I received an email pasted below followed by my response to it. Sorry it is lengthy, but it seems like a masterminded, well orchestrated attempt to exploit ignorant housewives in the final hours before the election.


Original Email
Think about the following before you vote!

Express your preference.

Mandatory draft for boys and girls (ages 18-26)
starting June 15, 2005, is something that everyone should know about.
This literally effects everyone since we all have or know children
that will have to go if this bill passes.
There is pending legislation in the house and
senate (companion bills: S89 and HR 163) which will time the
program's initiation so the draft can begin as early as spring, 2005,
just after the 2004 presidential election. The administration is
quietly trying to get these bills passed now, while the public's
attention is on the elections, so our action on this is needed
immediately. Details and links follow.
This plan, among other things, eliminates higher
education as a shelter and includes women in the draft. Also,
crossing into Canada has already been made very difficult.

Actions:

Please send this on to all the parents and teachers
you know, and all the aunts and uncles, grandparents, godparents. . .
And let your children know - - it's their future, and they can be a
powerful voice for change!

This legislation is called HR 163 and can be found
in detail at this website:

http://thomas.loc.gov/
Just enter in "HR 163" and click search and will
bring up the bill for you to read. It is less than two pages long.

If this bill passes, it will include all men and
ALL WOMEN from ages 18 - 26 in a draft for military action. In
addition, college will no longer be an option for avoiding the draft
and they will be signing an agreement with the Canada which will no
longer permit anyone attempting to dodge the draft to stay within
it's borders. This bill also includes the extention of military
service for all those that are currently active. If you go to the
selcet service web site and read their 2004 FYI Goals you will see
that the reasoning for this is to increase the size of the military
in case of terrorism. This is a critical piece of legislation, this
will effect our undergradates, our children and our grandchildren.
Please take the time to write your congressman and let them know how
you feel about this legislation.
www.house.gov www.senate.gov
Please also write to your representatives and ask
them why they aren't telling their constituents about these bills and
write to newspapers and other media outlets to ask them why they're
not covering this important story.

The draft $28 million has been added to the 2004
selective service system budget to prepare for a military draft that
could start as early as June 15, 2005. Selective service must report
to Bush on March 31, 2005 that the system, which has lain dormant for
decades, is ready for activation.
Please see www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html
to view
the Selective Service System annual performance plan, fiscal year
2004.
The pentagon has quietly begun a public campaign to
fill all 10,350 draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots
nationwide. Though this is an unpopular election year topic, military
experts and influential members of congress are suggesting that if
Rumsfeld's prediction of a "long, hard slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan
(and permanent state of war on terrorism) proves accurate, the U.S.
may have no choice but to draft.

www.hslda.org/legislation/national/2003/s89/default.asp
entitled the
Universal National service Act of 2003, "to provide for the common
defense by requiring that all young persons (age 18-26) in the United
States, including women, perform a period of military service or a
period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and
homeland security, and for other purposes." These active bills
currently sit in the committee on armed services. Dodging the draft
will be more difficult than those from the Vietnam era. College and
Canada will not be options. In December, 200 1, Canada and the U.S.
signed a "smart border declaration," which could be used to keep
would-be draft dodgers in. Signed by Canada's minister of foreign
affairs, John Manley, and U.S. Homeland Security director, Tom Ridge,
the declaration involves a 30 point plan which implements, among
other things, a "pre-clearance agreement" of people entering and
departing each country. Reforms aimed at making the draft more
equitable along gender and class lines also eliminates higher
education as a shelter. Underclassmen would only be able to postpone
service until the end of their current semester. Seniors would have
until the end of the academic year.

What to do: Tell your friends, Contact your
legislators and ask them to oppose these bills

Just type "congress" into the aol search engine
and input your zip code. A list of your reps will pop up with a way
to email them directly. We can't just sit and pretend that by
ignoring it, it will go away. We must voice our concerns and create
the world we want to live in for our children and grandchildren.

My response to everyone on that list

If you took the time to actually read the first email about the proposed draft, please take time to read my response. There is, after all, two sides to every story. I'm probably not going to change any minds, but I felt this email deserved a thoughtful reply....sorry if it is lengthy.


If one were to read that email and take it for face value (conveniently just days before the election) they might think that this draft idea was actually from the Bush Administration. Do a little research and find the truth...better yet, read on....I've done it for you.

Quote:
"The administration is quietly trying to get these bills passed now, while the public's attention is on the elections..."

These Bills, S.89 and H.R. 163, are written and sponsored by Democrats. Why would a Republican Administration have Democrats write a bill?  

If one were to read the Constitution (and I know that's alot to ask), He/She would find that Article I details the powers and responsibilities of the Legislative Branch (Congress)...they make the Laws. Article II does the same for the Executive Branch (the presidency and his cabinet), they enforce the laws. Article III is Judicial, but we won't get into that here. Consider this quote from H.R. 163:
(2) in a civilian capacity that, as determined by the President, promotes the national defense, including national or community service and homeland security.

(c) INDUCTION REQUIREMENTS- The President shall provide for the induction of persons covered by subsection (a) to perform national service under this Act.

(d) SELECTION FOR MILITARY SERVICE - Based upon the needs of the uniformed services, the President shall--

(1) determine the number of persons covered by subsection (a) whose service is to be performed as a member of an active or reverse component of the uniformed services; and

(2) select the individuals among those persons who are to be inducted for military service under this Act.
Emphasis added, but the fact is this: These congressmen wrote a bill DIRECTING the President to enforce a draft. If THEY pass it, He MUST enforce it. Sure he can veto, but if they have enough votes , they can over-ride his veto.
S.89: written and sponsored by DEMOCRATIC Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina...he's the only one on that bill! Check out Hollings record: http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=S0790103 Just a hint: He voted with the NAACP 100%, the ARAB INSTITUTE 100%, while voting with the "Americans for Tax Reform" just 5% in 2003, and 0% in 2002 and 2001!

H.B. 163 Written and sponsored by.....drumroll...you guessed it...DEMOCRATS!
Charles "Uday and Qusay were someone's kids" Rangel of NY
John "Where's my 40 acres and a Lexus?" Conyers of MI
John "Clinton was abused" Lewis of GA
Pete "free abortions for everyone" Stark of CA
Jim "the Saddam capture was staged" McDermott of WA
....and the most "moderate" of the Democrats on this list....Neil "only votes with the ACLU 80% of the time" Abercrombie of Hawaii.

These bills were not written to be passed. Shocking, huh? They were written as election year fodder, a scare tactic. You fell for it. Congressman Rangel voted against his own bill...so did 433 other congressman. It was used to get people to think we would need to start the draft.


Now before you get your political education from the internet, try to remember that politicians use scare tactics to get you to vote for their guy...EDUCATE YOURSELF. Re-read this email and ACTUALLY research it. IF that is too much trouble....do us all a favor and DON'T VOTE!!!

Niether of these bills lists the political affiliation of the sponsors...You were duped. They knew you wouldn't know who these clowns were. Most people don't know who their own Senators and Congressman are, much less ones from Hawaii, California, Washington, Michigan, etc.

Do you know who represents you in Washington D.C.??? Can you name your state representative? How about 5 of the 9 Supreme Court Justices? How about Ben Affleck's current girfriend or who is on Oprah today? Think about it.


Now please forward this response to five friends and you will have good luck for a year and Bill Gates will give you $50,000 and you may win a trip to Disney World or a college scholarship or something...Whatever.

 Nice job.

Pissin' in the wind, but sometimes, ya just gotta do it.  Nice job.

Quoted: Pissin' in the wind....

That HURT!!!! (because it is soooooo true)



roy d