Timothy McVeigh had attended militia meetings. Militia members testify in Congress to defend their movement, but within a decade the number of militia groups drops from 441 to 35, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
2005: The Minuteman Project monitors the US-Mexican border, putting a media-friendly face on earlier militia efforts to catch undocumented immigrants.
2008: Following the election of President Barack Obama, the number of militia groups surges from 42 to 127 in one year. Mike Vanderboegh promotes the idea of the three percenters, named after the claim that only 3 percent of colonists were the backbone of he American Revolution.
2009: The Department of Homeland Security warns of an increase in right-wing extremism. After a fierce backlash from conservatives, it withdraws the report. Montana attorney and Army veteran Stewart Rhodes launches the Oath Keepers, a militia group that focuses on recruiting military members, police officers, and first responders.
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