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Cheney’s “five deferments.” [b][color=orange]In the summer of 1967 D ick Cheney was a married 26 year old man with a daughter.[/color] [/b] Twenty-six year old men cannot be drafted but (gasp) he was married and had a daughter BEFORE he turned 26 and that means he had two deferments!!! [b](Everyone who had a daughter in 1966 was draft dodger right?).[/b] Anyway, a half-truth is as good as a truth to John Kerry, so all you need to know is the two deferments part right? Except, that many many years before the draft, D ick Cheney had also - attended Community...

Hi all, please send the following or something similar to your local newspaper editor: The thought of Kerry as commander and chief is so repulsive to most military personnel that a majority say they will not re-enlist if he is elected. Take a poll on that! Our enemies perceive Kerry as weak. Our country is much more likely to be forced into military conflicts if he is our next president. More demands on our military combined with low re-enlistments means one thing. The draft! It is ironic that if these young protestors get what they want in this election, that...

Washington -- Despite repeated assurances by the Bush administration that there are no plans to reinstitute conscription, a national survey released Wednesday found nearly six in 10 adults -- 58 percent -- are concerned the country "could be headed for a draft in the near future." Among those of draft age, 32 percent of those questioned said they would not serve if they were drafted, and another 20 percent said they would actively seek deferment. The telephone survey of 1,028 adults was conducted Aug. 2-8 for the Alliance for Security, a project of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, a...

There is quite a brouhaha in South Carolina politics this week as we let You Decide 2004. It’s all over a voter registration mailer that seems to suggest if you don’t vote, you might get drafted. The United States has the largest volunteer military in the world. Mostly young people go to recruiting stations to either serve their country or reap the education benefits. But mention a draft--and it gets a lot of people going. The democrats managed to do exactly that this summer. It may have come as a surprise in your mailbox, and an unpleasant one. When you...

At a time when adulthood seems part of a distant horizon, teenagers may find themselves thrust into the "real world" sooner than they wanted. And a growing number of them seem to realize it. Most U.S. high school students think the government will re-institute the draft during their lifetimes, a new poll indicated. Of the teenagers surveyed, 55 percent said young Americans will be required to serve in the military, up from 45 percent last year, according to "The State of Our Nation's Youth," an annual poll by the Horatio Alger Association. The findings represent a loss of innocence for...

Senator John Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate who is trading on his Vietnam war record to campaign against President George W Bush, tried to defer his military service for a year, according to a newly rediscovered article in a Harvard University newspaper. He wrote to his local recruitment board seeking permission to spend a further 12 months studying in Paris, after completing his degree course at Yale University in the mid-1960s. The revelation appears to undercut Sen Kerry's carefully-cultivated image as a man who willingly served his country in a dangerous war - in supposed contrast to President Bush,...

You know, I know, and CBS News knows, that there is not going to be a draft in this country. Period. And you know, I know, and CBS News knows that, in fact, probably one pretty good sign that that's the case is the fact that the legislative proposals for a military draft (as opposed to national service) are coming from anti-war advocates like New York Democrat Charlie Rangel for political purposes. They get a benefit from scaring various constituencies into thinking that a draft is possible. So tonight's piece by reporter Jim Stewart was just flat dishonest. Noting that...

Yesturday I posted a story about Teens fearing that a draft may return. Well it seems that America Online has decided to advance the thory of a draft. They first posted the about teens fears story on Tuesday on the front page of their teen page under the headline, "Draft may be Re-instated." Then they posted a poll question asking teen whether or not they belive the draft is a good idea. (Of course, the answer was overwhelmingly no.) Then yesturday they posted the question, "If you had to join a branch of the military, which would you join?" (It...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Most U.S. high-school students believe the government will restart the military draft during their lifetimes, and shrinking numbers are optimistic about the country's future, a new poll finds. Among teenagers, 55 percent say young Americans will be required to serve in the military, up from 45 percent last year, according to ``The State of Our Nation's Youth,'' an annual survey by the Horatio Alger Association. During the year between polls - May 2003 to May 2004 - U.S. casualties mounted during attacks in Iraq even after President Bush declared on May 1, 2003, that major combat had...

Senator John Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential candidate who is trading on his Vietnam war record to campaign against President George W Bush, tried to defer his military service for a year, according to a newly rediscovered article in a Harvard University newspaper. He wrote to his local recruitment board seeking permission to spend a further 12 months studying in Paris, after completing his degree course at Yale University in the mid-1960s. The revelation appears to undercut Sen Kerry's carefully-cultivated image as a man who willingly served his country in a dangerous war - in supposed contrast to President Bush,...

Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Most U.S. high-school students believe the government will restart the military draft during their lifetimes, and shrinking numbers are optimistic about the country's future, a new poll finds. Among teenagers, 55 percent say young Americans will be required to serve in the military, up from 45 percent last year, according to "The State of Our Nation's Youth," an annual survey by the Horatio Alger Association. During the year between polls - May 2003 to May 2004 - U.S. casualties mounted during attacks in Iraq even after President Bush declared on May 1, 2003, that major combat...

There is no serious effort afoot to restore the draft, contrary to rumors circulating on the Internet. One Web site, bushdraft.com, claims to have "absolute proof that (President) Bush is making plans to reinstate the draft by the middle of 2005." Like most rumors, these contain enough kernels of fact to sustain, if not a feeding frenzy, then a platter of tantalizing hors d'oeuvres for conspiracy enthusiasts: Draft boards are indeed being maintained, but they have been routinely funded by Congress all along. The just-approved appropriation increases the previous year's spending on Selective Service by less than 1 percent. Upon...

As a teacher of high-school boys, I have noticed that my students don't mind pointing out my mistakes; some young men even appear to relish it. I don't mind, though, because it's important to apologize. Young people need to know that no one is perfect, and it is my job to be a role model who accepts responsibility for my behavior and my words. Apologies should be commonplace, but lately they are few and far between in the United States. Richard Clarke's apology in front of the Sept. 11 commission was so well received because he knew our system failed...

When Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry [related, bio] promised no more ``back-door draft'' for the National Guard and reserves if he is elected, the line rang true with some military families but fell flat with others. The traditionally part-time soldiers and their families have been called on to serve as much as 21-month combat tours as a result of the Afghan and Iraq wars. ``I think it was out of line. That comment does a disservice to the people who volunteer to serve,'' said Kent High of Waltham, who spent 11 months in Kuwait. ``The reality is there is no...

Many young people across Jacksonville are having a hard time understanding why a return of the military draft might be necessary today. Andrew Taylor, a 19-year-old sophomore at Jacksonville University, said he would understand if the United States faced a World War I- or World War II-type threat. But he's not convinced about the war America is fighting in Iraq. Policymakers nationwide also say the need doesn't exist. The Selective Service System, however, is looking for volunteers to serve on local draft boards if a military draft becomes imminent. News reports talk about a strained U.S. military that struggles to...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch July 19, 2004 Fears Of A Military Draft Persist By Will Sullivan, Of the Post-Dispatch WASHINGTON - In 1999, when Barry Zellen created StoptheDraft.com, he said, the site got only a few thousand hits a month. Even after Sept. 11, 2001, there was no widespread interest in the debate over conscription, he said.

GUEST OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR WASHINGTON — I went to war as a believer in the citizen-soldier. My college study of the classics idealized Greeks who put down their plows for swords, returning to their fields at the end of the war. As a Marine officer in Afghanistan and Iraq, however, I learned that the victors on today's battlefields are long-term, professional soldiers. Thus the increasing calls for reinstating the draft - and the bills now before Congress that would do so - are well intentioned but misguided. Imposing a draft on the military I served in would harm it grievously for...

The country's main reaction to the need for more troops in Iraq is that we should get other countries to help us out. In other words, draft foreigners. But events in Iraq have revived rumors and predictions that the real draft is coming back, and they have provided one of the periodic opportunities for advocates of a draft to make their case. That case has two parts. One is fairness: When you're asking young people to disrupt their lives and risk dying for their country, that burden ought to be spread across society, not concentrated among those desperate enough to...

Memphis Commercial Appeal July 11, 2004 A Draft Would Put Priorities In Order By David Waters If our national political leaders had any guts, they'd reinstate the draft. Right now. No exemptions. No deferments. No lotteries. No pulling strings with the local draft board. Turn 18 and you go - if not to war, then to some military base or function that puts you in harm's way. Two years, at least. College can wait. "American Idol" can wait. The NBA can wait. LeBron James and Britney Spears go. Jenna and Barbara Bush and Vanessa and Alexandra Kerry go. The senator's...

HOUSTON -- The sellout crowd at Minute Maid Park gave Muhammad Ali a hero's welcome Tuesday, but Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller would rather the former boxing great not have been invited. Ali received a roaring ovation from the crowd for being an honored guest for the ceremonial first pitch at the All-Star Game, but Feller came away angered by Ali's presence. "I object very strongly to Muhammad Ali being here to throw out the first pitch, and you can print that," Feller was quoted as saying in Wednesday's Boston Herald. "This is a man who changed his name...