Posted on 06/28/2002 11:12:46 PM PDT by kattracks
Since Bill Clinton successfully redefined the meaning of "sex" to beat a Monicagate perjury rap, an epidemic of oral sex has swept through the nation's teenage population.
Now America's young men seem ready to emulate Clinton in another regard, with more than a third of college age students saying they'd evade the draft if called to fight the war on terrorism.
According to a new poll commissioned by Bill Bennett's Americans for Victory over Terrorism, a full 37 percent of college students surveyed nationwide said they would "be likely to evade the draft if it was reinstituted."
One fifth of students surveyed (21 percent) said they would be willing to serve in the military, but only if they were stationed in the U.S.
Only 35 percent of students would be willing to serve and fight anywhere in the world.
The results contradict two assumptions that have long characterized American attitudes towards military service:
1) The belief that if the U.S. ever suffered a second Pearl Harbor (as it did on 9-11), its youth would revert to the attitudes prevalent during the "just war" that followed, rejecting the anti-war sentiments that were popular during America's so-called "unjust" war in Vietnam.
2) That "dodging the draft" carries a heavy price tag of ostracism and other penalties, as it did even during Vietnam, when evaders often left the country certain they would never be allowed to return.
President Carter's 1978 decision to grant amnesty to Vietnam-era draft dodgers who had fled the country began the erosion of the stigma attached to evasion.
But far more significant was the decision by the American electorate 14 years later (or at least 43 percent of it) to reward certifiable draft dodger Bill Clinton with the job of Commander-in-Chief.
Clinton's victory came despite the amply documented revelations that he had evaded three separate draft notices and lied his way out of a commitment to Arkansas ROTC Commander, Col. Eugene Holmes, to whom he admitted "loathing the military."
With a draft dodger's ascendancy to the highest office in the land, the signal to America's youth was clear: Not only was military service no longer a prerequisite for the presidency, but Americans would even accept a Commander-in-Chief who showed a blatant contempt for the military.
Still, the concept of a draft dodging president doesn't necessarily pose insurmountable problems - as long as the nation remains at peace.
But once war clouds gather, it becomes a good deal more difficult to tell America's mothers and fathers that it's time for their boys to fight and die when the man giving the orders did just the opposite - and was rewarded with the White House anyway.
Col. Holmes made one last desperate attempt to warn America of the consequences of such a decision in a Sept. 1992 pre-election open letter, which the media completely ignored:
"The tremendous implications of the possibility of (Clinton) becoming Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces compels me now to comment on the facts concerning Mr. Clinton's evasion of the draft," the Bataan Death March survivor began.
With the U.S. planning to launch a 250,000 troop invasion of Iraq, Col. Holmes words were never more relevant than they are today - now that 37 percent of America's potential fighting force is considering following Bill Clinton's example.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
2 AND 2 MAKE 4 and so on
From what I see on this Free Republic, at least some Americans aren't very tollerant and thank God.
Todays young are a accumulation of the following.
50 years of Liberal Democrats setting the countries agenda, 50 years of Liberal judges, 50 years of American Al Queda type Colleges, 50 years of Terrorist and anti establishment professors, 50 years of open borders, 50 years of treating the Military as the enemy, 50 years of trying more Americans in Military Court then the enemy, 50 years of abortion, 50 years of criminals getting re-trials and other rights the victim never gets, 50 years of second rate military action, 50 years of telling our children not to worry we'll pass all the laws they need to be protected. Why we'll make tag "ILLEGAL". AMERICANS DESERVE EXACTLY WHAT THEY ARE GETTING. LETS HOPE THEY WAKE UP BEFORE IT"S TO LATE.
A woman I knew briefly told me, with no shame at all, that her husband would run if he were drafted.
My husband's co-worker said the same thing. My husband's response was, "You'll never make it to Canada 'cause I'll kill ya."
My husband spent 9 years in the Navy. If he's ever needed back, he will go. And I'd be ashamed if he did any different.
Two thirds of those who served in WWII were draftees and the draft age was lowered from 21 to 18 because not enough youths were volunteering. Two thirds of those who served during the Vietnam era were volunteers.
But far more significant was the decision by the American electorate 14 years later (or at least 43 percent of it) to reward certifiable draft dodger Bill Clinton with the job of Commander-in-Chief.
With half of those eligible to vote staying home on election day, Slick got only ~20% of the electorate to cast their ballots for him. One person in five put that pile of dung in office.
My husband's co-worker said the same thing. My husband's response was, "You'll never make it to Canada 'cause I'll kill ya.""
I like this guy!!! Dianna, you married well!
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