Political Grab Bag

[daleduke17]

Where I just bitch about random things I found in the paper:

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/09/08/news/doc48c4a87654c16349505003.txt

It only took seven years to make "the most horrible offense to the US since Pearl Harbor" into a "special event" like Memorial Day, Veterans Day and MLK Day.

http://www.sj-r.com/news/x272611716/Callahan-says-she-would-consider-bringing-back-draft

Can you hear that? That's Callahan's chances of getting elected crashing through the sub-basement. Get elected, then shoot your mouth off.

http://www.wandtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8996562

Who hasn't the US pissed off? Venezuela, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and North Korea are all pissed off at the US. Wonderful. I can see gas prices going even higher now. Whoever gets in in November is going to be seriously fucked.

[Flyndaran]

...

http://www.sj-r.com/news/x272611716/Callahan-says-she-would-consider-bringing-back-draft

Can you hear that? That's Callahan's chances of getting elected crashing through the sub-basement. Get elected, then shoot your mouth off.
....

Is it rude of me to state that a woman suggesting the re-institution of an all male draft is extra disgusting?

The idea that she can't even comprehend that many americans would prefer not to kill or be killed frightens me.
If I were of an age to have been drafted during the Viet Nam police action, I would have gladly gone to jail for my right not to murder.

[Greenday]

Is it rude of me to state that a woman suggesting the re-institution of an all male draft is extra disgusting?

Wow, I never even thought about it that way. Interesting perspective on it.

[lordlundar]

Is it rude of me to state that a woman suggesting the re-institution of an all male draft is extra disgusting?

Of course she's all for it. She's immune to it if it goes through. Now if they declared it gender neutral and elected officials to be just as applicable, see how fast she'll try to shut it down.

[AFPheonix]

Yep, way to drag the military down with people that don't really want to be there, because a military is really only marching bags of meat, right? Huurrr!

[Flyndaran]

Of course she's all for it. She's immune to it if it goes through. Now if they declared it gender neutral and elected officials to be just as applicable, see how fast she'll try to shut it down.

Only the civil war went as far as drafting 35 year olds.
Any realistic draft would never go anywhere near that horribly decrepit bottom of the barrel wizened age.... I say as a 34 year old.

[Sylvia727]

If a draft gets reinstated, it had better be gender, sex, and orientation neutral. I'm sick of the hypocrisy and bigotry in our governments.

[Boozy]

Who hasn't the US pissed off?

Canada is still on good terms with the US, and we are your top supplier of oil. Saudi Arabia is number two, and the ruling family still likes you. The populations of both countries may not, but it's big business and your dollar is as good as any. Okay, better.

Chavez is so ridiculously theatrical. China has caught the US conducting spy operations in Beijing multiple times, and they haven't kicked the ambassador out.

[anriana]

Is it rude of me to state that a woman suggesting the re-institution of an all male draft is extra disgusting?

I don't see how a 50-year-old upper class woman suggesting it is any more disgusting than a 50-year-old upper class man suggesting it - neither oneould ever be drafted.

[Greenday]

Canada is still on good terms with the US

And we like you guys too.

[daleduke17]

Canada is still on good terms with the US

That's always good. :)

[BlaqueKatt]

I don't see how a 50-year-old upper class woman suggesting it is any more disgusting than a 50-year-old upper class man suggesting it - neither oneould ever be drafted.


it's sexist, and as a woman who did serve-I find it highly offensive that people(especially women) still have the mindset of "the men must protect the wimmins-wimmins can't fight, they have to raise the children."

[anriana]

it's sexist, and as a woman who did serve-I find it highly offensive that people(especially women) still have the mindset of "the men must protect the wimmins-wimmins can't fight, they have to raise the children."

Did you read the article? The first paragraph says she supports mandatory national service for everyone.

[daleduke17]

Did you read the article? The first paragraph says she supports mandatory national service for everyone.

Why should there be mandatory national service for everyone (military or non)? If I don't want to join up for some kind of service, I shouldn't be forced to.

[anriana]

Why should there be mandatory national service for everyone (military or non)? If I don't want to join up for some kind of service, I shouldn't be forced to.

If you didn't feel like contributing to the country you'd be free to leave it.

[AFPheonix]

I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to have to do a community service project to graduate high school, or serve a certain number of hours with a charity group or non-profit.

[the_std]

I had to do community service hours for a certain class in high school. If you didn't do them, you didn't pass the class and it was a required class so, if you didn't pass the class, you didn't graduate. it was 10 hours per semester in grade nine, 15 in grade ten, 20 in the eleventh and 30 in the twelfth.

I thoroughly enjoyed doing it.

[Sylvia727]

My community service-- bearing in mind that my only ride was my feet and I lived in a fairly well-off neighborhood-- was the free gift wrapping at the mall. The first hour was fun. After that, I was just there to endure. I had an A+ in the class, so I only put in half my community service hours and still got an A-. Thorough waste of time. Of course, I realize that this was poor management in one particular instance, and hardly applies to everyone.

[Flyndaran]

Predicating a diploma upon whether or not one does community service is offensive. If my school had tried to force me to do something not school oriented, then I would have simply refused. Colleges would have no problems with my S.A.T.s and a G.E.D.
The idea that I could get flunked despite excellent grades defies what shcool is supposed to be.
It's legislating morality, and that is truly un-american, or at least it used to be.

[AdminAssistant]

I agree somewhat with Flyndaran in that I hate that schools are moving away from academics. Now colleges want to see a lot of activities and work experience. I didn't do a lot of activities. I didn't work (beyond typing a few hours a week). As a result, I scored a 30 on the ACT and graduated with a 3.98. Which resulted in not having to pay for college.

I'm not saying I didn't do community oriented stuff (I did that with my church). But I did it of my own free will. I don't think it should be forced.

Now, a mandatory draft would be highly, HIGHLY unlikely - especially when the Congress-people realize that will affect their own families and the families of their biggest donors. If it did pass, I would raise all kinds of holy hell. Being 25, it would be unlikely for them to take me. If they did, they would drag me kicking and screaming. But I would go, and I would do my bit, and then I would come back to raise some more hell.

We have an excellent military. Yes, it has a lot of problems. But it provides really great career opportunities to those who choose to go through it. (One of my cousins is a Major. He has a really nice house...off-base. Just sayin'.) But to force a lot of people who don't want to be there on the system...that's something nobody wants.

And..ladies, we can always argue that they can't draft us until they pass the fucking Equal Rights Amendment that should've been passed 30 years ago. You wanna send me to war? Put it in the Constitution that I have the same rights as a man and I'll do it.

[daleduke17]

If you didn't feel like contributing to the country you'd be free to leave it.

I do contribute to the country. I pay taxes.

Anything else should be of my own choosing.

[the_std]

It's legislating morality, and that is truly un-american, or at least it used to be.

A) I don't live in America, so that statement doesn't apply to me.

B) You could choose anything you wanted to do for community service as long as you could prove that you did the hours. For example, some people stuffed envelopes for political campaigns, some were care-partners for the elderly, I set up and served a buffet at a Sudanese war awareness dinner. It was not an effort to legislate morality, it was to build a sense of community. And it worked.

C) If you really had a conflict with the service and it truly could not be worked around, they let you write an essay or do a project on the benefits of such service in the community, so it was not set in stone.

D) I went to a Catholic high school. This service was part of our Christian Ethics class, which was a religion class that focused pretty strongly on Christianity but also taught you how to live your life as a Christian. It was called Christian Service Hours and it was part of a Christian teaching about loving thy neighbour or something like that, I'm not sure. It was also clearly defined when you went to register that this would be a requirement of the class, so if you didn't have the time or just didn't want to do it, there was another high school down the street.

[Sylvia727]

And..ladies, we can always argue that they can't draft us until they pass the fucking Equal Rights Amendment that should've been passed 30 years ago. You wanna send me to war? Put it in the Constitution that I have the same rights as a man and I'll do it.

Hear, hear. With equal rights come equal responsibilities....

[Slytovhand]

Of course she's all for it. She's immune to it if it goes through. Now if they declared it gender neutral and elected officials to be just as applicable, see how fast she'll try to shut it down.

And if they instituted a policy that said any congress persons who vote to go to a war are automatically in the first draft?? I mean, if you're prepared to sacrifice other people's lives, you ought to be willing to sacrifice your own.... yes?

Or am I being naive again?? :p

[AFPheonix]

Predicating a diploma upon whether or not one does community service is offensive. If my school had tried to force me to do something not school oriented, then I would have simply refused. Colleges would have no problems with my S.A.T.s and a G.E.D.
The idea that I could get flunked despite excellent grades defies what shcool is supposed to be.
It's legislating morality, and that is truly un-american, or at least it used to be.

And yet there are many classes in school that aren't necessarily academics minded that are required for graduation, like a certain number of electives like arts or automotives.
There have been countless posts on this board where people bemoan the fact that kids aren't taught "real world" stuff. Well, I consider volunteering a real world issue. If was not required for my school, although it was a part of 4-H for me, and I continue to volunteer for organizations even now. Currently I work twice per month at Essential Health Clinic (http://www.essentialhealthclinic.org/) and occasionally help with clinics and whatnot for 4-H kids.
It's not like it's dental work or something, calm down.