One wonders just what is in the water in Washington DC. Or is it up in Harlem, in NYC, where Charlie Rangel's district is located? Something is wrong somewhere, but I don't know where!

What is old Charlie thinking about? It seems that every year, he proposes that America reinstate the draft.

In 2003 and 2004 he used the draft as a scare tactic. In the youth media, the idea seemed to spread like wildfire. Bush was going to reinstate the draft! The Republicans didn't have enough bodies to feed to the war machine! Old folks were going to murder more of America's youth to further their mad plans of world domination!

What was left out of all these hysterical screeds was the simple fact that it was Charlie Rangel (D.-NY) who sponsored the bill. Of course, it was all Bush's fault that he had to do it. He was just trying to save the American military from being undermanned.

So, in 2004, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives called Charlie's bluff. They put his bill up for a vote. And it failed to pass, 402 to 2.

Of course, you would guess that Charlie Rangel was one of the two. And you would be wrong! Not only did Rangel vote against his own bill, he sent out letters to his colleagues urging them to also vote against it.

He tried it again this past year, offering up another bill to reinstate the draft, but the Republican controlled House wasn't going to give him another chance to embarrass himself.

Now, with both houses of Congress in Democratic hands, Old Charlie is back! Slated to be Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, he is dusting off his old bottle of snake oil and is offering up to the new leaders of Congress.

Even with his own party in control, there doesn't seem to be much enthusiasm to reinstate the draft. Little wonder, since, when given a chance, Rangel didn't even support his own bill.

This begs the question: Why would Charlie Rangel, a flaming Liberal albeit not actually clinically insane, engage in such an obvious exercise in futility? Is Charlie losing it? Or is he merely crazy like a fox?

Although I asked the question, I will refrain from speculating on Rangel's sanity. Perhaps we should look at his own explanation:

"There's no question in my mind that this president and this administrationwould
never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that waspresented to
the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congressand the
administration thought that their kids from their communities wouldbe placed in
harm's way."

Ah! That explains it! This is all part of a plan to ensure that America never goes to war again! We'll ignore, for the moment, the simple fact that we went to war in the past while the draft was still in effect.

That might actually work, since the Viet Nam War garnered so much opposition due to the unpopularity of the draft. Of course, the constant misreporting of the fighting might have something to do with it.

No, there must be something more. What else could Charlie Rangel be after? Well, he had this to say on the matter:

"I don't see how anyone can support the war and not support the draft. I
think to do so is hypocritical."

Is that it? Another attempt to demonize Republicans? He certainly won't get Democrats to vote to reinstate the draft, especially since he won't vote for it. No, I think we have to dig a bit deeper. Here's what else Rangel had to say:

"If we're going to challenge Iran and challenge North Korea and then, as
somepeople have asked, to send more troops to Iraq, we can't do that without
adraft."

Oh, so he supports redeploying the troops from Iraq into Iran? That can't be right! He hasn't supported any military action anywhere it would actually do America any good. Haiti? Send 'em in! Bosnia? Bomb 'em into the Stone Age! Islama-fascist terrorist? Absolutely not! We might lose some soldiers and France would hate us!

Charlie Rangel has made the accusation that the voluntary military, which has done America just fine for the last generation or so, puts too many poor and minority youth into harm's way, since, according to this theory, the military is the only way for them to get an education and job skills. Again, for the purposes of this essay, we will ignore the facts, which are that the military has a higher education than the average of the American population and that it represents a pretty accurate cross section of the American population, except, of course, for those whose minds were poisoned by the Upper West Side Liberals who hate the military.

Wait a second! Hold the phone! Wasn't this exactly what that stuffed suit, John Kerry, said about our troops with his "botched joke"? I do believe it is! Said the humorously challenged Senator:

"You know, education--if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do
yourhomework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you can do well. If you
don't, you get stuck in Iraq."

We must be barking up the wrong tree, because this is what all Liberals think about our military personnel. What other things are Liberals interested in? What about socialism? We return to Charlie Rangel's comments. He spoke of alternatives to military service, saying:

"young people (would) commit themselves to a couple of years in service to
thisgreat republic, whether it's our seaports, our airports, in schools,
inhospitals."

And, naturally, there would be various incentives like education benefits to be handed out to those who are drafted. Yes, folks! We are talking about the Nanny State again! Cradle to the Grave, Charlie Rangel and the Left want to take care of us. Don't you feel all warm and fuzzy knowing this?

If you dig far enough into a story about the Democrats, sooner or later you get to the truth. Charlie Rangel doesn't want the draft to improve the military or to expand the War on Terror. In fact, he doesn't even believe that we are at war with Islama-fascists. He doesn't want to embarrass the Republicans. His chairmanship of the House Ways and Means committee is embarrassment enough.

No, Old Charlie wants the draft to further his dreams of a socialist Utopia, wherein all of us pull together for the "common good", as defined by the Liberal elites. Does this sound like the America we grew up in?

Do we really need a draft to get people to "volunteer" to work in hospitals and such? Can anyone really be a "volunteer" when he is drafted to do it?If you are as confuse as me, maybe there really is something wrong with the water in at least one of Charlie Rangel's offices.

I just hope it isn't contagious.

The idea of the draft is, well, daft!

Copyright Nov. 21st. 2006