An article in the Chicago Tribune takes a typical leftist viewpoint of military recruiting. To set the stage, the Trib go one part of it right, even if they put the blame in the wrong place.
"President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act requires school districts to provide military recruiters with student phone numbers and addresses or risk losing millions in federal funds. Parents or students 18 and over can "opt out" by submitting a written request to keep the information private."
First, NCLB was passed with massive support from both sides of the aisle. To call it President Bush's law is wrong. Did he propose it, yes, but Congress still has to pass it. Once again the liberal MSM can't seem to get basic civics right. However, they are right, as a condition of receiving federal funds, high schools have to make available addresses and contact information on high school seniors. Of course this has been standard practice for a while--it is just now made explicit in the law.
Now to the merits of the article. The fact that the military is using every means possible to recruit people should not be all that surprising, given that the military is falling short of its recrtuiting goals on a consistent basis. The accusation that more minorities may be signing up for the military as a part of the recruitment effort is more a consequence of result that total design. There has been a long history of those who are poor or of lower socio-economic status joining the military. The military, depsite its rigors, is one of the few organizations closest to a merticracy than any other I know of. The military rewards competence and hard work. Many enlisted servicemen and women obtain bachelor's degrees (paid for in large part by the military) while serving on active duty. That degree may have been otherwise unavailalbe to the poor.
Why would the poor take this route, because their families and their communties failed to provide them a proper education. But that is another rant.
Invoking class warfare language, Democrats are getting upset:
"They're not going to all the schools. They're going to the schools where they figure the kids will have less chance to go to college," said Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.). "It's an insidious kind of draft, quite frankly."
The United States military has not had a draft in roughly 30 years. Even today, the military is an all volunteer force. No one forces these kids to enlist. The fact that they do is their choice. But once again, how would the Democrats feel with a draft. I personally don't think it is a bad idea, but it would never be supported in the modern political circles. All of the country, 18 year olds make all kinds of "adult decisions" including the decision to engage in unprotected sex and become pregnant, why can't they make this decision to serve their country. The Answer, Democrats know better than you and thus only we can make the decision for you. Hogwash.
To be sure, there is a problem with the racial profile of the modern military. There are more blacks and hispanics in the military, particularly in combat arms, than the general popultation. This does lead to reasonable concerns about who shoulders the burden for protecting the nation. But in the end, we still have a volunteer military and some people will volunteer and others won't--that is just the facts.
Finally, I love this other little dig at the military--completely off point of the article.
In the urban blight of North Philadelphia, Joshua Gordy said the lure of college money led him to join the Army Reserve at age 17. He said recruiters at his high school told him he could earn $35,000 for college.That hasn't happened. Gordy, a 20-year-old reservist, said he apparently failed to send in the right paperwork in time. He hopes to enroll in community college this fall.
The implcation with this segment is that the military cheated him out of his college money. The fact is that this kid didn't fill out his paperwork properly. The military is big on taking responsibility for your actions. If Gordy failed to fill out his paperwork in a timely fashion, that fault does not belong to the military, but to the soldier. To qualify for many benefits, including college funds, the soldier has to take an affirmative step to do so. To be sure, I know the Army gave this kid the money ( I got the forms when I was in--as did my brother), but the Army doesn't make you fill them out on time--that is a personal choice.
But the Trib couldn't help but take another cheap shot at the military.
An Insidious Form of Draft
Linked to Outside the Beltway.
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