Politics: Fallout

With the Democrats back in control of Congress, they now control the leadership positions. This is all well and good, save for people like Rep. Charles Rangel. I mean, can't the Dems find anyone else to chair the House Ways and Means committee?

Rep. Rangel wants to bring back the draft, supposedly to supply the troops for future action in Iran and North Korea. His theory is, of course, that reinstating the draft means the wealthy and powerful will have to risk their own children to fight their wars.

Baloney. Of course the rich and powerful will find ways to shield their kids.

What Rangel is really doing is finding a way to spite the administration and erode what support remains for the Iraq war. While philosophically, I might agree with him that the war was not worth fighting (not that we should hang the Iraqis out to dry), I am stupefied that someone can propose something as serious as bringing back military conscription just for short-term political gain. A solid majority (~70%) of the American public is against bringing back the draft, which seems to be one of the few issues people on both sides of the aisle can agree on these days.

Once the draft comes back, it won't be easy to get rid of, you can be sure of that. Seems like nothing in Washington is ever repealed.