December 7, 2004
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TUESDAY POLITICSU.S. Draft in 2005
Actions Indicate Administration Has Plan To Reinstate Military Draft if Bush Re-Elected
By Mike Blair (May 2004)
A military draft may be reinstated by mid-2005 if President George W. Bush is re-elected in November. An appropriation of $28 million has been provided in the current defense budget to bring the nation’s Selective Service System up to speed, which many people believe will likely lead to a national draft of young men and women by June 15, 2005. (Rest of article here.)Anybody out there of draft age? In my case, my son is 36 but has a torn knee from a bad football injury in high school, and my grandson is 13. I figure they’d probably take my son anyway and the war will still be going on when my grandson is eligible. And college is not going to keep anybody out this time around. Of course, there will be exemptions of some sort for the children of Washington politicians, so you might think about getting your loved ones onto that job track. (Nobody’s talking about this on the media, but just type “military draft 2005″ in your search bar and see how many links you come up with.)
Deep Thought: “Probably one of the main problems with owning a robot is when you want him to go out in the snow to get the paper, he doesn’t want to go because it’s so cold, so you have to get out your whip and start whipping him, and the kids start crying, and oh why did I ever get this stupid robot?”
Today I am grateful for: Thread(s)
Guess the Movie: “Oh I ain’t saying you did or you didn’t. All I’m saying is that you could have robbed banks, sold dope or stole your grandmother’s pension checks and none of us would have minded. But shaving points off of a football game, man that’s un-American.” Answer: The Longest Yard, 1974.
Winner: thenarrator.
Yesterday’s Draft Dodgers Help Today’s War Resisters
Vietnam-Era Men Offer Aid in Canada to Iraq Deserters
by M.L. Lyke
VANCOUVER, B.C. — War can turn strangers into brothers. It’s true if they’re fighting it, and it’s true if they’re resisting it, as Vietnam War resisters resettled in this Canadian province know.
In an American era of “love it or leave it,” they left. Now a number have joined to help peace activists here form a new “underground railway” for resisters to the Iraq war, providing food and shelter and transportation north. (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 8:00 pm
+ = CIA report comes out to confirm things getting worse in Iraq undercutting Bush’s claims.
- = Things ARE getting worse in Iraq.
Comments (15)
I have a 15 year old and this is what I feared most from this administration.
I have a 19-year-old, so the fear is immediate, the real danger is the next 12 months. Republicans in congress won’t do this within a year of an election (they’re all evil, but they’re not stupid). The problem, of course, is that they need to deal with declining National Guard enrollments as the just hold these poor people in Iraq for years at a time. Plus, watch the Iran and Syria situations and be very afraid.
Longest Yard?
i’ve got a 20yo, and a 15yo. the 20yo already has a number of friends in the military, some of them in iraq now, or have been there. plus i’ve got a 25 yo brother in the air force. the war is very real to us here, and the draft is a scary thing to think about. the daughter has mentioned canada would be a nice place to live.
The Longest Yard is right on! And I’ve heard Canada won’t be letting anyone in for draft evasion reasons this time.
Canada is sounding better and better every day.. One would think that a draft would pretty much eliminate the Republicans from the 2008 election, but I don’t have that much faith in the people of the US. Of course in the past a war has always been a great justification for perpetuating a presidency, FRD was in for 4 terms, perhaps King George is planning to do away with that little law so he can work into a 3rd term? nothing like fear and war to motivate the masses.
I hear BC is really pretty, always wanted to go to Ireland too… humm
Ireland is a pretty good choice.
You mean the religious wars there have been resolved? Where was I?
Things are quiet in Ireland but they are into a big economical upturn right now so it is very very pricey. B.C. is beautiful. Spain is one area you would not want to be considering right now because of internal problems.
Of course none of us are going anywhere, we’re just joking about it. Or aren’t we?
My sis and b/f and i were talking about the draft the other day. He sounded really really bitter that women couldn’t get drafted, he said it wasn’t very fair. I hope it doesn’t happen, though. For my generation it seems so far off since it’s never been something we’ve had to deal with.
Canada’s not such a great haven any more. They have much better extradition agreements with the US now.
What a great place Canada will someday be with the peace keepers from our country intertwining with them, . . not that it isn’t a great place now. I’m not making any sense, . . I’ll just shut up now.
the 60 minutes piece on the stop/ loss program was extremely telling…
I love your site and I love what you have to say.
There is already a defacto draft, as they are activating those in the ready reserve, who thought their commitment was complete, and they are extending troops currently in Iraq. It ain’t over yet, and the fat lady is far away from singing!