A Draft
Stan Kid
January 1, 2003
Harlem Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) has announced he is going to introduce legislation to reinstate a mandatory military service draft. Rangel, a strident opponent of war against Iraq, said the United States has been "too cavalier" in its foreign policy. Its willingness to place troops in harm's way, he said, is tied to the fact that many soldiers are volunteers recruited from low-and moderate-income families.
"Realistically, when you talk about a war, you're talking about ground troops, you're talking about enlisted people, and they don't come from the kids and members of Congress," Rangel said on CNN's "Late Edition."
Perhaps someone failed to explain the true purpose of the military to those young men and women who jumped at the chance for a free education and training in technical skills that will go a long way toward earning them a respectable living in the civilian world.
It seems now that it's time to pay for those perks by doing their job, Mr. Rangel is calling for an unnecessary rule-change. And, he's basing his reasoning on the color of his constituents ("low-and-moderate-income families," in case you have been viewing the world through your belly- button for the last twenty years, is code-speak for 'black' and 'hispanic').
When you remove the emotional aspect, Mr. Rangel is doing nothing more than engaging in racism.
©2002 The Tocquevillian Magazine