2012-11-03, 13:48 | Link #2041 | |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
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2012-11-03, 13:52 | Link #2043 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 47
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Unlike President Clinton, Romney did support the US goals in Vietnam and reportedly debated with the French over it while on missionary their during the war.
Why Catholic France needs Mormon missionaries, I don't know. Romney spent the time the draft was going on in school or on mission in France, coming home around the time the draft was ending, getting married and having a mountain of children (as is Morman custom it seems). Romney's father worked with Nixon by the 1970s after losing his own bid for President in 1968. Mitt changed is stance on Vietnam to reflect well on his father who ran on a platform to end the war.
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2012-11-03, 13:59 | Link #2044 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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2012-11-03, 14:04 | Link #2045 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 47
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Obama avoids that problem simple due to the time of his birth. He was far too young to serve in Vietnam (though he was in Southeast Asia at the time), and by the time of the Gulf War, he was about to graduate from Law School. By the time of the next conflict, he was a Senator.
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2012-11-03, 14:08 | Link #2046 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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2012-11-03, 14:17 | Link #2047 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 47
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In think (if they went that route) I could still be drafted, but they usually go for younger men. But unless we go into an all out war with someone major, I don't see it as politically viable to restart the Draft. Even with our military presently overtaxes and tired after ten years of small conflicts, we still don't have a need for a draft without a major war flaring up. I don't think even Iran would warrent a draft just yet.
A non-nuclear war with China....yeah a Draft would be needed there...and we do not have enough people to invade that country without nuking or at least carpet bombing it first. Being out numbered in total population by more than 2 to 1 does not make for good odds if your technolgy can't overcome those numbers.
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2012-11-03, 14:20 | Link #2048 | |
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Montreal, QC, Canada
Age: 41
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2012-11-03, 14:24 | Link #2049 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Tennessee
Age: 37
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I hope there's never a draft again... I think it's morally wrong and goes against the very first line of the Constitution's Preamble (Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness). Forcing someone into a life or death struggle sounds to me rather alienating towards a right that is supposed to be 'unalienable.'
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2012-11-03, 14:56 | Link #2051 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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Personally, I've always been a fan of the idea of "civil service" requirements, say, for anyone 18-20 required and then after that it was voluntary. (kind of like the "reserve" in other countries - or a cleaned up version of the "citizen militia/civil defense").
But yeah, the sense of community just isn't there so I'd have no idea how to bootstrap something like that.
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2012-11-03, 15:09 | Link #2052 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: classified
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As Thomas Jefferson once wrote to Peter Carr in 1785: "A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprize, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore by the constant companion of your walks." Mixed with civil service (like helping to clean up trash, etc.) a properly formed, regulated (trained), and funded militia would do wonders for the youth of the US today. I served 4 years in the USAF, 2 in the National Guard, and am still a member of the CMP after 20 years. It has done me a great deal of good in helping to build confidence, character, and a sense of responsibility to my community (which includes facing down local officials at town meetings who are corrupt). I long for the return of the Dept. of Civilian Marksmanship that Theodore Roosevelt created for just that purpose.
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2012-11-03, 15:17 | Link #2053 |
Gamilas Falls
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Republic of California
Age: 47
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I don't know if Boy Scouts counts at all, but I was in Boy Scouts in one capacity of another for about 15 years. I was never a Cub Scout, so it was Boy Scout (earning the rank of Eagle Scout) and Explorer for a number of years than acting as an Assistant Scoutmaster for the remainder of that time until work made me far too tired on our meeting nights to continue (nearly falling asleep at a meeting does not set a good example). I stayed in until the last one I had seen enter while I was a Scout turned 18.
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2012-11-03, 20:12 | Link #2058 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Virginia
Age: 47
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And the former Soviet Union had a mandatory 2 year service for all makes prior to going to college. |
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2012-11-03, 22:40 | Link #2059 | |
Juanita/Kiteless
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New England
Age: 40
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I know there are plenty of people that hate Obama that aren't racist against blacks, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were more people that hold Obama's race against him than some of you guys think. They don't all have to be very racist. It could be a more mild racism. Whoever wins the election, we probably won't get riots, but I'm starting to get pessimistic about politics in America. I'm starting to get pessimistic about American citizens and politics. It seems like they've become nastier and uglier than ever before with politics and how they conduct themselves when involved in it. It just seems like, in these regards, we are just sliding down and down. Just look at the "debates" this year. A real shame. Romney sets the tone for them all with his aggressiveness and rudeness, and then we have Biden playing the game to try to win his debate and he overcompensates, and then we have Obama playing this game and he is interrupting more and being more aggressive. These things ended up being the things that won the debates. Undecided voters were less swayed about what the politicians actually said and whether or not what they said was even true and if they even agreed with the stances they've held for months!
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Last edited by Urzu 7; 2012-11-03 at 22:51. |
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2012-11-03, 23:19 | Link #2060 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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It matters a great deal in the South, especially with the 'dixiecrat' faction that jumped to the GOP after 1964. Their sons and daughters still think the same way. The question is, will the vote be suppressed/manipulated in key counties and will enough people irritated at the 'dixiecrats' show up to vote.
Early analysis is that, in North Carolina for example, there's an unexpected turn-out of "unlikely voters". Now there's a spin on the bottle
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