Saturday, November 30, 2013

A Cato-Inspired Call For Forced Military Service

By, Chris Rossini

Laurence Vance (who you should never miss on LRC) would have a field day with the latest from Dana Milbank, who writes for Jeff Bezos' new little war toy, The Washington Post.

Milbank starts the madness:
At this time of Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for the U.S. military — not just for the usual reason that it protects us from our foes but also because it has the potential to save us from ourselves. (emphasis added)
Not only is that an absolutely insane statement to make, but I hate to inform Milbank of a well-known fact: more troops are dying from suicide, than from actual battle?

Milbank was hanging out in the capital, and everywhere he turned, he noticed dysfunction amongst the politicians. So, naturally, he pulled out his prescription pad and came to this conclusion:
But one change, over time, could reverse the problems that have built up over the past few decades: We should mandate military service for all Americans, men and women alike, when they turn 18. The idea is radical, unlikely and impractical — but it just might work.
The one ray of light in the darkness? Yes, it's very "unlikely". I'm not sure if Milbank has been paying attention, but Americans (young Americans especially) are sick and tired of the wars. The neocons have been smacked down twice in a row now (Syria & Iran). I can't imagine how big of a propaganda campaign would be needed to pull off a mandatory draft. You'd probably need skills beyond that of even Joseph Goebbels.

Next, Milbank is going to concoct a cause & effect relationship that will make your head spin. Enjoy the show:
A Congressional Quarterly count of the current Congress finds that just 86 of the 435 members of the House are veterans, as are only 17 of 100 senators, which puts the overall rate at 19 percent...For the past 21 years, the presidency has been occupied by men who didn’t serve or, in the case of George W. Bush, served in a capacity designed to avoid combat.

It’s no coincidence that this same period has seen the gradual collapse of our ability to govern ourselves: a loss of control over the nation’s debt, legislative stalemate and a disabling partisanship.
So it's not the horrible "economics" peddled by the Keynesians...It's not the neocon nutcases that guide foreign policy...It's not the Fed or fractional-reserve banking....It's not the crony capitalism where big business partners up with the State. It's not the regulatory octopus that is so large, you never know which move you can make without having to get a permit first.

No!

The problem according to Milibank is that enough U.S. politicians haven't personally shot down enough of those "gooks".

Next, a little bit of poetic justice:
There’s no mass movement for mandatory service, but the idea has gained a diverse group of supporters, including retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal and Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y). Gun-rights groups would cheer an armed citizenry, and an article published by the libertarian Cato Institute argued that compulsory service “can be a pillar of freedom.” (emphasis added)
What a disgrace. Milbank writes an article that will gain no traction, and do little more than add a few worthless digital characters to the vast Internet. And to help support his claims, he turns to the "libertarian" Cato Institute. How well deserved.

In my opinion, Jeff Bezos should look at the landscape and start thinking ahead. The propaganda peddlers are dying. Lots of them. Take a look at the CNBC news from last week. Bezos should get rid of the rotting dead wood, and replace it with fresh ideas.


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7 comments:

  1. Perhaps he's too modest to mention it (yeah right, Modest Milbank), but I don't recall seeing which branch he served in, so he needs to apply his reasoning to himself and shut up (since he is a "thought leader"), lest his lack of service contribute further to our lost ability to self-govern.

    And when you think Stato can't sink any lower, they find a way to prove you wrong by publishing something that could've come straight out of Minitrue.

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  2. Mr. Millbank is now past the age where he can join. This is not an unusual happenstance. The call for universal service for thee but not for me is always strong in the souls of the shirkers.

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    1. Screw his age!

      Men in their 80's served in the Revolutionary War. Give the asshole an AR-15 and let him do a tour in Afghanistan. See if he's all "Gung Ho" after putting HIS ass on the line.

      People like this are beyond contempt.Their way of serving their country is to send someone else's kid to die. Disgusting!

      So let's not beat around the bush here. Fuck him and the countless cowards and gutless wonders who never say "Follow Me" and lead the charge, but stay back, well out of the line of fire and send a brave man into the fray.

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    2. A brave man would refuse to join.

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  3. I'll be disappointed if we dont at least see an LRC blog post from Vance on this. I remember having a conversation with an anarchist (or at least thats what he told me he was) a few years ago and the subject of the draft came up. He told me that the biggest military jock sniffers are always the ones who push to send others to war while not wanting to be apart of it themselves.

    Kinda funny how the draft has come up alot in the Obama era (or error if thats your fancy) when it was only a decade ago that the draft was considered to be a political poison pill. Among the regular citizenry the conservative military jock sniffer would support the draft in order to wash away the liberalism that children are brought up in public schools. Obviously in a libertarian view point this is just replacing statism with statism. For the liberal military hater (or at least hate the military when their not in power) the military draft was an excuse for the elite to send the poor to fight in their wars. Of course that was then, now the left is all more than happy to bring back the draft in the name of "giving back to the country" and pro-draft conservatives only balk at it because they dont want their kids to serve Obama. Funny how things change, but not surprising.

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  4. Nothing is better for freedom than getting put a rifle in your hands, being forced to invade, maim and kill people in other countries, and run the risk of being traumatized for life, amputated or killed. War is peace.

    This is what you can a "think tank".

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  5. Another Skull & Bones elitist who couldn't be bothered to serve in uniform himself but wants your son, nephew and neighbor boy to grab a rifle and jump out of the trenches.

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