Posted on 09/29/2004 1:17:31 PM PDT by .cnI redruM
It appears that Dan Rather and cBS are once more confused. They seem convinced that Bush, Cheney and the Evil Haliburton Cabal have a triple-secret plan to revive the draft. A recent cBS story on the possible return of the draft used a wonderfully reliable source. The following anonymous email.
From: "(name removed for privacy)@usdoj.gov" Subject: Military Draft expected to start July 15, 2005 Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004
The possibility of mandatory drafting for boys and girls (age 18-26) starting June 15, 2005, is something, I believe, everyone should know .This literally affects EVERYONE since we all have or know children that will have to go if this bill passes. If there are children in your family, READ this.
There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills: S 89 and HR 163) which will time the program's initiation so the draft can begin at early as Spring 2005 -- just after the 2004 presidential election. The administration is quietly trying to get these bills passed now, while the public's attention is on the elections, so our action on this is needed immediately.. . .
Please send this on to all the parents and teachers you know, and all the aunts and uncles, grandparents, godparents . . . . And let your children know -- it's their future, and they can be a powerful voice for change!. . . $28 million has been added to the 2004 selective service system (sss) budget to prepare for a military draft that could start as early as June 15, 2005. . . .
The pentagon has quietly begun a public campaign to fill all 10,350 draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots nationwide. . . .Dodging the draft will be more difficult than those from the Vietnam era. College and Canada will not be options. In December 2001, Canada and the U.S. signed a "smart border declaration," which could be used to keep would-be draft dodgers in.
Signed by Canada's minister of foreign affairs, John Manley, and U.S. Homeland Security director, Tom Ridge, the declaration involves a 30-point plan which implements, among other things, a "pre-clearance agreement" of people entering and departing each country. Reforms aimed at making the draft more equitable along gender and class lines also eliminates higher education as a shelter. Underclassmen would only be able to postpone service until the end of their current semester. Seniors would have until the end of the academic year.
hat-tip to FactCheck.org
So if forged memos don't get it, cBS whips out the faked emails. I couldn't help but noticing someone in the Department of Justice would not be a usable as a source for a story on the DoD. Maybe as a lead, but not as a quoted source. This is cheap scare-mongering and beneath the dignity of professional news organizations. That's why you can find it on cBS!
Now in fairness to the Rather-biased network, there have been efforts to bring the draft back. The following bills have been proposed to reinstate the draft. Their sponsors are also listed below.
S-89 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/C?c108:./temp/~c108hg1Gd0 HR-163 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h.r.00163:
Bills HR 163 and S 89 have been introduced in 2003, prior to the War in Iraq by Charles Rangel (Democrat-NY) and Senator Ernest Hollings (Democrat-SC) respectively.
CO-Sponsors of HR 163:
ABERCROMBIE, NEIL Democrat,HI BROWN, CORRINE Democrat, FL CHRISTENSEN, DONNA Democrat,VI CLAY, WM. Democrat,MO CONYERS, JOHN Democrat, MI CUMMINGS, ELIJAH Democrat, MD HASTINGS, ALCIE Democrat, FL JACKSON LEE, SHEILA Democrat, TX LEWIS, JOHN Democrat, GA MC DERMOTT, JIM Democrat, WA MORAN, JAMES Democrat, VA NORTON, ELEANOR HOLMES Democrat, DC STARK, FORTNEY Democrat, CA VALEZQUEZ, NYDIA Democrat, NY hat - tip to Wolverine at Freerepublic.com.
These individuals may have the world's best intentions, but they do not have President Bush's ear. There are no members of the present administration in favor of the draft. Seeing that The Army met its 2004 recruiting goals, this step would be gratuitous and stupid. cBS is lying to us once again.
Update I: Wizbang issues a Bogsphere Call-to-arms to assist sites dedicated to farrotting out CBS lies and distortions.
Update II: Vodkapundit describes the woman who cBS interviewed about the draft. She's a Leftist Moonbat.
Update III: Swimming Through The Spin describes a John Kerry proposal for national youth service. Gee, why did THAT get pulled of JohnKerry.com?
Once again, an awesome reason for Rather to retire early :)
Let's bury the Bush Will Bring Back The Draft Myth once and for all. I would like to bury CBS at the same time. This report was so unbelievably twisted and blatantly innaccurate it should be enough to nail the coffin shut. Why isn't it starting to burn yet?
Amen...
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