THE DRAFT

Sinking a Democrat deception: "Trying to quiet fears of a return of the draft, the House Republican leadership engaged in a hasty call-up of its own on Tuesday. The Republicans brought to the floor a Democratic-sponsored proposal to reinstate mandatory military service and presided over its overwhelming defeat on a vote of 402 to 2. "We're going to put a nail in that coffin," said the House majority leader, Representative Tom DeLay of Texas. He accused Democrats of generating opposition to President Bush - especially on college campuses - by raising the idea that the draft might be re-established after the November election"

Conscription fantasies: "The Wall Street Journal reported this week that a rash of e-mails have been circulating since the spring about an alleged plan by the Bush administration to resurrect the military draft as early as next spring, provided Bush is re-elected. This is nothing more than election-year posturing. Most likely it was started by Democrats eager to take one more shot at George W. Bush and at the war in Iraq. The idea of bringing back the draft is a non-starter for everyone.... Not even a second-term Bush administration would risk bringing back the draft. To begin with, they claim the military gets a better class of soldiers from volunteers. But, more importantly, an administration that's headed mostly by men who avoided the Vietnam War and that panders to the upper classes is not about to alienate its core supporters by exposing their children to a draft when we're already at war". (More here and here).

Soldiers are NOT "the poor": "A persistent myth about the All Volunteer Force is that it is made up largely of the poor and the uneducated. In fact, Wong said, the volunteer Army is more middle class than its predecessor. "We don't have the fringes any more -- the extremely rich or the extremely poor," Wong said. "We look like Middle America.""

Milton Friedman helped end the draft by pointing out that volunteers are NOT "mercenaries": "In his testimony before the commission, Mr. Westmoreland said he did not want to command an army of mercenaries. Mr. Friedman interrupted, "General, would you rather command an army of slaves?" Mr. Westmoreland replied, "I don't like to hear our patriotic draftees referred to as slaves." Mr. Friedman then retorted, "I don't like to hear our patriotic volunteers referred to as mercenaries. If they are mercenaries, then I, sir, am a mercenary professor, and you, sir, are a mercenary general; we are served by mercenary physicians, we use a mercenary lawyer, and we get our meat from a mercenary butcher.""

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ELSEWHERE

More Democrat lies: "Army commanders denied allegations Wednesday that soldiers have been threatened with deployment to Iraq if they do not re-enlist. "It's just not being done," Lt. Col. David Johnson said. "We are a professional army. We want soldiers who want to be in the Army," he said. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., has demanded an investigation into claims that Iraqi war veterans near the end of their enlistments had been given a choice between re-enlisting or being sent back to Iraq. Fort Carson, with about 14,000 soldiers, including the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, claims the highest re-enlistment rate in the nation"

Edwards loses: "But the most devastating blow was struck when Edwards still wouldn't give up, and came back with the 90% casualty figure. That was when Cheney, addressing Edwards as an adult admonishing a foolish child, pointed out that our most important ally in Iraq is the Iraqis, and that by refusing to include the Iraqis' many casualties in his numbers--so as to be able to claim that almost all the casualties are American--Edwards denigrates the sacrifice of our Iraqi friends.... The second knockdown was when Cheney criticized Edwards' lackluster record as a Senator, noting that he had missed 70% of the meetings of the Intelligence Committee, of which he was a member, and that his home-town paper had labeled him "Senator Gone." That was good. But the devastating conclusion was Cheney's observation that despite the fact that as Vice-President he regularly presides over the Senate, he had never met Edwards until he walked onto the stage tonight. This fact blew me away; I wouldn't have thought it possible. It blew Edwards away, too".

Outrageous judge: "A state judge Tuesday threw out a Louisiana constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, less than three weeks after it was overwhelmingly approved by the voters. District Judge William Morvant said the amendment was flawed as drawn up by the Legislature because it had more than one purpose: banning not only gay marriage but also civil unions".

Cheney BAD for Halliburton: "Halliburton's relationship with the Bush administration is beginning to prove more problematic than it is worth. The company admitted 10 days ago that it was considering selling Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), the division carrying out billions of dollars worth of work for the US government in Iraq, in a desperate attempt to get out of the spotlight. It is considering a sale, spin-off or a separate listing for the business on the stock exchange. The company's shares have fallen from $50 when Mr Cheney first took office in the White House to the low $30s.... Mr Cheney, it turns out, may have been of little real help to Halliburton at all: KBR filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, weighed down by asbestos litigation it inherited from an acquisition the vice-president made while he was still running the firm".

Fun: "A conservative think tank says where George Soros goes, its members will follow -- at least until Election Day. The National Legal and Policy Center announced the formation of a Soros "Truth Squad" to inform the public about the background and motivation of George Soros -- a major funder of liberal, anti-Bush causes -- as he conducts a one-month speaking tour. The Soros Truth Squad, led by NLPC Policy Director John Carlisle, said it will travel to cities in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, where Soros plans to give speeches between now and Nov. 2."

CBS producer Mapes is a Leftist fanatic: "Before she left Seattle to become a producer at Mr. Rather's "CBS Evening News," Ms. Mapes produced a sensational report on a killing of a drug suspect by police that rested on the shoulders of an unreliable source whose story collapsed under cross-examination. Sound familiar? Former colleagues of Ms. Mapes agree that she was a passionate practitioner of advocacy journalism. "She went into journalism to change society," says former KIRO anchorwoman Susan Hutchison"

Carnival of the Vanities is up again with a big range of select reading.

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That power only, not principles, is what matters to Leftists is perfectly shown by the Kerry campaign. They have put up a man whose policies seem to be 99% the same as George Bush's even though they have previously disagreed violently with those policies. "Whatever it takes" is their rule.

Leftism is for most Leftists a desire to sound good rather than a desire to do good

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