Air Force Secretary agrees women should have to register for the draft as men do

[davidn3600]

WASHINGTON — The Air Force’s top civilian official said Friday she supports requiring young women to register for a potential military draft as Congress heads toward a divisive debate over whether to erase gender restrictions from Selective Service.

Air Force Secretary Deborah James said there’s no reason women shouldn’t have to sign up just as men between the ages of 18 and 25 do. Women have never before been required to register in the United States and including them in a draft pool has outraged social conservatives.

“My opinion as an American is that we should have a Selective Service,” James said during the taping of an interview for C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program. “It’s an insurance policy for the United States and I think women should register just as I think young men should register.”

The annual defense policy bill the Senate is scheduled to consider next week includes a draft registration requirement for women. The provision calls for females to sign up with the Selective Service within 30 days of turning 18 – just as men do – beginning in January 2018.

Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, said they will fight to have the provision removed from the bill. They said far more research is required before such a significant change is made.

Republicans stripped a provision requiring women to register from the House’s version of the defense policy bill. They replaced it with a measure to study whether the Selective Service is even needed at a time when the armed forces get plenty of qualified volunteers, making the possibility of a draft remote.

However, opponents of expanding the draft may be unable to halt the momentum in favor of lifting the exclusion, which was triggered by the Pentagon’s decision late last year to open all front-line combat jobs to women. After gender restrictions to military service were erased, the top uniformed officers in each of the military branches expressed support during congressional testimony for including women in a potential draft.

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/06/03/air-force-secretary-deborah-james-backs-draft-for-women/

[niyad]

1. and maybe we could discontinue the war machine.

[DURHAM D]

2. Also, first they need to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.

[niyad]

4. exactly right!!!

[demmiblue]

14. Also, insuring their safety when it comes to sexual assault. n/t

[niyad]

21. yes, exactly

[jmowreader]

42. They need to pass a better ERA than the one Phyllis Schlafly killed

This is the original:

Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Rights_Amendment)

This thing was written in 1923 - in an era when sexual orientation and gender identity were considered mental illnesses. We live in a nation where it's still legal in many places to be fired or evicted for being seen with someone who has the same parts you have or for wearing the wrong clothes.

The ERA has been dead so long ratifying it means starting from scratch...so let's get the thing right this time.

[smirkymonkey]

49. Exactly!

No ERA, no draft for women.

[davidn3600]

3. The MIC will be banging the war drum hard whoever the next president is

Obama has defied them. But they will try hard with the next president. The MIC is itching for another war.

[former9thward]

12. Defied them?

We are involved in five wars right now. When Obama took over it was two.

[nationalize the fed]

20. +5

In the next 24 hours the US will spend ~$200 MILLION DOLLARS on fighting extremists that drive around in Toyotas. And $200 million the day after that. And on and on. And there are no protests. The people are being robbed blind and they can't even complain. Astounding. http://costofwar.com

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. We have a draft?

How did I not realize we still have a draft?

Admittedly, my "kids" are way beyond 35 now, but I thought that after Viet Nam, the draft had been aolished.

[Major Nikon]

6. Jimmy Carter instituted registration for the draft back in the 70's

There are several penalties for not doing so, many of which persist for the rest of your life if you miss the narrow window of opportunity for doing so.

Edit: It was actually 1980.

[mrr303am]

7. Was it Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford?

I turned 18 in 1975, and although they stopped the draft, I still had to register, this was before Jimmy Carter was President. Though we still had to register, we were not eligible to be drafted.

[Major Nikon]

9. Carter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Service_System#1980_to_present

[mrr303am]

10. Ok, all I remember back then...

was having to register, being relieved 'Nam was over, and not being draftable under the new laws.

[tonyt53]

31. Carter only renewed registration for the Selective Service. I was in the last draft birthyear - 1953

Nixon shut it down in January of 1973. The Selective Service registration was an insurance policy. Want another war, reinstate the draft without any deferments. None.

[stone space]

38. Jimmy Carter brought back Draft Registration to fight the Afghanistan War.

It is probably worth noting that we are still in Afghanistan several decades later.

Not that I'm surprised.

[dixiegrrrrl]

29. 1980 to '86 was when I was hibernating

Lived on a 15 acre farm on Whidbey island, no tv, was pretty self sufficient and rarely left the Island.
so much of what went on politically I missed.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

8. "Selective Service" they call it.

I had to register when I turned 18. They haven't drafted anyone since Vietnam, but it exists.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. Not happy that it exists.

But if it were an active draft, there would be a lot more protesting against our follies in the sandy places.

[stone space]

39. These days that arguement is used to advocate voting for Trump.

But if it were an active draft, there would be a lot more protesting against our follies in the sandy places.

The idea is that a trump Presidency will result in more protests and possibly in a revolution.

[obamanut2012]

26. WE don't have a draft

Not technically. We have the Selective SErvice, which will be ready if a draft is declared.

[uppityperson]

11. There is no draft. There is, however, Selective Service registration.

[Downwinder]

13. And penalties for not registering.

[pnwmom]

15. No ERA for women, no draft. First we pass the Equal Rights Amendment -- because the reason

for not doing that decades ago was that it would subject women to the draft.

[csziggy]

16. +10000000000000000000 nt

[davidn3600]

18. Well the barriers to ERA should be broken down then...

The opponents to ERA in the 1970s and 1980s suggested two main arguments:
1. Military draft
2. Public bathrooms

Get rid of those two issues and then what will Phyllis Schlafly and her ilk come up with?

Maybe it would have been better for feminists to push for ERA in 2009, when Democrats had more power and political capital, instead of what has amounted to be a useless Lilly Ledbetter Act. Now it will be tough for ERA to gain momentum after 2010 since Republicans control so many states.

Also notice Hillary doesn't even talk about the ERA. She just talks about the individual issues. That's a big part of the problem since most Americans assume there already is an ERA in place.

[niyad]

23. well, that and the whole unisex bathroom nonsense. I asked phyllis schlafly several times why,

if it is so horrible for our daughters to go to war, it is so wonderful for our sons. she got pissed, but no answer. just like she didn't answer if the males and females in her house used separate bathrooms.

[braddy]

17. 93% of our WWII Army was draftees, would it have been better if half had been females?

[LanternWaste]

36. Mariya Oktyabrskaya did pretty well for both herself and her tank crew during WW2.

Mariya Oktyabrskaya did pretty well for both herself and her tank crew during WW2. Nina Lobkovskaya and Lyudmila Pavlichenko both had incredible kill numbers. The majority of ant-aircraft emplacements in Stalingrad during the 1942 winter campaign were staffed primarily with women. Lydia Litvyak and Yekaterina Budanova both reached the status of ace during the Stalingrad campaign.
(see: Utopia in Power by Mikhail Heller)


So one imagine we can extrapolate the success of women on battlefield 1,500 miles west and reach the same conclusion.

[braddy]

51. So your answer is yes, even 100% would have been just as effective.

[NaturalHigh]

22. If we're going to have a draft, then everyone should have to register.

Personally, though, I'm against the draft.

[peace13]

34. If some people have to register...everyone should have to.

Guess you've never walked into the Post Office with your son and watched him sign his life away.

[NaturalHigh]

43. Did you not see the part where I said I'm against the draft?

And yes, my son is registered.

[peace13]

44. Young men don't register for the draft. It's the Selective Services...

....why would the women not register as well. They are equally useful and necessary to the country.

[stone space]

46. Because they refuse to kill on orders?

why would the women not register as well.

Do you seriously believe that all women will just line up like sheep to register to kill?

Millions and millions of men have already refused.

What makes you think that millions and millions of women will not also refuse?

[peace13]

50. It's hard to jump in on the middle of a conversation.

Summation...Make a rule for all and stick with it. Those who don't follow the rule should be penalized. Simple. We live in a society where there is no rule or law and the wheels are about to fall off!

[stone space]

52. If it's law and order you prioritize, then depriving millions of women an education isn't enough.

Make a rule for all and stick with it. Those who don't follow the rule should be penalized. Simple. We live in a society where there is no rule or law and the wheels are about to fall off!

You'll have to send all those millions and millions of women that you want to make into felons to prison.

Good luck with that.

It didn't work out so well when they tried to do that to millions and millions of men that they made into felons.

They had to stop the prosecutions at 20, not millions and millions, and decided to deny educational loans and grants, instead.

They made their rule, but they didn't stick with it. There was too much resistance at each and every trial.

You better hope that free college education doesn't become a reality.

That will turn the whole thing upside down.

Then the wheels really will fall off!

[peace13]

59. You speak a language I do not understand.

My best to you.

[stone space]

61. It's called english. (nt)

[peace13]

62. I'll leave this here.

Like I was saying. We speak different languages. I was trying to keep it positive but that's OK...no worries. You probably didn't mean that in a rude way.

[stone space]

65. I was just pointing out that turning millions of women into felons has consequences.

And that's what this would do to millions and millions of women.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. I burned my draft card in 1967. More fuel for the fire?

[obamanut2012]

25. Pass an Equal Rights Amendment, and I 100% agree

[apcalc]

27. Seems reasonable

[stone space]

28. This is designed to deny educational opportunities to women.

Under this plan, millions of women will become ineligible for educational loans and grants.

[dixiegrrrrl]

30. I don't follow.....how would that happen under this plan?

[stone space]

33. Women who refuse to kill will be denied educational loans and grants.

In the early 1980s, when the law was passed, it was called the Solomon Amendment.

[peace13]

35. Think about it...

Why should a young man have to register if he doesn't want to kill. It's not a choice...it's America.

[stone space]

37. He shouldn't. And I have counseled, aided, and abetted in draft registration resistence...

...to the best of my abilities.

Why should a young man have to register if he doesn't want to kill.

That's why I don't have an undergraduate degree to this day.

I was also arrested for Blocking the doors of the Federal Courthouse in Des Moines with a dozen others, in a nonviolent CD, during the Gary Eklund trial in the early 1980s.

[SQUEE]

45. "That's why I don't have an undergraduate degree to this day."

Well, I am now very curious.
If you don't have a degree, then how do you "teach" college level mathematics?



stone space
37. He shouldn't. And I have counseled, aided, and abetted in draft registration resistence...
View profile
...to the best of my abilities.

Why should a young man have to register if he doesn't want to kill.


That's why I don't have an undergraduate degree to this day.

I was also arrested for Blocking the doors of the Federal Courthouse in Des Moines with a dozen others, in a nonviolent CD, during the Gary Eklund trial in the early 1980s.

[stone space]

53. It wasn't easy. One of those "don't try this at home" sort of thingies.

Well, I am now very curious.
If you don't have a degree, then how do you "teach" college level mathematics?

[SQUEE]

54. ahhh..

If you say so.

So, then you are an undocumented professor?

[stone space]

55. No, I'm a US citizen. I was born here.

So, then you are an undocumented professor?

[SQUEE]

56. I didn't ask if you were a citizen..

It has no bearing on your credentials to teach, unlike attending college and completing a degree plan.

I was quite certain you felt birth place and citizenship had nothing to do with a persons status, why would you use them as your credentials to teach?
So can I teach college math too? I am a US citizen.

[stone space]

57. You asked if I was an undocumented professor.

I didn't ask if you were a citizen..

I answered that I am a US citizen.

So can I teach college math too?

It depends. How much math do you know? Are you good at it?



I didn't say "don't try this at home" for no good reason.

I had a good reason.

[SQUEE]

58. Well I have taken a few courses, though I don't have a degree, in Math.

So, I would be qualified to teach in Iowa?

You claim to be a professor, and admit you have no degree, or documentation to assure you have completed the pretty much universal standard of teaching, a degree...So you would clearly be undocumented.

I have to admit I have never heard of even an adjunct not having some degree.. usually a bachelors.

[stone space]

60. Then my "don't try this at home" advice almost certainly applies.

Well I have taken a few courses

Do you have any published or unpublished research in any field of mathematics?

[SQUEE]

63. I have all my notebooks!!

They weren't published but they were all very full and quite neat too.


Sounds like you put a lot of work and time, as well as money in proving your credentials. I applaud that, sometimes you have to work and put some time and effort into being accepted where you belong.

[stone space]

64. Mathematical research doesn't require much money.

But time is another issue.

Of course, one can always buy time with money, if you have the money.

[Duckhunter935]

32. And just how would this happen?

Was tin foil on sale?

[melm00se]

40. and the jury comes back

On Mon Jun 6, 2016, 12:12 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

And just how would this happen?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7885233

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

Tin foil quip is unnecessary.

Please hide.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Mon Jun 6, 2016, 12:18 PM, and the Jury voted 0-7 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: You're joking. Right?
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Agree that tin foil reference was stupid, but nothing here rises to level of a hide.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: This is a very mild rebuke. I find it hard to believe that someone would get bent out of shape over this. Leave it.
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: indelicately said but valid point/question.

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[Duckhunter935]

47. Wow, thanks

[stone space]

41. Obviously not asked in good faith.

Was tin foil on sale?

[Duckhunter935]

48. An alert on it did fail