(no subject)

[tanaise]

I'm watching The Majestic. I'd heard good things about it, and it was way cheap at blockbusters. So I picked it up. And I wasn't planning to watch it today, I was going to watch The Cat's Meow. But I popped it in. And round about the middle, it got really appropriate. I'm not saying I wouldn't have thought so last week when I bought it, but after spending a long time in the cold yesterday watching people who felt so strongly about what the government was doing wrong, it really hit a sore point.

For those who haven't seen it before, it involves a Hollywood writer who gets accused of being a communist--unamerican behavior, remember? I won't spoil it for anyone, but I was watching him defending himself to the committee, and I felt even better about going to the protest yesterday. Too many things too close to today.

My mom said according to NPR there is one member of congress who has a child who would be affected by the draft. One. Everyone I know, nearly, would be of the age. The town in the movie is a small town in CA that lost 62 boys in world war 2. 62. I thought about that. My high school class was 87 people. I don't remember the numbers, but say half was boys, 30%-50% of them ineligible for whatever reason (physical injuries, college, whatever). Take the classes above us and below us. three years of boys gone. Split it further--even 10 boys from my class would be a serious dent. There are more than that in the armed forces now, but still. And 50 years ago, that would have crippled our town.

Comments

[silme.livejournal.com]

Is the new draft being proposed including women also? It only takes an act of Congress. Just curious. I remember so many sexist people claiming they were against the ERA because it would allow women to be drafted. No, I remember replying, not necessarily. However, an act of Congress could do it at anytime. (Of course, some of these same people feared it would make airline toilets unisex. Those people hadn't ever flown, I suppose.)

I was ready to explode when my brother-in-law told me that the "alleged" (his word) loss of civil liberties didn't bother him because it didn't affect him personally. *sigh* I guess only one member of the US Congress feels that he'll (I'm assuming it's a he) will be affected by the new draft bill. If it doesn't hit them personally, I guess, like my brother-in-law, they just don't get it.

*sigh* I am grateful for my friends, for people like you, who feel compassion for others. And it makes me want to read Dalton Trumbo.

[two-star.livejournal.com]

I do not believe there will be a draft. The military itself doesn't want it. (Of course, they don't really want a war with Iraq, either.) And it'll take a war with 10s of 1000s of US casualties to really make a draft necessary in terms of sustaining numbers in the field. And I think the public will get sick of it and demand that we pull out before it gets close to that. (Look at Somalia.)

I remember the draft hysteria in '90-'91. In retrospect, the 10s of 1000s killed on the other side were a bigger stain on our collective soul than anything that happened to the allied forces. And I am much more concerned about the 10s of 1000s we are about to kill this time, without any provocation.

This reminds me of something that bothered me about the peace rally I attended this fall. One of the speakers was the mother of one of the US soldiers who died in Gulf War I. And while I don't want to imply that her story wasn't a valid one, I feel that making the cause of Peace be about Americans(/UKans) coming home in bodybags fails to strike at the fundamental problem, which is our failure to recognise the humanity of the other side.

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

I don't believe they're planning on a draft, it was just a discussion of how americans might view the war differently if people other than volunteers were making up the army. If, for example, they, their friends, their children, etc, were possibly going to be fighting in it. I don't think the administration has any plan to iniate the draft. This: http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20030110-014110-7787r.htm certainly doesn't make it sound like they've any plan to do it.

[silme.livejournal.com]

I was too busy/sick last week to go beyond the headlines. I read some more articles a few minutes ago. I rather like Rangel's sly motivation. ;) I think he is trying to wake up people -- make them see how *they* might be affected. I guess a lot of people are like my brother-in-law. Sad.

My generation was the first to deal with selective service or else. I remember friends at university reluctantly registering because otherwise they would have lost their financial aid. Gee, once again, as Rangel might say, the rich win out.