Rock the Vote uses false scare tactic

[digitalghostx]

Rock the Vote!

What the hell is this draft about? No one in their right mind in congress would authorize this dam draft. Why get people sic'd up about voting based on the blatant false belief that if they somehow don't vote they could be facing a draft. That makes sense how exactly? What is the logical extension of this? Let's see, since your draft letter is signed by Rummy that means you want to vote but not just go to the poles and make put in a vote, but put in a vote for who... the other guy... wonder who that is? ... see where I'm going with this?. Instead of doing a partisan push 'ROCK the Vote' - they should do one with much less partisanship at least take Rummy's name out of it... Thanks. Dam idiots spreading bu11$h1t. They must think people under the age of 18 are generally uninformed.

[Balanc3]

Re: Rock the Vote uses false scare tactic

Rock the Vote & Vote or Die can suck DEEZ NUTZ!

[Jun_K]

Re: Rock the Vote uses false scare tactic

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=5834001&content_dir=ua_congressorg

Pending Draft Legislation Targeted for Spring 2005

The Draft will Start in June 2005

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.

$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. Selective Service must report to Bush on March 31, 2005 that the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for activation. Please see website: www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html to view the sss annual performance plan ? fiscal year 2004.

The pentagon has quietly begun a public campaign to fill all 10,350 draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots nationwide.. Though this is an unpopular election year topic, military experts and influential members of congress are suggesting that if Rumsfeld's prediction of a "long, hard slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan [and a permanent state of war on "terrorism"] proves accurate, the U.S. may have no choice but to draft.

Congress brought twin bills, S. 89 and HR 163 forward this year, entitled the Universal National Service Act of 2003, "to provide for the common defense by requiring that all young persons [age 18-26] in the United States, including women, perform a period of military service or a period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, and for other purposes." These active bills currently sit in the committee on armed services.

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.

Kerry vs. Bush ...Whoever Wins...We Lose

[FM]

Re: Rock the Vote uses false scare tactic

^^^old news.

Those drafts have laid dormant for a long time now...albeit they could be resurrected at any time if need be.

Plus, this line says it all: "Selective Service must report to Bush on March 31, 2005 that the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for activation."

Ummm, someone didn't proofread that.

I believe this will only happen if:

-more and more troops get killed in duty

-something else happens (Iran, N. Korea, etc.) where troops have to be shipped there as well

-the next round of recruitments come nowhere near goals required

otherwise, whichever President is under the reign of this instatement is going to have a severe decline in their popularity ratings...

[digitalghostx]

Re: Rock the Vote uses false scare tactic

^^^old news.

Those drafts have laid dormant for a long time now...albeit they could be resurrected at any time if need be.

Plus, this line says it all: "Selective Service must report to Bush on March 31, 2005 that the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for activation."

Ummm, someone didn't proofread that.

I believe this will only happen if:

-more and more troops get killed in duty

-something else happens (Iran, N. Korea, etc.) where troops have to be shipped there as well

-the next round of recruitments come nowhere near goals required

otherwise, whichever President is under the reign of this instatement is going to have a severe decline in their popularity ratings...

There is no need for a draft. Even if Congress let it happen the support needed to keep the numbers of people that would be called up would be impossible. Besides that we need to win this war not lose it with people who want to be there via volunteering. Ask anybody in a position of leadership in the armed services and they would rather have someone who volunteered rather than one who did not. Bottom line it doesn't make sense unless you want to lose the war and protract it and our resources far beyond the breaking point. This draft scare is 100% Grade A bull$hit.

[windsor1995]

Re: Rock the Vote uses false scare tactic

[/quote]

Kerry vs. Bush ...Whoever Wins...We Lose[/quote]

sadly, i believe the above statement to be true, is the USA truly a "democracy"/"free country" or WHATEVER...

money = power
power = money

Kerry=Bush

[toasty]

Re: Rock the Vote uses false scare tactic

There is no need for a draft. Even if Congress let it happen the support needed to keep the numbers of people that would be called up would be impossible. Besides that we need to win this war not lose it with people who want to be there via volunteering. Ask anybody in a position of leadership in the armed services and they would rather have someone who volunteered rather than one who did not. Bottom line it doesn't make sense unless you want to lose the war and protract it and our resources far beyond the breaking point.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but keep the follwing in mind:

When we ousted Saddam from Kuwait, there were about 500K total troops; there are about 140K troops over there now to occupy Iraq, a much, much larger country. If we are going to succeed in Iraq, which we must do, the troops to do so successfully are going to have to come from somewhere. I'm not sure what Bush has done to ingratiate himself to the general populace, but I wouldn't be overly excited about signing up for service right now. A draft is the unfortunate and likely inevitable result of Bush's foreign policy. Obviously, we would prefer to have a volunteer force, but that may not be realistic...

[Balanc3]

Re: Rock the Vote uses false scare tactic

just don't forget what party proposed that draft.

[LobsterClan]

Re: Rock the Vote uses false scare tactic

From Josh Marshall:

"Here's an issue that deserves a lot of attention, but has received precious little.

National security and military readiness experts generally concede that it will be extremely difficult for the United States to indefinitely maintain 130-odd thousand troops in Iraq and still maintain even threshold levels of capacity to deter and/or respond to threats in other areas.

By some measures the system is already stretched to near the breaking point.

At the same time the president's oft-stated policy is that we will stay in Iraq as long as it takes to complete the mission of democratizing and pacifying the country.

With that reality and that policy, somethings got to give.

It doesn't mean a draft is a necessity. But it does move it into the realm of serious policy possibilities the country has to face. This is particularly so when our military relies on regular recruitment of reservists who until now generally assumed that deployments in warzones were a serious possiblity as opposed to a near certainty, as they have been for the last few years. This is also the case since the administration has said very little about how it will confront this challenge.

In any case, it's a very legitimate issue. And anyone who thinks seriously about military policy issues has to see that it is one of fairly few policy options to address a looming crisis facing the US military.

Now, the youth voter participation group Rock The Vote has been pushing this issue recently, calling for an election-year debate on the topic in ways you can see if you do a quick google search with their name in it.

And what has the response been from the president?

This week RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie sent the group a 'cease and desist' letter threatening legal action against the group and raising the possibility of seeking the revocation of the group's status as a tax-exempt 501c3 organization if the group did not cease discussing the draft issue.

Claims that a draft is possible, Gillespie argued, are so ridiculous on their face that the the group could only be acting from 'malicious intent and a reckless disregard for the truth.' (Those, of course, are catchphrases laying the groundwork for legal action.)

Gillespie's rationale for arguing that there is no basis for discussing the possibility of a draft is the say-so of the president. Gillespie quotes him saying, "We don't need the draft. Look, the all-volunteer force is working ...

That, to Gillespie, is -- quite literally -- the end of the debate.

This move, if you think about it, is extraordinary. In a political campaign there are very few forms of political speech -- judged by content -- that should ever be subject to legal proceedings. But to threaten legal action to squelch discussion of a subject that is obviously a very newsworthy and relevant issue -- and one the country could face in the next four years -- is simply astonishing.

And yet, no editorial condemnations. Hardly a mention of it. These are now, apparently, the rules of the road -- expected and calling for no particular commenton.

That's even more astonishing."

[digitalghostx]

Re: Rock the Vote uses false scare tactic

The Iraqis have to be trained to do the work of securing their own country not more american troops. We don't need a god dam draft for fuggin Iraq.

[LobsterClan]

Re: Rock the Vote uses false scare tactic

Hmm...

Bush: "I made it very plain we will not have an all-volunteer army."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1506&u=/afp/20041016/ts_alt_afp/us_vote_bush_draft&printer=1