I ain't no fortunate son

[Mongo]

I know this strays far from the typical music/footie threads but I think this might spark some healthy debate.  If you are a male between the ages of 18 and 26 you may want to pay particular attention to bills S 89 and H 163 in congress which will reinstate the Selective Service (thats right, the draft) by June 15 2005.  From what I have learned this there is a very good possiblity that it will happen.  Politicians ON BOTH SIDES will likely be quiet on the issue until after November.      
 
 http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=5834001&content_dir=ua_congressorg

Michael Moore has been busy signing up the congressmens' sons.
 
 Go ahead Mongo, sign up before they draft you'

[keithstg]

Originally posted by Mongo:
  I know this strays far from the typical music/footie threads but I think this might spark some healthy debate.  If you are a male between the ages of 18 and 26 you may want to pay particular attention to bills S 89 and H 163 in congress which will reinstate the Selective Service (thats right, the draft) by June 15 2005.  From what I have learned this there is a very good possiblity that it will happen.  Politicians ON BOTH SIDES will likely be quiet on the issue until after November.      
 
  http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=5834001&content_dir=ua_congressorg

Oh well. I will be 27 by then, so I assume it won't effect me. Were I to be drafted, I would certainly go. It seems to me that the nation asks little of us in return for the freedom we enjoy.

[ggw]

This is the latest scare-mongering that has been making its way around the internet for a few months now.
 
 Charles Rangel introduced this bill in the beginning of 2003 (I believe), as a way of making a point that the armed forces are disproportionately filled with minorities and lower-income kids.  He felt that if he could make military service compulsory, those with more power would think twice about waging war.
 
 These bills aren't being hidden in the dark recesses of congress, waiting for the election to pass before they spring up to nab every unsuspecting young man and woman and ship them off to war in pursuit of US military dominance over the entire world.  They are dead in committee.
 
 Watch out for the black helicopters.

[mankie]

Two years of military discipline would do you young punks a world of good!    
 
 I wouldn't have missed my 10 years for anything, but then again, my government never sent me out to needless and personal wars.

[ggw]

42

[mankie]

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
  42

Actually, he's #43 Clinton was 42.

[Samantha]

ugh.  I'll be 18 just in time.  if I get drafted, I'm getting pregnant pronto.  no fucking way I'd survive in boot camp.

[godsshoeshine]

not that a draft would be surprising, no one is going to join the reserves anymore the way they've been jerked around, i doubt it. the dub krew is going to need to keep popular opinion to keep this whole thing going, even after the election. yay for being old

[Celeste]

I'm glad my husband is already an old goat.

[ggw]

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp

[godsshoeshine]

There is as yet no definitive answer to the question of whether or not the U.S. will reinstitute a draft. Obviously some thought has been given to the issue, but the possibility that such thoughts will be turned into reality appears rather small at this point. Still, conditions and attitudes can change very quickly â?? another event of the magnitude of the September 11 attacks could prompt some rapid shifts in government policy and public opinion.
 
 that sounds about right.
 
 i really don't see it as a really good reason to vote one way or the other. if you like the war, be willing to fight it or send someone you care about to fight it.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
  http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp

Since when did Snopes give political commentary?
 
 The email is not a hoax, though some of the facts may be fabricated.  There is pending legislation, whether or not it will be passed should be beyond the realm of Snopes.

[mankie]

When I first got my green card I volunteered to join the US reserves out of a sense of duty to my new country. They told me because I was in sales I could be a supply clerk. I told them I had 10 years military communications experience....they told me they don't recognize foriegn military experience. I told them to forget it.
 
 In 1991, I was contacted by them for Dessert Storm. I told them I wasn't interested, they told me I could serve as a communications specialists if I signed up. I told them to fuck off, they wouldn't have me when I volunteered, but now they need me they're willing to be flexible.
 
 
 The way this administration has dicked the reserves about, I'd be willing to bet there will be a mass exodus when all this is over, and they know it which is why the draft is being discussed.

[ggw]

Originally posted by vansmack:
   

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
    http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp  

Since when did Snopes give political commentary?
 
 The email is not a hoax, though some of the facts may be fabricated.  There is pending legislation, whether or not it will be passed should be beyond the realm of Snopes. [/b]

It's not political commentary.
 
 Snopes deals with internet hoaxes.  The claim that "The Draft Will Start in 2005" is a hoax, as is the claim that the "administration is quietly trying to get these bills passed now, while the public's attention is on the elections," therefore it is definitely under their purview.
 
 Rangel (Democrat -- definitely not part of the Administration) himself stated that the bill would never pass and that he (and several other members of the congressional black caucus -- all Democrats) only sponsored it as a way to draw attention to the large numbers of lower-income and minority kids in the military.