Published: November 21, 2006 05:03 pm      

Rangel’s draft call is just breast beating

Even before assuming his powerful position as head of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is letting everyone know he has the stump and he wants to be heard.

Sunday, during a session on CBS’s “Face The Nation,” Rangel said he will introduce legislation to reinstate the military draft.

"There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way," said Rep. Rangel.

Rangel, a veteran of the Korean War, has a very short memory of how the draft worked during the Vietnam era. Two names come to mind – Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. While Bush served in the Air National Guard, neither of these sons of the “privileged” members of society found their way to Vietnam.

Even the Center on Conscience and War fails to see the logic. The center's executive director, J. E. McNeil, said "There are usually two reasons for a draft," McNeil said. “One, people who believe that having a draft will keep us out of war. The reality is that the draft has never kept us out of war.”

Secondly, which goes to the heart of Rangel’s logic, “During Vietnam, not one single member of Congress had a child who was drafted, “McNeil said. “The reality is that the middle class and the upper middle class always have more options than the lower class in the face of the draft.”

Seven of 10 Americans have repeatedly said they oppose the draft. House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi said Monday restoring the military draft will not be part of that agenda when Democrats take over the House in January.

Despite the lack of both the logic for such a measure even from anti-war activists and the lack of support of his own party, Rangel said he would introduce the measure early next year.

Why?

Last year, Rangel told voters that should he become a powerful committee chairman in a Democratic Congress, “I don’t want to be treated any differently than any other world leader.”

Pelosi defended Rangel saying he is “a strong voice for social justice in our country” and his support for the draft was “a way to make a point.”

And it would appear that point is – I’m the head of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and I want everyone to know it.

The day after the Democrats swept both the House and the Senate, Pelosi said “Today the American people voted for change and they voted for Democrats to take their country in a new direction.”

We’re wondering if Rangel got that message.