This is just me talking here…
I don’t believe there will ever be another draft were you train for 16 weeks and they give you a rifle and send you off to fight.
That being said, I do believe there will be some kind of national conscription to place people in jobs now being held by trained troops to free them up to go fight.
Roadrunner Cash, Powerball, or Pick 3?
And the stock market will be either moderately up or moderately down.
There’s too much money to be made hiring out private soldiers to the pentagon for a socialist plan like that. America craves free market solutions to our problems.
That was sarcasm, wasn’t it? I recognized it right away, even through your clever fog of subtlety. You might try polishing your skills a bit to avoid being such a bleeding obvious twit.
Xtisme, in post #28 you were trying to buttress your opinion by claiming any soldier would agree with you. But Senator Hagel was a soldier, and thinks the draft is a good idea. He’s got an opinion–you have an opinion. It looks like neither opinion gets the absolute military expert seal of approval, so far.
FWIW you may have noticed that I agreed with you in my post–Hagel’s quotes don’t support the OP. The news story talks at length about how the senate foreign relations committee wants more attention from the White House–perhaps Hagel was just trying to shake the boat.
I restrict my gambling to the Craps tables in Vegas. 
But feel free to stick my prognostication in a safebox and check on it 18 months from now.
FTR, Hagel’s not an “obscure politician.”
Do you mean something like this?
I guess they’ve tried it already.
I agree that a draft is very unlikely. And not just because it would be politically unpopular, but because of changes in the US military’s structure.
That said, why doesn’t the government end draft registration?
I do think we would reinstate the draft if “WWIII” broke out. I expect the reason we still ask men to register (and I assume it’s still only men) is to be ready in case that event takes us by surprise.
Or, because the government can and so it does.
The point, again, is that he has no official say so in whether or not the draft is re-instated afaik. So, he’s just giving his OPINION on what he THINKS might be a good idea. Thats all I’m saying. In other words, no one who actually matters (i.e. who could conceivable GET the draft re-instated, or even start the process going) is, again afaik, even seriously considering it.
Thats news to me. Although it could be stated that most MODERN military people (i.e. from the post-vietnam era) wouldn’t be in favor of a new draft as they MOSTLY think the present military structure is far superior. Also, though Senator Hagel might have had a fine military record, that doesn’t make him the ‘absolute militar expert’ in my book…it makes him another talking head. Show me the clammer from the main stream military of today asking for a new draft and you can play that card. Afaik you’ll get a big zippo, as most of the military people who’s opinion actually matters (i.e. the current crop of Generals, JCoS, etc) don’t want a new draft.
However, again, MY point was, reguardless of Sen. Hagels record, credentials, medals, etc, he has no input into the system to actually GET a draft re-instated…so he’s just talking. Show me some folks that actually matter talking seriously about the draft and I’ll re-think my position.
-XT
Why wouldn’t he? As a US Senator, he can sponsor a bill to reinstate the draft. How else would the process begin?
By no means. If the grand old party were to put together a Hagel, McCain ticket I could even be tempted to vote for it!
That’s true. The draft would be restarted by legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President.
I stand corrected then John (I thought it would have to come from Congress, and I didn’t realize that any single individual could put it forth for serious consideration). Is he in fact putting such a bill in place as we speak? How much support is there in the Senate for it? Whats the likelyhood the President will sign it if its placed before him.
-XT
From Article 1 of the US constitution:
I assume that means the Senate could introduce a draft bill. But even if it couldn’t, Senators would still have to vote on it. So, to say that a Senator has no say in the matter is incorrect.
I still think there is little, if any, support for such a bill. People in the US would not stand for it. Not unless we were in WWWIII.
According to some neocons, WWIII was the Cold War. Currently, this global War on Terror has the potential to become WWIV.
Here you go. Here’s my OP.
I’d like any one of the guys jumping on me saying, “You’re just having a panic attack and screaming about Bush reinstating the draft!” where I said anything about Bush wanting to reinstate the draft.
The only thing that could POSSIBLY be close is where I suggest that, were they to do so (for whatever reasons), they would lose the election - for the hard-of-thinking, that’s where we get the phrase “toss the election over it”.
Of course, then I responded to some willful misinterpretation with this:
And here I say…the exact same thing. That if Bush starts a draft he will lose. And that he is aware of that.
Then there’s speculation that, if Bush were to reinstate the draft knowing that it would cost him the election, he (can’t believe I’m forced to quote myself) “must really, really be devoted to working out the situation in Iraq”.
Again, where the fuck do I say that Bush WANTS to reinstate the draft? Where do I even imply it? Seeing as how I’m fairly convinced he would bathe in the blood of innocent virgins at every full moon if it meant his reelection, I think the last thing Bush wants is to reinstate the draft.
At least before 2005.
Sorry I didn’t get back to this bullshit pile-on before this, but I spent most of the last week trying to convince a major oil refinery that they’d be wise to spend millions with my ten-man company, rather than with larger ones…
-Joe
Maybe instead of ranting and waving your hands about, Merijeek, you could answer the core question asked repeatedly. Lets forget about Bush for a second. Do you have ANY evidence that, officially, the draft is being looked at in any way, shape or form, to be re-instated. Is Congress currently examining its options and forming the legislature to re-instate the draft? The Senate? Has anyone from the Administration said anything at all about the possibility of the draft?
Because afaik the answer is…no. There simply…is…nothing…here. A lone Senator makes a statement that he THINKS it MIGHT be a good idea to reinstate the draft means nothing unless said Senator is currently in the process of actually putting forth legislature to GET the draft reinstated. And even if he is (which, again afaik he isn’t) what kind of support does he have for such an initiative in either house? What kind of support does he have in the Administration who would have to sign off on it in the end?
If you just want to play ‘what if’ games, then orient your OP that way next time. Say “What IF Congress and the Senate put forth legislation to reinstate the draft and if the President signed it…”.
-XT
It’s very easy to interpret your OP as implying so, even if you don’t actually say it. Since quite a few people did, you should think about why.
Here is how I follow the logic implied by your OP:
**Some people are saying a draft is necessary for success in Iraq.
Bush wants to succeed in Iraq so badly that he might be willing to throw the election to do so.
Therefore, Bush might support a draft [in order to ensure success in Iraq].**
Why say anything at all in your OP about Bush being so single-mindedly focussed on “success” in iraq unless you mean to tie that single-mindedness into the idea of a draft? Just what exactly did you mean by this:
You couldn’t possibly mean that he would toss the election if he opposed the draft, so it’s only natural to assume you are saying he would support it. I’m sure that how most people read it who commented as I did.
In the future, you might simply ask instead of flying off the handle and throwing the “F” word around. Take that advice for what it’s worth.