HELL NO, LET'S GOSee the World, Minus Killing
NEW YORK--Here's another sign that the world is coming to an end: conservative Republicans are now fighting off liberal Democratic efforts to bring back the draft.
On New Year's Eve Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), a liberal African-American who represents Harlem, announced his contrarian war cry on the op-ed page of The New York Times. Noting the White House's desire to attack Iraq with or without an excuse, Rangel linked Bush's bellicosity to the fact that the soldiers in America's all-volunteer armed forces are disproportionately black and poor: "I believe that if those calling for war knew their children were more likely to be required to serve--and to be placed in harm's way--there would be more caution and a greater willingness to work with the international community in dealing with Iraq."
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That's where my idea comes in. Mandatory public service is a good idea, but rather than send young adults off to war or make them put in time planting trees or picking up trash--wasting the best years of their lives on killing and make-work--why not send them to study overseas for two years?
Sound crazy? Here's crazy: only seven percent of Americans own a passport--fewer than 20 million people--and only a fraction of those ever use one. Citizens of the United States, whose military and culture exert more international influence than those of every other nation combined, are among the planet's least-traveled homebodies. We're love to tell other folks what to do, but we never see where or how they live, much less get to know who they are.
And that's also nuts.
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Let the Feds pass a law, that takes your rights away
`Cause, “You gotta sacrifice if you want to stay safe!”
Till the day you find the Feds in your back pocket
Locking you away for saying “Question”, “Think”, or “Stop It”
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