Author: opinionstogo

Rep. Rangel Makes Sense On Issue Of Draft

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., is, once again, proposing the reinstitution of a military draft. It’s once again embedded in the context of Iraq and the supposition that the ill-advised invasion of that country might not have occurred had “members of Congress and the Administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm’s way.”

That’s problematic.

What isn’t is Rangel’s rationale that the all-volunteer military disproportionately places the burden of war on minorities and lower-income families. Of course it does. These are precisely the ones most likely not to have better-than-military prospects coming out of high school.

But the current Iraq mess obscures a bigger point – bigger even than military needs that now necessitate ever-eroding standards for recruits.

A draft would make everyone, regardless of demographic caste, a stake-holder. It would address a glaring, growing anomaly in this country: We don’t ask something of everyone who benefits by living here.

Sacrifice is an abstraction to most Americans — except for today’s military and their families — or yesterday’s Greatest Generation, including erstwhile “Rosie the Riveters” and everyone who toughed out home-front rationing.

But, no, a draft wouldn’t mean military service for everyone eligible. Just service. The details, of course, could get devilish, but the premise is that national service – from guarding seaports to working in a domestic Peace Corps to battling an enemy militarily – would be everyone’s obligation. Regardless of socio-economic status and pedigree.

Meanwhile, part of our birthright continues to include under-taxed gasoline and new model Hummers during a civilizational war fought more for oil access than desert democratizations.

The Vietnam Lesson

President George Bush’s answer to the question of whether the experience in Vietnam offered lessons for Iraq is worth contemplating for what he didn’t say.

He didn’t draw any parallels between Gulf of Tonkin subterfuge and cherry-picked intelligence on Iraq as reasons worth going to war for. Neither did he cite the untenable position of trying to defeat a motivated, guerilla enemy on their own turf, whether it utilized jungle warfare and native booby traps or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), mass kidnappings and video-taped executions. You can’t bomb your way to victory against movements, zealots and death-wish jihadis who only have to play offense.

What the president did say was that, “We tend to want there to be instant success in the world, and the task in Iraq is going to take awhile.”

And, indeed, it did take a while for Vietnam, a Third World rice paddy state, to become a member of the World Trade Organization and the fastest-growing Asian economy after China. But it didn’t start happening until after we had left.

Islamic Incongruities

*Latest tactic among Palestinian women protecting besieged gunmen and trapped militants: offering themselves as human shields. Implicit is this message: “We trust you (Israelis) will observe rules of engagement that we are free to disregard.”

*If the wearing of the Muslim veil is a really, really controversial issue in places such as Muslim Egypt and downtown Cairo, is there any reason why it shouldn’t be in the West?

*The historically tolerant Dutch government continues to do an about-face, so to speak, on the issue of full-length veils like the Muslim burqa and other face-concealing apparel worn in public places. The Dutch now want them banned. Something about the fear that a terrorist might, well, don one to move beyond security checks and do something really, really unacceptable in a civilized society.

Lest they appear culturally intolerant, the Dutch also propose to ban ski masks as well. To date, however, no constituency has voiced an objection.

Fox Tale

The only thing more disgusting than the News Corp. O.J. Simpson book “If I Did It” and the scheduled interview on the Fox Network was Fox’s disingenuous spin that the system works. As in, when the people speak out, Fox is doing its job by listening and responding accordingly. Hence the cancellation of plans by Hubert Murdoch’s News Corp. and Fox Broadcasting, respectively, to publish the book and air the interview.

The reality is that the Murdoch network was desperately looking for a smashing sweeps hit and was counting on enough voyeur viewers – already inured to the crass, the vulgar and the insipid – to watch. And they might have, but the sponsors – who know a bottom-line train wreck when they see one headed their way — revolted.

Speaking of revulsion, don’t you know the book and interview will eventually surface.

Undervote Under Siege

Democrat Christine Jennings, the Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the 13th Congressional District, won’t concede anything – including, it would seem, being a poor sport. She lost her House race to Vern Buchanan – by about 400 votes – and that was confirmed by manual and machine recounts. Now she’s suing everybody but Katherine Harris.

There’s that matter of the 18,000 “undervote” in Sarasota County.

However it happened, it’s not worth a re-vote. The undervote, however substantial, is part of the process. Lamentably so.

It likely happened for one of two reasons:

1) The Sarasota Herald-Tribune surveyed election workers and found that one in five said voters complained they did not notice the congressional race. A presumed design flaw was at fault, although 87 per cent of the voters managed to figure it out.

2) Approximately one in eight voters said, in effect, “I’m disgusted with this particularly nasty exercise in mudslinging and insulting attack ads, and this is the only way to formally express ‘neither one.'”

Salary Gaps

According to an annual survey by the “Chronicle of Higher Education,” presidents of some of this country’s biggest public universities are now closing the salary gap with their private school counterparts. In fact, the number of public university presidents earning more than $500,000 has nearly doubled to 42.

Not part of the survey: the degree to which college presidents had closed the salary gap with head football coaches.

Boondoggle

Last week the University of South Florida’s Lecture Series brought in Aaron McGruder, the creator of the controversial comic strip/cartoon “The Boondocks.”

McGruder, who spoke to a gathering of approximately 500, gave no prepared speech – instead engaging the crowd in a question-and-answer session.

A more typical “lecture” presentation, especially those that command $25,000 fees, is a prepared address followed by some Q&A. To go right to the Q&A means no preparation time for that 25 K. A great deal if you can get it. He got it.

Getting Globally Serious About Languages

For too long Americans were insulated by two oceans and spoiled by the good fortune of the rest of the world coming to us after World War II. As a result, Americans have never made foreign languages and world geography a priority. By-the-numbers diversity celebrations and affirmative action quotas don’t count in a global economy.

But there are some positive signs afoot:

*A survey by the Modern Language Association showed a 92.3 per cent increase in the number of students studying Arabic at American universities. Granted it’s less than 20,000, but Arabic is the second fastest growing language on U.S. campuses – after American Sign Language.

Arabic is the fifth most spoken language in the world, and America’s strategy in avoiding – or winning – a civilizational war is assuredly undermined by communication defaults.

*Most Florida state universities offer degrees in Spanish, French, and German – plus Russian and East European studies. But billions of dollars, for example, are annually at stake in Florida’s trade with Asia as well as Brazil.

To address that global reality, state university system Chancellor Mark Rosenberg and his staff are designing the Virtual Languages Institute, which would teach students online – and go beyond the more traditionally taught Romance languages. Mandarin Chinese and Japanese, as well as Portuguese, would be distance-learning priorities. It would also push for more study abroad. The VLI still needs the Board of Governors to sign off and the Legislature to sign the checks.

*A Hillsborough County school now offers middle school students a chance to take a class in Mandarin, the most widely spoken language in the world. Ferrell Middle Magnet School is a designated language exploration magnet school. It offers Spanish and Mandarin as its foreign language options – and its language lab affords students the opportunity to experience Japanese, Hindi and Portuguese.

Next year Williams, Greco and Jennings middle schools – underwritten by a three-year federal grant — will also teach Mandarin. The Hillsborough County School District hopes eventually to teach Mandarin at elementary and high schools.

Chairman Mel

So, Mel Martinez for chairman of the Republican National Committee. The timing, to be sure, couldn’t be better. Chairman Mel obviously needs another challenge, and fortunately he has time to spare.

It’s the sort of national responsibility you undertake after a classy senatorial win over Betty Castor; two seamless years learning the Senate ropes; an open-minded, humane approach to the Cuban embargo and travel policies; and more than ample time mastering the details of your constituents’ myriad needs.

Mel Martinez, George Bush’s Hispanic lawn jockey, now makes it official and will work even harder for the party — whatever the cost back home.