Poll on the draft. What would you do?

[bluestateguy]

What would you do if a draft was reinstated and you were called to "serve"?

[Mattforclark]

1. I have a legal way out

I'm not 100% sure I would use it though.

[bluestateguy]

2. kick

:kick:

[strategery blunder]

3. Ideally, try to get a legal way out.

Failing that, however, I might have to be creative. My options for fleeing the country are limited to nonexistant, so I might have to do this:





<snip>
The Self-Immolation
On June 11, 1963, Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk from the Linh-Mu Pagoda in Hue, Vietnam, burned himself to death at a busy intersection in downtown Saigon, Vietnam.. Eye witness accounts state that Thich Quang Duc and at least two fellow monks arrived at the intersection by car, Thich Quang Duc got out of the car, assumed the traditional lotus position and the accompanying monks helped him pour gasoline over himself. He ignited the gasoline by lighting a match and burned to death in a matter of minutes. David Halberstam, a reporter for the New York Times covering the war in Vietnam, gave the following account:

I was to see that sight again, but once was enough. Flames were coming from a human being; his body was slowly withering and shriveling up, his head blackening and charring. In the air was the smell of burning human flesh; human beings burn surprisingly quickly. Behind me I could hear the sobbing of the Vietnamese who were now gathering. I was too shocked to cry, too confused to take notes or ask questions, too bewildered to even think…. As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people around him.

<snip>

More info here

[Syrinx]

4. I'm 38, so I'm probably not in danger anyway, but...

I sure as hell wouldn't fight for these bastards. Maybe I'd tell 'em I'm gay, and then write lots of letters to the editor. :shrug:

[hang a left]

5. Since I am a 43 year old female I would not be affected.

However, I have two sons, one will be 18 next year. I'll do whatever it takes to keep him alive, and that means anything.

[drthais]

7. I have two sons, 19 and 22

and you can bet that I would do ANYTHING
to keep them out of this mess
these pigs have created
how DARE they send our young people off to die
and for WHAT??????

[Arkana]

6. I'd refuse to serve

Although when you have flat feet and a seizure disorder like I do, you're kinda less likely to do any combat.

But I refuse to help the War on Oil for any purpose. Eat shit, Chickenhawk George.

Should the SS come after me, I have three words that I think our Chimperor should recognize: Bring it on!

[Peter1x9]

8. I already have a way out.

They need only to xray my right foot if the long scars on both sides of it don't convince them already. In the xray they would see the 3.5" screw and all the other little plates and screws in it.
I was flat-footed in both feet already though.

[Mattforclark]

9. info on legal ways here --->

http://www.sss.gov/regisrantsbk.htm

As long as the government can't destroy my birth certificate, I'm not eligible. I am lucky. I didn't do anything to deserve it.

[robertpaulsen]

34. I'm bookmarking the thread for this link.

Thanks Mattforclark! I'm 31, but I read in the Toronto Star recently that they are trying to extend the draft to age 35. In that event, since I am physically fit, I will try to fail the mental and moral standards. That's how my comedy hero Andy Kaufman avoided the draft. He scored a solid zero on the psychology test.

[LizW]

10. I'm too old, but

I would work on finding a legal way out for my two sons.

Is that bad? Am I a bad person for not wanting my kids to go? I can't help it. These are my children, not some power mad chickenhawk's cannon fodder. :(

[bluestateguy]

11. kick

:kick:

[bluestateguy]

12. kick

:kick:

[leftistagitator]

13. With * in office or Kerry?

[Radical Activist]

14. When will Kerry pledge not to use the draft?

I've only heard Kerry make wishy-washy statements on the draft, but no pledge to not use it. I want to beat Bush but this is the one issue that could make me vote for Nader more than any other. I'll be damned if I vote for anyone who would draft people to fight this immoral war based on lies.

I see a lot of posts on this topic from people with Kerry signs as their avatar and I'm wondering if any of you are going to expect Kerry to pledge that he won't reinstate the draft before you give him your vote?

If Bush tried to reinstate the draft the Democrats in Congress would fight it, and it would probably fail. If Kerry got elected and tried to reinstate the draft, it might actually happen. Kerry has said that if the generals want more troops, then he will provide more troops for Iraq. We're already stretched to the limit so the draft is probably the only way to fill a demand for more troops. Does anyone have a direct quote of Kerry pleding that he won't draft people into Iraq? I can't find one.

[bluestateguy]

18. A draft under Kerry is unlikely

Be rational.

You can vote for Nader, who won't bring back the draft and won't win, and swing the election to Bush who will definently bring back the draft. You can vote for Kerry and make it unlikely that a draft will ever be brought back. Kerry isn't stupid. He knows how sharply the Left turned on LBJ with his escalation of the war, and honestly I really just think Kerry is saying some of these hawkish things because he has to to appease the corporate media and the wishy washy swing voters. After the election is another story.

[Radical Activist]

19. Kerry did pledge to send more troops

if the generals asked for them. That likely means a draft. Like I wrote before, I can count on Democrats in Congress to oppose the draft if Bush tries it. I can't count on all Democrats in Congress to oppose a draft if Kerry proposes one. Unless Kerry changes his stance on the occupation a draft seeme MORE likely under Kerry than Bush. It isn't very difficult to take a stand against the draft, which makes it very puzzling that he hasn't.

[bluestateguy]

22. He has to say that

Do you really think in the middle of a campaign Kerry is going to be quoted as saying "No, I will not give the generals more troops if they ask for them."? You have to say things to get elected. That's just the way it is. We say we like straight shooters, but we never vote for them: just ask presidents Barry Goldwater and Ross Perot.

[Radical Activist]

24. I guess I'm idealistic...

I'd like a nominee with the balls to say the Iraq war is bullshit and it should end. That's why I'll be voting for Kucinich in the Arkansas primary this month. Hopefully Kerry will get a clue soon. Generals shouldn't decide how many troops we send to war, the commander-in-chief does.

[Deaner1971]

32. What about the positive impact of a draft?

Might we be less likely to fight these BS wars based on fear and foreboding if more of this nation had a stake in the casulaties that result?

I think you would be seeing a much bigger anti-war reaction if more of the nation feared for their children rather than see them as "someone else's kid".

[Skittles]

15. no one had to draft me

I volunteered to serve.

[Bozita]

16. Use the Ted Nugent technique ... It's Republican approved! ... It works

It's not for the fainthearted. Take a deep nreath.

Google this combo:

Nugent draft physical

[Cat Atomic]

17. I'd refuse. There's no way in hell I'd kill for Texaco and GE.

And there's *certainly* no way I'd die for them.

[Hubert Flottz]

20. I kicked all the other Ideas around too in 1970!

But when I got my "Greetings" letter I had to get on the bus to Fort Ord and my new Mommy And Daddy Drill Sgt. Kicksomecharlieassnow! One day I had some nice long flowing hippie hair, the next day I was a chrome dome! IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! THE ARMY IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT! GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS! YOU'D BETTER GET WITH THE PROGRAM! GET OVER IT! Get used to it, they yell at you a lot! I'm only going to yell at you once! * VOTE! * I Was too young to vote when they grabbed my young ass!

[BrotherBuzz]

21. I was drafted once already, they don't want me.

but I will volunteer to drive the bus or boat to wherever our young citizens need to be till this madness passes.

[7th_Sephiroth]

23. if it came down to it

i'd prolly terrorize my local draft board members til they got the message

[Cascadian]

25. I am over the hill so I am in no danger...yet

I would do my damnedest to get out of it. I would work through the legal channels. If that did not work then run like hell.


John

[markomalley]

26. Already did my time...

...so unless they are into getting old farts that already have served, I'm safe.

[bluestateguy]

27. kick

:kick:

[Misunderestimator]

28. I think they would lighten the phys requirements

such as flat feet... these days there are many therapeutic ways to handle that. Even if the problem is severe, with painful heel spurs for example, they can always draft you, put you on a desk, then take that old desk person and send them to war.

I would refuse. Moot point, however, since I'm 41.

[kaitykaity]

29. Since I'm too old to be called, I would

do everything I could to help anyone who didn't want to go.
Yes, I mean everything. Anything.

[Bandit]

30. I was already drafted once so probably couldn't happen again

But I am willing to give aid and comfort to anyone that opposes it should it ever get re-enacted as law.

[Failure]

31. We'll have to burn our draft cards and protest...it worked the last time..

[dawn]

33. Try to register as a CO.

[Demonaut]

35. single and male, I would accept to take the place of someone married

with kids

[ILeft]

37. 37 years ago someone took Dick Cheney's place

...and the world is a worse place for that.

"Dedicated students of obstetrics will observe that Elizabeth Cheney's birth date falls precisely nine months and two days after the Selective Service publicly revoked its policy of not drafting childless husbands. This would seem to indicate that the Cheneys, though doubtless planning to have children sometime, were seized with an untamable passion the moment Dick Cheney became vulnerable to the Vietnam draft. And acted on it. Carpe diem!"

http://slate.msn.com/id/2097365/

[Hunter_1253]

36. I would gladly volunteer...

to serve in the same unit as the Bush twins. Babs, Jenna, and I would become best of friends defending the bars of Texas from the Iraqi insurgents. If they don't go...then neither do I.

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[Claire Beth]

39. I'm a 47 yr old female....

I would be too old but I would not blame anyone for NOT going.

[jokerman93]

40. I served

I served 6 years MI in a Special Forces Bn. and I'm 46 now. No chance of draft. But I will readily assist others in their resistance.

[bluestateguy]

41. kick

:kick: