More From Rachel Maddow's" Drift"

Maddow created a to-do list in "Drift"

Going to war,being at war,should be painful for the entire country,from the start.When we ship troops off to battle,we should pay for it.Raise it through taxes and war bonds.

Lets do away with the secret military.The Air Force,not the CIA,should operate the use of drones and we should know about it.The same goes for the policy makers giving them the orders.The chain of command should never be obscured by state secrets.

Let's quit asking the military to do things best left to our State Department,or the Peace Corps or FEMA. Also stop military leaders from making judgments and decisions about policy.Presidents shouldn't defer to military commanders as whether or not to bomb Iran,etc.It's no favor to the military and it's an affront to the Constitution.

The life of the National Guardsman or Guardswoman should be mostly peacetime,civilian .When we ship these men and women off to war,civilian communities all over America should feel that loss.Today,they are really full time soldiers.

Let's wind back the privatization of the war and the military's dependence on contractors for what use to be military functions.Private contractors are not cheaper and should be held accountable for rape,murder or fraud and be prosecuted.Troops need to peel their own potatoes again,drive their own supply trucks,build their own barracks and guard their own generals.

Our military and weapons prowess is a fantastic and perfectly weighted hammer,but that doesn't make every international problem a nail.

Let's ensure that our nuclear infrastructure shrinks to fit our country's realistic nuclear mission.Let's decide exactly what we mean to deter with our nukes,and expend just exactly what we need to do that and nothing more.

Going to war is not one man's responsibility.The "imperial presidency" malarky that was invented to save Ronald Reagan's neck in the Iran-Contra,and that played as high art throughout the career of Richard Cheney,is a radical departure from previous views of presidential power,and it should be taught and understood that way.It isn't a partisan thing.Republicans and Democrats alike have options to vote people into Congress who are determined to stop with the chickenshittery and assert the legislature's constitutional prerogatives on war and peace.