Brothers, sons, and husbands are fighting this war for freedom, as are some sisters, daughters, and mothers.

There was a related thread a few months back, and to me the most surprising thing to come out of that discussion was the initiative to reinstate the draft was spearheaded by Democrats ...Charles Rangle in particular, if memory serves.

In this initiative there was to be no college deferment, no running off to Canada. The reason the Dems gave was to equalize the perceived class bias, i.e. most of the soldiers who joined were/are from the lower socioeconomic strata.

Duh...I would guess there are a few these days who join out of a patriotic desire to defend their country, but most of the recruits fresh out of high school choose the military for the training, benefits and pay, especially when the other options are not much more than a notch above flipping burgers at McDonald's.

Would the Republicans have us seriously believe that class bias in the military is of paramount concern to the average constituent? When has it ever been the case that those who stood to benefit the most went to war to defend what they had? Does the Democratic Party think that reinstating the draft with no provisions for sidestepping conscription would really force those of privilege to serve?

Of course. Rangle is no different from anybody else. He likes cheap and abundant sources of oil as much as anyone on either side of the aisle in Congress