There's been a lot of rumbling about reinstating the draft. Alyssa thinks it's a good idea. Me, I'm not so sure.
See, I have a younger brother. He will be of draft age far too soon. He'll have to register - you know they won't let you apply for financial aid if you don't register for Selective Service, and I can't imagine the draft will be any different.
If there is a draft, who do you think is going to get called up for service? Rich boys? Hardly. They'll either hide out in college, get daddy to pull some strings for them so they can join the National Guard (shades of G. Du(m)bya), or they'll get married and have kids (it worked for Dick Cheney). There might be a few middle class men going, but on the whole it will be those from the working classes. A lot of them can't afford to hide.
My mom's brothers were drafted into Vietnam. They both came back. One of my uncles, the one who was out in the jungles, won't talk about it. He had to compartmentalize his whole experience over there in order to live a normal life back here. When I think of my baby brother being drafted into the Iraqi war, I'm not sure whether I want to cry or throw up. All I can think of is that Credence Clearwater Revival song: "It ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son."
I could imagine that there are a lot of others who, at the thought of a family member being drafted, have that same sinking, sickening fear. But is this what it will take for people to wake up from the trance? People didn't start protesting Vietnam until they saw the increasing amount of bodies being brought home. The student movement against the war didn't get any sympathy from the public until after the '68 riots, when tv cameras showed them being beaten by Chicago's finest. The people at home realized, "These are our children!" They started joining the protest movement in leaps and bounds.
Today, we don't see the bodies coming in from Iraq. The press aren't allowed to show pictures of them. The administration is way ahead of us in the propaganda war. If they win, there will be a lot more people with the same fear I have. Can we really afford to let this happen?
10:17:45 PM 
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