The GIVE Act (HR 1388): Expand opportunities to serve, or create Obama's Brownshirts?

Great Debates
1

The right-wing blogosphere is buzzing with venom towards H.R. 1388, The GIVE Act (Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act), characterizing it as mandatory conscription into a leftist army aimed at destroying all that is good about America.

But in reading a summary of the bill, I don’t see anything that makes service mandatory, and it certainly doesn’t create child slavery, which is how it is being characterized in the conservative echo chamber.

So what is the deal with this bill? Does it encourage volunteerism, or create a sinister cadre of Obama youth that will turn in their parents for clinging to guns and god?

2

It is pretty clear that the right wing simply made crap up about Obama wanting a gestapo like force of volunteers. So no, there’s nothing in this bill to threaten the Republic. Nor are there black helicopters conducting recce missions on farmhouses in Montana, nor are there secret symbols written on the back of road signs that tell the Red China Army which way to go, nor does the fact that Yosemite is a UN World Heritage Site mean that our park rangers are going to be replaced by a blue helmeted peacekeeping force.

3

Just thought that since we were talking about strawmen, we should hear from one of the more famous ones.

I’d be interested an an actual quote from one of the detractors of the bill, followed by the OP’s rebuttal of those claims. He has quite convincingly rebutted the claim that this bill would “create a sinister cadre of Obama youth,” but since I don’t know who made that claim, it’s not all that impressive.

4

Well, there is this:

H.R.1388 “The Give Act” Mein Führer Requires YOU to SERVE 3 Years

and this:

Hr 1388 “The GIVE Act” - creation of American “Brown Shirts”? ? ?

or this:

Obama’s Civilian Army Begins

If you would like more, I can google all day.

5

Makes me think of the hoovervilles that are currently operating in California right now offer any youths a way to get into work on federal projects and keep em off the street.

Maybe a repeat of FDR’s new deal

Declan

6

And yet, every word of this dribble will be accepted here in Tennessee.

Pity me, for I will have to listen to it, & no amount of reasoning will stop it, for The Louder You Are, The Righter You Are™.:smack:

7

Were people this upset about Bush’s 2002 formation of the USA Freedom Corps?

Now, I’ve encountered some fairly wild-eyed leftists in my time, and they did not become noticeably less wild-eyed during the Bush Administration, but I swear I never heard anybody suggest that the formation of a national youth volunteer organization was the first step in Bush’s building himself a fascist army.

I mean, what the duck??? Are folks like this actively trying to win the Nuttiest of Them All award, or what?

8

Thanks for the links.

Since none of them are to any source I would remotely consider taking seriously, I have to say I have no real comment on them… except to say I wouldn’t take any of them seriously.

9

I’ll be the first to say that the summary of the act is incomprehensible. It seems to mostly just refer to other, preexisting acts and organizations with different acronym names, none of which I know and so my eyes glaze over as it says what it intends to do in regards to those.

Could anyone offer a human summary for the acronym-impaired?

The OP did specifically say that he was talking about the reactions in the blogosphere.

10

You have avoided the real question in the OP, and instead merely hand-waved away the naysayers, without saying that they are wrong, just that they aren’t very credible.

Are they wrong?

11

Hey, now! There’s no need to choose! :slight_smile:

12

:confused: Didn’t Bricker say that in his first post?

In other words, I think everybody here is agreed that nobody with two brain cells to rub together is likely to take the “AmeriCorps Brownshirts” menace terribly seriously. So there’s not likely to be much of a lively debate on that.

What I would like to know is: Given that starting or expanding a citizen volunteers program seems to have been pretty much par for the course for every Administration since George H. W. Bush signed the National and Community Service Act of 1990, why are people making a fuss about it now? Why wasn’t this a looming fascist menace every other time a President did it?
(Is it because…you know…the “Obama youth” types are…you know… “b”?) :rolleyes:

13

I didn’t realize that Bricker was saying that they were wrong. I just got that he was commenting on the fact that Fear had a more convincing argument. My apologies for not getting all the subtext, if indeed I missed it.

As to your question Kimstu, I have a feeling it has something to do with the fact that Obama is a Dem.

When the right wing talks about volunteerism, it’s charity, goodness, and the backbone of a moral society (to the right wing, that is).

When the left wing talks about volunteerism, it’s communism, forced labor, and the trappings of a fascist dictatorship (to the right wing, that is).

14

I am guessing that these are the same people who thought that calling Bush names was the ultimate act of treason. They really need to seek professional help.

15

I realize we’re focused on the right-wing blogosphere here, but didn’t Sam Stone start a thread inqiuiring about mandatory participation in one of these programs over in GD when this was first proposed? – thogh, to be fair, Sam was asking if there was any truth to the allegation.

16

Silly righty tightys have no appreciation of history. “Brown Shirts” were the SS, not the Hitler Jungen that they mean to compare this to.

17

SA. Not the SS.

18

Ya ok, but Clinton signed the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, and I don’t remember there being so much as a peep out of the righties about the forced-labor thing. What has inspired this explosion of nuttitude at Obama in particular?

19

Hell, never mind that, his jack-booted thugs are taking over college hoops!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/bkc_espn_obama

No more playing the game to win, oh, no, that’s too competitive! Now the President decides whos going to the Final Four! Wake up, America! Wake up!

20

OK, I actually laughed out loud at that, 'luci. :smiley: