Wednesday, April 21, 2004

DO YOU FEEL A DRAFT?

There's talk of reinstituting the military draft in Washington.  Charles Rangel has been pushing the idea for a long time now.  Rangel's push isn't tied to recruitment levels.  Reports show that military recruitment isn't suffering because of the war.  Rangel's problem is not how many are volunteering to serve, it's who is volunteering to serve.  Rangel didn't like the fact that most of the volunteers come from lower and middle income American families.  It's an interesting concept, isn't it?   In effect Rangel is saying that volunteerism is OK, just so long as the right people volunteer.  If the people that we really want to volunteer don't volunteer then we'll have to consider forcing them to volunteer. 

This seems also to be the attitude adopted by Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel.  Hagel is also  talking about reinstituting the draft.  The reason? Again ... the right people aren't volunteering. 

Do we need a draft? No. Recruitment levels are high enough to meet current demand.  There has been no significant decline in military recruitment since the start of the action in Iraq.  In fact, recruitment went up after the 9/11 attacks. 

Our politicians in Washington should worry more about making America a country that men and women would be willing to defend, and to worry less about ways to force people into military service.  People will fight for a country that protects and defends their rights to life and liberty, and their right to use their talents and their work ethic to pursue happiness and a comfortable lifestyle.  People will be less willing to put their lives on the line to defend a system where the fruits of their labor are seized to empower politicians by rewarding laziness.

In effect, we already have a draft in America.  About one-half of the working men and women in this country are forced to work the first three months out of every year for the benefit of others.  They work these first three months of every year and then surrender all that they have earned during that time so that it can be transferred by politicians to people who have abandoned all or much of the responsibility for their own lives, including their responsibility to provide for their own food, shelter and clothing; to provide for the care and education of their children, and to make the decisions necessary to provide for their eventual retirement.

Rangel and Hagel .. among others ... are upset that more young men and women from upper income families aren't joining the military.  They're saying that these upper income families aren't carrying their share of the load.  There are many different ways to carry the burden of defending America.  You can do it by serving in the military, or you can do it by turning over the fruits of your labors in private sector to fund the military.  While it may be true that many of the volunteers who serve in the enlisted ranks of our armed forces come from middle and lower income families, it is also true that almost the entire burden for funding the military comes from those in upper income brackets.  I don't hear any of these leftist politicians saying that we must find a way to spread the burden of funding this war to lower and middle income Americans.

The way to attract more men and women to military service is to establish a program of veterans benefits that greatly reward those who volunteer.  It also might be a good idea to pay some attention to veterans hospitals while we're at it.

AND THEN THERE'S MICHAEL MOORE ... A TRUE PIG

While we're on the subject of Iraq, I'm sure you want to hear the latest from left-wing kook Michael Moore.  This is from his website:

 "The majority of Americans supported this war ... and, sadly, that majority must now sacrifice their children until enough blood has been let that maybe -- just maybe -- God and the Iraqi people will forgive us."

Now this is a man who truly hates America.  He believes that there is some definite amount of blood that must be shed on the battlefield by Americans before we can be forgiven for what has happened in Iraq; before America can be forgiven for shutting down Saddam's rape rooms, his torture chambers and his political prisons.  More American blood has to flow before Iraqis will forgive America for ridding them of Saddam Hussein and working to create a democratically elected government that will guarantee basic rights and economic liberty for all.  He talks of the Iraqi insurgents, the Saddam loyalists, the terrorists who traveled to Iraq to kill Americans, the Islamic fanatics who want to remove any vestige of freedom and liberty from the Iraqi lifestyle ... he talks about these Islamic terrorist monsters as if they are comparable to the American Minutemen, and says that they will win.  In fact, Michael Moore wants them to win.  This is a man who celebrates every attack on American positions in Iraq.  This is a man who celebrates the deaths of American soldiers.  And ... this is a man who campaigns with John Kerry.

CAN'T THE POODLE JUST CAMPAIGN HONESTLY?

And if, as Bob Woodward reports, it is true that gas supplies and prices in America are tied to the American election, then tied to a secret White House deal, that is outrageous and unacceptable to the American people.

Trouble is, Bob Woodward said no such thing .. and, of course, Kerry knows it.  Woodward, appearing on Larry King Live, said "It's two sentences, and I don't say there is a secret deal or any collaboration on this."

So .. Kerry quotes Woodward as saying that there was a secret deal.  Woodward himself says that he never made any claim that there was a secret deal.  Kerry then says he's going to stand by his position.  The very man he quoted said that Kerry's statements aren't accurate, and Kerry sticks with them?  How blatantly dishonest can you be?  I guess we're going to find out as this campaign continues to unfold.

THE KEPT MAN'S MILITARY RECORDS: NOW YOU SEE THEM, NOW YOU DON'T

Sunday on 'Meet The Press,' John Kerry promised to release all of his military records, and even invited the press to come on down to campaign headquarters to have a look.  So, on Monday morning, some enterprising news weasel did just that, and was turned away by campaign staff.  Later, Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan said the only records that would be made available were the ones that have already been released to the media. Huh?  What you talkin' 'bout Willis?

The hypocrisy here is off the Richter scale.  This is the same John Kerry that was outraged that President Bush didn't release all of his military records. The White House wound up releasing all of the president's military files, evaluations, performance sheets, pay records, and documents showing days served. During the Democratic primary, General Weasley Clark released his military records, including all of his evaluations. So the obvious question here is what is John Kerry hiding? It must be something. After all, why isn't he releasing all of his records?

It doesn't take a Yale graduate to figure this one out.  Kerry's former commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Hibbard, is raising questions about the severity of the injury that Kerry was awarded the Purple Heart for.  Turns out it may have just been a very tiny injury, something along the lines of a fingernail scrape. This won't look good for the Kerry campaign. After all, they've been running ad after ad pumping up Kerry's service in Vietnam. You do know Kerry served in Vietnam, don't you?  It's bad PR for the Democrats if sKerry has mischaracterized his military service.

There are probably other embarrassing revelations in the records as well, which is why the Kerry campaign is selectively releasing them.  The Democrats made their bed and now they have to sleep in it. After demanding for days that everybody else release their records, now they're not doing the same. The question is, will the media be as outraged about Kerry as they were about Bush?  Probably not. They don't want to be too hard on their guy, you know.

U.N. OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAM CORRUPTION SCANDAL

It's about time the corruption at the United Nations is being exposed, and this one looks like a doozy. Remember the U.N's Oil-for-food program?  Back in the mid-nineties, this was supposed to allow Saddam Hussein to sell oil in exchange for humanitarian needs such as food and medicine. Since just about everybody knows that Saddam was cheating on a massive scale, an investigation has been on-going.  Turns out not only was Saddam benefiting, but so were a lot of other people, including ones at the U.N. 

According to U.S. and European intelligence sources, at least three senior United Nations officials are suspected of taking multi-million dollar bribes from Saddam's regime.  U.S. officials also say there's evidence that the Iraqi dictator diverted $5 billion from the oil-for-food program to his personal bank accounts.  Documents have turned up in Baghdad showing U.N. undersecretary general Benon Sevan was paid off, along with about 270 foreign officials around the world. Some of those people include everyone from a British member of parliament to the PLO.  Sevan has denied the allegations, but went on vacation as soon as they broke.  He has also submitted his retirement papers.  Kofi Annan has launched an independent investigation, led by the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, Paul Volcker.  This ought to be good.

Claude Hankes-Dreisma, a British adviser to the Iraqi Governing Council, is overseeing an investigation by the accounting group KPMG.  Their report is due in May. He has said he believes that report will show that France and Russia, the biggest opponents of the war, were the ones that cashed in on the corruption the most.  He says that hundreds of prominent individuals may be charged after the inquiry. Hankes-Dreisma is scheduled to testify before Congress today on the issue. No wonder the Coalition doesn't want to hand over power in Iraq to the U.N...they can't even run a single program right!

Between the kickbacks, pay-offs, abuse and widespread corruption, The U.N. will finally be exposed for the worthless organization that it is.

MUSLIM CALLS TO PRAYER

The scene is Hamtramick, Michigan.  There are churches in Hamtramick, and there are mosques.  The churches have bells.  The mosques have loudspeakers.  The church bells call Christians to worship on Sunday mornings.  The loudspeakers call Muslims to prayer five times a day ... every day.  The residents of Hamtramick are a bit fed up with the speakers, but not the bells.  They say that the loudspeakers are different because they actually broadcast statements such as "God is Great" and "Allah is the one God." 

Last night the Hamtramick city council was supposed to decide whether or not the five-times-daily calls to prayer from the mosques could continue.  Sorry .. at this time I don't know what that decision was.  It's an interesting question though.  First of all, Muslims worship the same God, don't they?  So why would Christians be upset with statements that "God is Great?"  Is it not so?   If loudspeakers aren't allowed, why should loud bells be OK?

I'll try to get more information and share it with you today.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Michelle Malkin talks about the sympathy heaped on accused spy Captain James Yee.

Is racial profiling racist?  As always, an excellent column from Walter Williams.

Other than listening to talk radio, what are you doing to become an educated voter for  this year's election?  This from Rebecca Hagelin.

Kerry is out of gas.  That means he's getting desperate.  Gary Aldrich wonders if there's anything The Poodle won't  say to get elected.

Frank Gaffney, Jr. sounds the alarm about the European Union's constitution, and what it will mean for the United States. This should matter only to people who place importance in such things as constitutions.

I've been questioning sKerry's military record ... especially those Purple Hearts.  Does that mean I'm questioning his patriotism?  Jonah Goldberg discusses the issue.

Tony Blankley talks about Ariel Sharon's unilateral drive for peace in the Middle East.

Uh oh .. here come some proposed new changes in airport security. Good news or bad?  This from Linda Chavez.

Armstrong Williams says Condi Rice is actually helping the Republican party.

William F. Buckley looks at the real meaning behind Jordanian King Abdullah's cancelled trip to Washington.

I don't like hate crime laws.  Hate is an emotion. With hate crimes you are punishing people for their emotions or their thoughts.  Not good.  Here's a story about a challenge to a hate crime law in Georgia. Unfortunately, the Atlanta newspaper might require you to spill your guts in a registration form to read the story. [webwench helpful hint: need a log-in and password for a news site? try bugmenot.com. it's a pool of such log-ins. look up by url.]

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