A Total Waste of Space

Whew! Good thing the House voted down that draft bill, huh? I was already gathering my stuff to head to Canada. Thank God I don't have to go... I mean, who wants to spend the next few years eating mayonaisse all the time?

Here's the tale...

The House of Representatives on Tuesday crushed a bill to reinstitute the draft as Republicans accused Democrats of raising the specter of compulsory military service to turn voters against President Bush's reelection bid.

After a bitter debate on Bush's handling of Iraq, the House killed the bill 402-2 as Republicans sought to stamp out rumors of an impending draft that have swept college campuses and the Internet, worrying young people and parents across the country.

With the presidential and congressional elections less than a month away, the White House also worked to dampen draft rumors that Republicans said have been fueled by Democrats. It threatened to veto the bill it called "both unnecessary and counterproductive."

"This campaign is a baseless and malevolent concoction of the Democrat party," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican. "It has one purpose -- to spread fear."

Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, countered that Bush's Iraq policies have so strained U.S. forces, that a draft was possible no matter how unpopular it would be.

"Guess what, we're running out of troops ... Let's not be astounded that what follows is a draft. The only problem is that you can't announce it until after the election," Conyers said."

Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, said he offered a bill last winter to reinstitute the draft to spark debate on a system that he said placed the burden of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan on lower-income people who make up most of the volunteer U.S. military.

Rangel somehow managed to vote against his won bill, for those keeping track. He also has his facts wrong; as Doug Bandow of Cato has noted, the "notion that the military is dominated by ignorant minorities and low-class whites is both grossly offensive and a ridiculous myth... The military is quintessentially middle America."

What's even worse is that Rangel and Conyers basically engage in the scaremongering campaign that basically leaves one to wonder what their point is. Senator Kerry's alleged plan for Iraq differs very little from the one being executed by the President, except when Kerry starts flip-flopping again. But if they believe the draft will be necessary to win in Iraq, won't Kerry need to reinstate it?

Don't answer, guys. You're the perfect example of how certain legislators are a total waste of space.