Why isn't Kerry exposing Bush about the draft ?

[Sensei_Rebel]

Is it because a democrat introduced it, or that he wants it too ?

[I thought so.]

1. Has Bush brought it up?

As Truman said,"Never kick a fresh cow turd on a hot day."

[Sensei_Rebel]

6. whatever, i said EXPOSE, not state something Bush has said or not

[Racenut20]

2. Maybe because they will have to do it themselves when elected.

[I thought so.]

16. ???

Make some sense. Or are you just kicking post numbers.

[exgop]

3. Remember Fritz Mondale?

"My opponent will raise your taxes. So will I. He won't tell you. I just did." - Fritz Mondale, 1984

Fritz was right, but he carried only one state against RR because RR denied he would do as Mondale claimed leaving the voters with a choice of the guy who would raise taxes and the guy who promised not to do so.

Kerry knows that his choices are: (1) bail out of Iraq; or (2) start the draft. His rhetoric rules out option 1. Political expediency requires not talking about number 2. If he denies the need for a draft, it will come back to haunt him later. If he embraces it, he sets up the Bush denial leading to a choice by the voters similar to that in RR v Mondale.

[Racenut20]

4. Excellent review

[w4rma]

14. Not true, exgop. Read post #5 by Dems Will Win, please. (nt)

[I thought so.]

17. The war cannot continue,

it will cost too much. That is the brickwall. Kerry needs to say as little as possible about it until he can find out what is really going on. Bush is a liar and withholds whatever he can. The bad news is only beginning.
Kerry has to be very brave to go into this mess. I have confidence that he will solve it.

[Dems Will Win]

5. He is talking about it, the corporatist media won't talk about his plan.

Kerry just told 130 college editors NO DRAFT and said with a sensible foreign policy the DRAFT is ABSOLUTELY UNNECESSARY. IGNORE THE DEM BILLS, THEY ARE IRRELEVANT AND WILL NEVER BE BROUGHT TO THE FLOOR EVEN AS THEY DRAFT WOMEN FOR COMBAT.

This summer Bush is reducing DRAFT ACTIVATION time by having the SSS conduct NATIONWIDE EXERCISES to test the whole system, even to the point of filling all DRAFT BOARD vacancies and gearing up the Alternative Service for COs for the first time in three decades. Right now the SSS must be ready within 193 days to conscript. With the current reactivation plan due to go into effect in a few weeks, the SSS must report to the Director on March 31, 2005 that they are tuned up and ready to conscript within 75 days of reauthorization from Congress (just a trigger resolution is needed, no new law). The first lottery for 20 year-olds could be June 15, 2005.

http://www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html

That's what Bush is doing. Quietly oiling up the DRAFT Machinery for Spring 2005.

Kerry's NO-DRAFT plan to raise 40,000 additional troops and avoid reinstatement of the draft is added up this way (my synthesis):

1. Move some paper-pushers to combat (lots of potential there in nearly a million non-active-duty)
2. Increase enlistment with real scholarships and pay raises
3. Let troops know Special Ops will hunt al-Queda, no more invasions needed, so Guard/Reserve re-up rate goes up. "Primarily a law enforcement effort, not a full military effort", say JK on MTP last Sunday.
4. Start a "Civilian Stability Corps" that would help in reconstructing Afghanistan and Iraq and relieve military pressure.
5. GET FOREIGN TROOPS TO COME INTO INSTEAD OF LEAVE IRAQ!!

http://www.candidatemap.com

"...I propose that we enlist thousands of them in a Civilian Stability Corps, a reserve organization of volunteers ready to help win the peace in troubled places. Like military reservists, they will have peacetime jobs; but in times of national need, they will be called into service to restore roads, renovate schools, open hospitals, repair power systems, draft a constitution, or build a police force. A Civilian Stability Corps can bring the best of America to the worst of the world—and reduce pressure on the military."
< Source: Kerry, John. "Protecting Our Military Families in Times of War: A Military Family Bill of Rights." March 17, 2004. http://johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0317.html >

With this NO-DRAFT PLAN, Kerry will not have to resort to conscription, even after Bush screwed the whole thing up.


From STOPTHEDRAFT.COM

http://technologyreports.net/stopthedraft/?articleID=2550

What do a former fighter pilot in the National Guard and a former officer in the Navy have in common? Both have promised not to reinstate the military draft if elected president.

Senator John Kerry has promised that if elected president he will not reinstate the military draft, but will increase troop numbers by 40,000.

President Bush and his staff have also promised the American public that there are no plans to reinstate the military draft.

-snip-

John Kerry wants to deploy 40,000 more troops to Iraq and finish the job quickly. Yet when asked how he would do it, he said that a draft is not needed and people will enlist. To his advantage, however, Senator Kerry was an anti-war activist after serving his duties as a Navy officer in the Vietnam War and knows first-hand the pitfalls of the military draft.

-snip-

Kerry said on MTP that we don't need to invade whole nations beyond Afghanistan. He has a plan to increase 40,000 troops without a draft, a plan to bring in foreign troops to Iraq.

There's this: http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/clips/news_2004_0330b.html

“When I returned from service in the military, I testified to the Congress about the racism in the military, about the lopsided application of the draft, the impact that it had on minority communities, the lopsided number of casualties, both African-American and Hispanic, predominantly.

“And I testified to the Congress about the inequality of the application of the draft and the way in which they were treated when they came home, left in communities that were neglected and lacked health care and education and other issues.”


Also this: http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/clips/news_2003_1203a.html

"Kerry also said he doesn’t believe there is a need to reinstate the draft, a source of conflict during the Vietnam War. "

[Blue Wally]

10. If Senator Kerry said this...........

He never saw the Army after the draft was eliminated.

“When I returned from service in the military, I testified to the Congress about the racism in the military, about the lopsided application of the draft, the impact that it had on minority communities, the lopsided number of casualties, both African-American and Hispanic, predominantly."


The percentages of minorities in the Army went up very steeply after
the draft was eliminated during the 1970s.

Combat and Non-Combat Deaths in Vietnam:

Caucasian-86.31%
African-American-12.36%
Asian/Pacific Islander-0.64%
Native American-0.38%
Not Reported-0.21%

Hispanics not broken out separately.

[dxbiker]

7. Kerry said

we don't need a draft and he doesn't intend to revise it, but he wouldn't rule it out either

[DoYouEverWonder]

8. At the moment

from a political standpoint, the best thing Kerry can do is lay low and let Bu$hCo finish digging their own graves.

The media is looking for any excuse to take attention away from all the Bu$hCo scandals, hence the week long Ronnie Fest. If Kerry does or says something stupid, they'll be all over him like stink on shit.

[Sensei_Rebel]

9. Finally some great news !!!

Thanks DoYouEverWonder

EDIT: Oops, I read that as "if Bush does or says something stupid"

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. Unfortunately, the media

will do everything they can to ignore the multitude of stupid things that W does on a daily basis.

[bowens43]

11. expose what?

When have the republicans ever indicated that they intend to re-instate the draft? Everything I have seen says that the republicans are very much opposed to the draft.

[Sensei_Rebel]

13. i dunno...

... maybe OILING UP THE DRAFT MACHINE rings a bell

[w4rma]

15. The Republican leadership is saying one thing, while doing the opposite.

See Sensei_Rebel's response #13 and Sensei_Rebel's thread here.