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Argghhh! John Edwards annoys the Armorer.

By The Armorer on May 23, 2007 | | Comments (8)

Shock. I know.

One of the things we ought to be thinking about is some level of mandatory service to our country, so that everybody in America _ not just the poor kids who get sent to war _ are serving this country...

Leave aside the rest of the bilge in this piece from the Washington Post.

Aside from the fact that I'm not a fan of the draft (unlike some around here) I just tire of this Meme That Will Not Die coming from the anti-war crowd.

It's oddly contra-factual for the 'reality-based community' as it has no basis in... reality, just in their wishful thinking.

Recruits have a higher percent­age of high school graduates and representation from Southern and rural areas. No evidence indicates exploitation of racial minorities (either by race or by race-weighted ZIP code areas). Finally, the distri­bution of household income of recruits is noticeably higher than that of the entire youth population.

Demographic evidence discredits the argument that a draft is necessary to enforce representation from racial and socioeconomic groups. Addition­ally, three of the four branches of the armed forces met their recruiting goals in fiscal year 2005, and Army reenlistments are the highest in the past five years. A draft is not necessary to increase the size of the active-duty forces. Our analysis using Pentagon data on wartime volunteers effectively shatters the case for reinstating the draft.

Who are the recruits? Click here and find out.

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8 Comments

By Bob on May 23, 2007 12:32 PM
Couldn't agree more with you about this ding-dong. Chapel Hill used to be a tolerable leftist town, but this guy decided to move here from Raleigh.....I guess he doesn't want to make the drive anymore to his favorite restaurant on West Franklin Street. And, of course, another failed Democratic candidate, the Dean of the law school and now president of the College of William and Mary created an "Institute" at the law school so poor John would have a platform from which to spew his nonsense. Thankfully, both of them are gone from the law school, but John of Expensive Hair is still hanging around annoying many of the local folks. After watching this guy for many, many years in North Carolina, I can only say that I fear for the country if this guy and his super-ambitious wife end up anywhere near the White House. I think that if he wasn't so well-coiffed and hadn't honed that slick-talking plaintiff's lawyer act, more people would recoil at his nonsense. The good news is that there are lots of sensible people in North carolina, the present object of discussion notwithstanding.
 
By Bob on May 23, 2007 12:39 PM
Indeed, I cast covetous eyes on the carved piece that you presented to Andi at the conference in Washington, D.C. It would take something that large and swung with considerable skill and aim to wake up Johnny Haircut to the realities of the U.S. military. I do believe he hasn't made any progress since his 'glory days' as a law student here in the mid-1970's.
 
By Trias on May 23, 2007 7:57 PM
In my view people who feel more positively about their country are often richer. After all they have benefited. Poorer people are inclined to be more bitter. So one driving force for the wealthier to join is the positivity they feel for the country. Perhaps not the filthy rich who might be embroiled in selfishness, but the more modestly wealthy.
 
By BillT on May 24, 2007 12:35 AM
not just the poor kids who get sent to war The Lefties hatched that line of crapola (based on stats from WWII) during my war and have hung onto it like a pit bull with a squeaky toy ever since...
 
By Justthisguy on May 24, 2007 2:28 AM
Founders got it right the first time. Everybody shows up for militia drill, with clean weapon, ammo, boots, rucksack, etc., or he doesn't get to vote. And... Volunteers only, for foreign wars. We have one half of it right.
 
By Oldloadr on May 24, 2007 6:56 AM
The scary part is how little the average citizen really knows about us: our culture, views, philosophies, etc. I work with an elderly woman who lives within a mile of an Air Force base and yet knows absolutely nothing about us. Everything I tell her about the life is a revelation. Some have used that as an argument for a draft, but I know that won’t fix the disconnect and here’s why: In the last 2 periods of wartime conscription (Korea & Nam), draftees served on active duty for 2 years, most remained single during that time. They weren’t interested in learning the culture, just in doing their time. I once talked to a Viet Nam draftee who served his two years in the Army and he still thought military families went to the commissary, picked up what they wanted and walked out without having to pay! He thought living on-base was free, as well. I chased that rabbit to say this: It’s an uphill struggle for us to get the truth out to the electorate, since they know so little about us, already believe fantasies, and demagogues, like Edwards, are taking cognitive dissonance to the stratosphere.
 
By Karla (threadbndr) on May 24, 2007 10:02 AM
##$**@%% When will they get this right? You cannot get into the military without a High School diploma or GED. The enlisted young Marines that I know are the 'best' not the 'dregs' of their high school classes. My son and his buddy who enlisted in the Corps at the same time could have gone to college. Both of them had the brains and funds. There are exceptions, of course, and the military has always been the way for an ambitious young man with no prospects to get ahead (look at all the 'younger sons' in the Middle Ages who went on Crusade). The only thing 'poor' about our junior enlisted is the paltry wage they are given! *this Marine Mom is crawling down from her soapbox now*
 
By Trias on May 24, 2007 8:18 PM
The disconnect is pretty huge here in Australia. There are only about 25,000 actives and 15,000 reserves in the army. I know we are a small nation but with 20.8M that's 1 army for every 520 people. Hardly surprising so few know about it then. People in the military over here do not mix with wider society much usually keeping with other people in the army. All that's left is a military history which is not well known and recruitment ads.