Ditto the 173rd. Outfit was famous by the time I was in.

Love the Heinlein posts.  Why should some asshole vote us into a war if he wasn't willing to serve himself.

You guys bashing the draft obviously didn't live through it.  The problem with the draft in the sixties was political not military based.  The government was not selective. They took every asshole that could walk and talk.  The draftees were not held up to todays standards and conciencious objection was like wearing a sign that said take me.  Hell, even being able to read or speak English was not an issue.  The draft was political not military.

Yes some of the biggest fuckups I served with were drafted but on the other hand some of the best soldiers I ever had the honor to serve with were drafted.  To tell you the truth, I probably knew more RA's that were fuckups than draftees.  Enlistment then was also not held up to todays standards.  Well, I hope todays standards are higher.

You guys shove the consitution out like a weapon when it comes to having the right to own your firearms but hide it in the closet when it comes to military service.  Our constitution states that it is the responsibility of each citizen to serve six years.  If we pick and choose what we like in the constitution, we are no better than the liberal anit-gunners we despise.

It's true we don't need the manpower as in WWII and I can tell you I didn't think we needed as many people in the Military as we did in Viet Nam.  I can't tell you how many soldiers I knew that wanted to go, had been and wanted to go back, that were kept stateside while draftees were shipped over by the boatload.  I think almost everone now understands that rotation was a cluster fuck.

I don't have an issue with a mandatory conscription with the stipulation that our Military have the say of who and why, not congress.  The military shouldn't have to take them all and to look at what we pay our military and think we are getting the best of todays youth is stupid.  Let's see, I'm a doctor I can make $385,000 in the public sector or be a Captain in the military. Let me think.  Like it or not, our society is getting more liberal and the amount of the true warrior class is deminisioning.

Sorry I went on a burner.

Representative Chuck Rangel (D) NY has a plan.  Bring back the draft.  It has good precedence for NY democrats.  FDR brought it back himself.  As Democrats believe the people, their property, their thoughts, their children and their beliefs belong to the government (which they so humbly lead), drafting them seems natural.   But Chucky is playing slick.  And I don't mean his hair.  He knows President Bush isn't about to reinstate the draft.  He is making points.  Funny how when Bill Clinton was sending soldiers to die in Kosovo, Bosnia, and Somalia, Chucky found no need for caring about soldiers and casualties.  When Bill Clinton had the 82nd in the air to effect a regime change in Haiti (back when regime change was trendy and a very liberal concept) Chucky thought the current force structure was just fine.  

It is a good thing for Chucky there isn't a draft; it would destroy the Democratic Party.  It wasn't so long ago that the DNC was coming up with great ideas in how to exclude the military vote in Florida.  Why would an organization that is largely made up of lower income people vote so predominately Republican?  I spent over 8 years in the active Army and am now in the National Guard.  I had the honor to serve with men and women from all backgrounds.  I also had the great pleasure of watching white boys from North Dakota meet black boys from Georgia for the first time.  Watch them become friends and trust each other with their lives.  Blacks and Latinos found out that they can succeed without someone holding their hand; that the vast majority of Americans care only for what you contribute to the team, not what you look like.  They also found out the military isn't all that bad a deal, especially when you come from poverty.  While blacks make up 26% of the total force, they make up well over 30% of the non-commissioned officers; AKA the careerists.  And they have a disgusting little tendency to vote, much more so than the black community at large at least, Republican.  

Does Chucky really want a whole generation of blacks to learn that white Republicans aren't racists?  Does Chucky really want spoiled white liberals to learn that blacks and other minorities are perfectly capable of succeeding without someone holding their hands?  Does Chucky really want millions of men and women to learn the lessons of hard work, responsibility, and self reliance?  I don't think so.  The liberals have spent four decades brain washing children into race-warfare, reliance on others, and absolution for actions.  Chucky's little scheme would destroy all that hard work.  

The most insidious part (for the Democrats, at least) is that serving your country leads you to love it more.  Do you really want all these people traveling overseas and seeing how terrible other countries live and how wonderful America truly is?  Fighting for freedom also leads you to value freedom more.  Those who have carried guns in the defense of others might be slightly taken aback when told them may not carry them in defense of their families and themselves.  My God, Chucky!  Think about it.  You would do more to set back the Democratic Party than the Civil War and Segregation combined.  

It is interesting that no polls have been taken among the military about how they feel about going to war with Iraq again.  I guess we must let the Democrats speak for us.  Speaking for myself, I have sworn to defend this country; as have over a million others in uniform.  I can see plainly the threat Saddam Hussein and others pose to the US.  After September 11th, I felt (as did others I served with) that we, the military, had let the country down.  We are supposed to defend Americans and 3000 died on our watch.  The greatest number of civilians killed in American History. I certainly don't intend to stand idly by and watch a megalomaniac develop the means to kill millions more.  And I certainly won't let the Democrats' self-serving and newly found regard for soldiers pass by without a comment of dissent and disgust.