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I've been working hard to ignore the news. Why? Most of it isn't really news by any definition I use. And it certainly isn't "News [I] can use."
And I'm quite sure that the few organizations I belong to and my local activist contacts will let me know when there is something that governments are doing that I should know about.
This morning I got an email from the Director of the Human Relations Council of the City of San Diego concerning two bills (identical bills introduced in the House and the Senate) that are being pushed by George W. Bush. More or less quietly pushed. S 89 and HR 163, titled Universal National Service Act.
Yes, Virginia. The draft is back. All US citizens, men and women, between 18 and 26 will be required to perform two years of national defence work as directed by the President of the United States. The military gets first pick. If the military doesn't want you, you get to serve in some program that the President deems worthy.
Isn't that special.
I was not drafted in 1969. I joined. I spent 20 years in the US Navy. The early part of that was under a system that included the draft but most did not include a draft. Service, as difficult as it was, was less difficult with volunteer soldiers. Far less difficult.
The draft is a VERY bad idea.
I'm all for the government persuading young men and women that providing 2 years of service is a wonderful thing to do for one's country is an honorable thing to do. I am NOT for any government action that has at the heart of it, a total disregard for the rights of individuals. At it's heart, the draft is just another form of abuse. Something George W. Bush and his administration is practiced at.
Write your Senators and Representatives today.
And I'm quite sure that the few organizations I belong to and my local activist contacts will let me know when there is something that governments are doing that I should know about.
This morning I got an email from the Director of the Human Relations Council of the City of San Diego concerning two bills (identical bills introduced in the House and the Senate) that are being pushed by George W. Bush. More or less quietly pushed. S 89 and HR 163, titled Universal National Service Act.
Yes, Virginia. The draft is back. All US citizens, men and women, between 18 and 26 will be required to perform two years of national defence work as directed by the President of the United States. The military gets first pick. If the military doesn't want you, you get to serve in some program that the President deems worthy.
Isn't that special.
I was not drafted in 1969. I joined. I spent 20 years in the US Navy. The early part of that was under a system that included the draft but most did not include a draft. Service, as difficult as it was, was less difficult with volunteer soldiers. Far less difficult.
The draft is a VERY bad idea.
I'm all for the government persuading young men and women that providing 2 years of service is a wonderful thing to do for one's country is an honorable thing to do. I am NOT for any government action that has at the heart of it, a total disregard for the rights of individuals. At it's heart, the draft is just another form of abuse. Something George W. Bush and his administration is practiced at.
Write your Senators and Representatives today.
Re: misinformation about the draft
Oh well.