I don't know the purpose of consolidating the State Militas into the National Guard, but prior to their nationalization (and being sent to fight in foreign wars from WWI to Somalia to Afghanistan), the State Militias existed to preserve the sovereignty of the the States...

So's the Bradly Fighting Vehicle an armored vehicle.

"my neighborhood is well stocked with
defensive hardware, as well as male marksmen as well as female marksmen (watch out -- Mandatory PC disclaimer about female dominance!). "

FIFY.

Hence your fear of Obama...

One of the most popular tv franchises in recent history is the "Law and Order" series and its spinoffs.

I used to love this show back in the beginning, with Michael Moriarity as the assistant D.A. He was a paladin for justice, in those days. His character believed in The Law, and didn't believe in overstepping it just to get a conviction.

They got rid of him, and replaced him with a cast of increasingly morally ambiguous characters.
As some here know too well, I got to watching Law and Order SVU, mostly because I like watching Mariska Hargitay (side note: Jane Mansfield's daughter...)

And I was appalled at the overstepping of authority that not only took place, but was considered morally acceptable and even mandatory. Witnesses, bystanders, even victims blackmailed and coerced into dancing to the police and/or DA's tune. Presumption of guilt, and therefore justification of massive rights violations. The protagonists of these stories would have been villains or crooked cops in tv series or movies of the past. I'm sorry, but I just can't liken modern cop dramas with "Adam-12" or "Dragnet". Those old shows might be corny, but at least they respected and honored the rule of law.

I used to want a surplus Sherman tank mounted on tractor tires. I heard they could really move out, could survive accidents well, had a hell of an intimidation factor at intersections, and with 5 gallons per mile, drove the Greens nuts :D

The dangerous parallels are NOT among the power brokers. It's not the way the government is currently behavior that is dangerous or should be frightening.

It's the way *the people* have changed. The willingness with which they now surrender sovereignty over their lives. Their ignorance of even recent history.

I still say we were set up for this in the 70s. When gas prices spiked, and Carter emasculated us, telling us to get used to being just another country, to be content with less, etc. It was then that quality went out the window, in every meaning of the word. It was in that same era that the old-fashioned western view of "honor". Self-respect has become, instead of a necessity of life, a frivolous luxury. Shame has become a dirty word. Where once it was a signal of failure, of dishonor, of unworthiness of respect, now it's a PC code word. No longer is shame a tool to coerce positive behavior in the one feeling shame. It's now a weapon to hurl at whoever or whatever is making One feel shame. It's the person, situation, or object making One feel shame that is bad, not the One. Notice I put "One" in caps. People today are full of hubris, particularly those least deserving of hubris. Full of self-importance for no greater reason than their ability to avoid the abortionist's knife and get themselves born (granted, quite an accomplishment in today's culture). And they are taught this self-importance... this UNEARNED self importance, from cradle to grave.

It is this failing of character that A) makes the current situation possible in the U.S. and B) makes the current situation so very, very dangerous for the survival of individual liberty and civilization itself.