Logo Change

 Many of us are familiar with the musical essay, composed by Edwin Starr, entitled War. Not to be confused with the funk/soul/rock band who emerged from Long Beach around the same time, Mister Starr asked the question on so many people's minds in 1970: What is it good for?

I bring this up, since those of us familiar with the tune already know the answer, because of the rabid and misguided rebranding of what was up until oh-so-recently The Department of Defense. As the convicted felon and author of the now infamous birthday note to his pal Jeffrey Epstein has done so very often he bypassed any sort of approval from Congress or even a note from Epstein's mother to write yet another Executive Order calling for the change to be made. He followed through on his promise to rebrand The Department of Defense to The Department of War. 

Setting aside for the moment the cost of this logo change, it's in the billions, but instead let's focus on the semantics. Back in 1775 when we weren't quite a nation, the Continental Congress gathered a number of committees together to provide for our upcoming revolution against England. Where were we gong to get gunpowder and fresh horses and the like. In 1789, when we had a nation to govern, George Washington installed a secretary of war, followed over the next decade with positions such as  quartermaster general, chaplain, surgeon general, adjutant general, superintendent of military stores, and paymaster general. All of these became part of a department called War. 

Back in 1890, the United States Army had 39,000 troops, the smallest of any major power. This changed as a new century began and we eventually found ourselves fighting wars in other countries, initially in the War to End All Wars, and then its sequel. Conscription, or a draft lottery, kept the ranks of our military expanding until at the end of WWII the US armed forces numbered more than eight million. The Department of War made that all possible. Much in the same way that the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima was made possible. 

This was probably the moment in time that caused the initial rethinking of the Department of War. As the only nation to ever use nuclear weapons in war, the thought was to spin the whole thing into something a little easier to take: We were just defending ourselves, thereby opening the door in 1947 for the newly christened Department of Defense. 

Get it?

Now with his royal boorishness on a mission to start a war within his own country, his minions are happy to have stationary that links them to wonton acts of aggression. Pete "Another Round Here" Hegseth was so excited to have the nameplate on his office door replaced that he posted the event on Instagram. Like someone on Facebook being so excited to change their relationship status from "single" to "don't ask." 

Again, none of this turns out to be much of a surprise, since it was all telegraphed through a little binder full of empire building called Project 2025. Counting the National Guard and reserves, our nation's armed forces now totals just above two million souls. Men and women who went to work one day and found out they were working for a different company. They must be so excited. 

What is it good for? 

Absolutely nothin'.

But it's going to cost our country billions of dollars. 

They must be so proud.