Posted on 05/26/2004 11:15:27 AM PDT by G. Stolyarov II
Mr. Stolyarov is also the recipient of the February 2004 Editor's Choice Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry, presented by poetry.com and the International Library of Poets. He can be contacted at gennadystolyarovii@yahoo.com.
This letter was also published on Congress.org: http://congress.org/congressorg/bio/userletter/?letter_id=92413221
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A self promoting vanity in the "news" catagory?
It would be interesting what type of response this letter's reasoning would have elicited in 1943.
Also, I'd be interested if these bills simply resume the traditional military draft...or if they now propose to draft females as well.
G. Stolyarov II should have paid better attention in class - Freedom ain't free. Canada is due north, keep the morning sun on your right and the afternoon sun on your left. Start walking. And don't come back.
Understand...and I believe he'll be taking in females as well: not a good policy in my estimation.
No matter what you may mean by "natural," know that the same Creator who conferred those rights on "every" human being can take them away, sometimes for hundreds of years at a stretch.
Just ask Israel.
Probably the same thing -- as least insofar as a war on foreign soil was concerned.
I think his rationale is actually quite sound. His point is that personal liberty is not subservient to the will of the state.
As a child, I immigrated to this country from the Republic of Belarus, a republic in name only. This nation languishes under the iron fist of the dictator Lukashenko -snip- I fled this threat from an admitted Neo-Communist and hater of America, only to be subjected to the menace of a viler and far less lenient draft in the freest country on Earth.
My grandparents came here from Hungary to escape the Bolsheviks. They and thousands of others fled to these shores, and fashioned themselves a new home, proudly learning the language and taking oaths of citizenship. And when danger came and their new nation called, their sons gladly answered. They knew opression.
And were they still alive today, they would know the enemy for what they are: Socialism, and "admitted Neo-Communist and hater of America," whether that name is Rodham, Ailinsky, Clinton, Chomsky, or Kennedy.
My right to life means that no individual, group, or government can ever possess the prerogative to kill me. Yet, by sending me to do battle abroad, against my consent, armed with only a doughboy’s knowledge of war, the government would render me easy prey for any terrorist or fanatic devious enough to know the elementary tactics I would have been taught.
And what right to life did the innocents have on September 11th, when their bodies were turned into powder? The Wahabbis didn't hearken to their protests of "right to life", did they?
I can personally attest to the training and professionalism of the men and women under my charge - to accuse my brethren under arms of being no better than Soviet conscripts is outrageous, and belies your knowledge of your adopted home.
My right to liberty implies the right to chart my own course in life, to select my own field of professional endeavor. I am a writer, not a soldier.
I am both writer and soldier. I aspire to the calling and greatness of both: to paint with the brushstrokes of words and uplift the spirit; and to stand ready to preserve that spirit for my children who follow me. I would not choose between either, therefore I shall be both.
My right to the pursuit of happiness implies just that; so long as I do not violate others’ basic liberties, I am entitled to whatever ends I deem just and whatever means I deem fitting.
You are entitled to NOTHING!! Can you not understand that? All things, even in the freest nation, come with a price. Freedom is not free; it is purchased and maintained by those who would gladly give that last full measure of devotion, thinking the cost justified and cheap. I am mixing quotes, but the montage in no way cheapens the meaning.
In a country where free enterprise and specialization of labor are held essential to the progress of every individual, I should be permitted to remain where I sit.
"And then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me." Remember those words?
And I would detest any tyrant, whatever name he chooses to go under, who would presume to make that judgment for me.
And I go forth to see that no one does.
Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Mr. Stolyarov? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because, deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something.You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you" and went on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand at post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.
First, these draft revival bills are Rat sh!t, intended to stir bedwetters to protest our president and his foreign policy.
They have no chance of even getting out of committee.
Second, the draft is perfectly legal. It is a selective calling up of the unorganized militia.
Spud, if something bad happens and a draft is reinstituted, you gd better show.
Well put, FRiend! {{HUGS!}} You said it so much better than I could have. I am really getting tired of the "I don't wanna play war and you can't make me" game. Will the hippies never go away?? Seems they are re-invented with each new challenge to our country's sovereignty and security and they wanna sit on their A$$es and give it away. Thank you, Sarge, and all the other heroes in our military for doing the heavy lifting so that idiots like this CAN sit on their butts and whine.
Perfect, poohbah! And thank you!
All this draft stuff is just class baiting by the Dems. They make this silly argument that wars are fought primarily by kids whose families are of modest means, and that this is somehow unfair. They say kids from more prosperous families should serve in greater numbers.
Can you believe anyone buys this Democratic nonsense?
Last I checked, the Creator isn't serving in Congress.
If the Creator wants a draft, he can come on down and start one. Until then every man's natural rights remain.
Unbeleiveable isn't it??
Same story, different decade.
I love it!!! Those words fit this perfectly!
Yes,
Who is Josh btw? I will include him im my prayers.
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