Old Stuff

Glenn Reynolds links to an article in which John Kerry answers a question regarding a proposed new implementation of a Military Draft.

Answering a question about the draft that had been posed at a forum with voters, Kerry said: "If George Bush were to be re-elected, given the way he has gone about this war and given his avoidance of responsibility in North Korea and Iran and other places, is it possible? I can't tell you."

To be fair, the ABC headline is quite misleading.

Kerry: Draft Likely to Return Under Bush

That isn’t what he said. (It’s interesting to note that the major news services will give equal treatment to both the Right and the Left in distorting what’s said. In this case, however, is it to suit their own agenda?)

However, the rumor of an impending Draft is spreading like wildfire, and guess who are the alleged culprits making these evil plans? One of my cousins even repeated the Draft canard to me a few weeks back, attributing the bill to yet another of the “underhanded dealings” of those “horrible Republicans.” Fortunately, the research done (and point in the right direction rendered) for a months-old post yielded this information to give to cuz: the sponsor and all of the co-sponsors for the Universal Service Act of 2003 (a proposed implementation of a new Military Draft; go to H.R.163 and S. 89) are all Democrats; every last one of them.

House:

Charles Rangel, NY
Neil Abercrombie, HI
Corrine Brown, FL
Donna M. Christensen, VI
William Lacy Clay, MO
John Conyers, Jr., MI
Elijah E. Cummings, MD
Alcee L. Hastings, FL
Sheila Jackson-Lee, TX
John Lewis, GA
Jim McDermott, WA
James P. Moran, VA
Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC
Fortney Pete Stark, CA
Nydia M. Velazquez, NY

Senate:

Fritz Hollings, SC

But I repeat myself.

Sidenote: I did think that the line about North Korea and Iran was rather humorous. Weren’t BDS sufferers wailing in protest way back in early 2002 when President Bush referred to Iraq, Iran and North Korea as the “Axis of Evil?” Is President Bush going too fast in taking care of the evil-doers or not fast or not fast enough?

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has more on alarmist (and distorted) email messages being sent to college students regarding a proposed Draft. Viva the Disinformation! For the record, both George W. Bush and John Kerry oppose the bill, though it's anyone's guess what the latter's position on it may be next week.

UPDATE: Oh. So this is where these recycled lies are coming from:

In a speech at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, [Democrat Former US Senator from Georgia Max] Cleland told students they might find themselves pressed into military service if Bush wins a second term.

“America will reinstate the military draft” if Bush is re-elected and continues the Iraq War, Cleland predicted, according to an account of his speech by the Colorado Springs Gazette.

And here:

Former Kerry rival Howard Dean, now traveling the country to drum up support for Kerry and raise money for Democratic candidates, said last week at Brown University in Providence, R.I., "I think that George Bush is certainly going to have a draft if he goes into a second term, and any young person that doesn't want to go to Iraq might think twice about voting for him."

Counting on an uninformed public are "we," gentlemen?

BTW, the MSNBC article does not mention H.R.163/S.89 at all, much less the party of its sponsors.

Comments

[teal marie]

I can't tell if Kerry's having flashbacks or if he needs to turn the present into Viet Nam so he can undo all that went wrong with his own karma at that point. Either is delusional and I don't want him using this election as therapy. There's more than cynical hubris at work here. His damage is showing. And it craves company for its misery.

[Patrick Chester]

...oh yeah, and Bush is campaigning in fear, remember? /sarcasm

BTW, have any branches of the US military expanded their training facilities to take in a huge amount of new trainees? Last I had heard, volunteers were being turned away or having to get on a waiting list just to get into basic training.

[Patrick Chester]

er, campaigning with fear. Preview is your friend. *sigh*

[Dex]

The only name I see on the list of people pushing this is Ms. Corrine Brown and that in itself means foolish stuff to come,hell I even voted against that moonbat every chance I get and like a bad dream she comes back.

[Mike]

Jim ("Baghdad Jim") McDermott (D-WA) was going around recently giving speeches where he told his young audiences that there's a possibilty of a draft (implying that Bush & Co. are behind that dastardly plot. He failed to mention that he and his fellow liberals are behind it.)

You can also cross-check and see how many of those Democrats are in the Democratic Pregressive (=socialist) caucus. I recognize Stark and Conyers - there are undoubtedly others.

I think their motivation is to bring the issue out in front of the public - where it'll meet strong opposition, which they can deflect onto the Republicans.

[Pietr]

I read this at...http://betsyspage.blogspot.com/2004/09/sometimes-i-forget-how-duplicitous.html
... and then over here. Sounds like the Kerry/DNC Fearmongers are pushing this hard (and Emailing College students), while convenieintly 'forgetting' that it's THEIR group of bills. Talk about Moonbat logic and deceipt...Retired AF and a Texan...

[BeckyJ]

I've been busy innoculating my students against this draft rumor. I mention it at the beginning of all my classes and give them the URL for Thomas the Congressional bill tracking site. Last semester I had a student come to me in a panic because a friend of his had just told him the draft was being reinstated. He was so skeptical of my negative response that I bet him $5. Within 10 minutes I had found the bill info and the party of the sponsors. He was in my office the next morning with the $5. Well, at least some of them take my advice now when it comes to doing research!