Who's In Charge Here?

[BPSCG]

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — Vice presidential candidate John Edwards promised a West Virginia mother on Wednesday that if the Democratic ticket is elected in November the military draft would not be revived.
Link (http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-09-15-edwards_x.htm)

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) and Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) will hold a news conference on Monday to discuss their joint effort to promote among their House and Senate colleagues their legislation to reinstate the military draft. Rangel is the chief sponsor in the House and Hollings the chief sponsor in the Senate of legislation that would reinstate a draft to compulsory military or alternative national service for a war with Iraq.
Link (http://hollings.senate.gov/~hollings/press/2003124C22.html)

Let me get this straight. House and Senate Dems want to reinstate the draft (admittedly this was last year). Dems are now saying Bush will have to reinstate the draft in his second term, and he has a secret plan to reinstate it (the evil genius!).

But Edwards says Kerry will not reinstate the draft.

Hmmm...

[aerocontrols]

Insinuating or out-right saying that the Bush Administration is planning to reinstate the draft will probably be a very effective 'big lie' technique.

So far we've got Edwards, Dean, and Cleland all saying so in their capacity working for the Kerry campaign, and Kerry getting close enough to saying so that AP writes an article with a headline that misquotes him "Kerry Says Draft May Return Under Bush"

The Republicans may have a hard time quashing this meme. Knowing Rove, however, he's got some political Jui-Jitsu planned in response.

[TragicMonkey]

I thought the Dems who proposed reviving the draft recently did so merely as a political ploy, to make it appear that the war would threaten all classes of Americans with hardships, and thereby generate anti-war, anti-Bush sympathies.

[BPSCG]

Originally posted by TragicMonkey
I thought the Dems who proposed reviving the draft recently did so merely as a political ploy, to make it appear that the war would threaten all classes of Americans with hardships, and thereby generate anti-war, anti-Bush sympathies. Well, that was Rangel's confessed objective. But why are the only people saying we should reinstate the draft Democrats, and the only people saying Bush will reinstate it are Democrats?

Is Kedwards saying we won't need it because Kerry plans to yank the troops out of Iraq faster than you can say "bug out"?

[TragicMonkey]

It's probably nuts to think so, but I'm glad at least one of the proposed draft reinstatements suggests raising the age bar to 34 from the Selective Service's current 26. On the shallow side, I hate being made to feel too old for usefulness before I'm 30. On the serious side, 20 year-olds are just kids. At least older people have had more of a chance to enjoy life, and get thoroughly disillusioned with it.

I don't think the draft is a good idea in this case, but if we've got to have one, 26-34 is hardly over-the-hill.