Barack Obama's new chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is the coauthor of a book that calls for, among other things, compulsory national service for all Americans ages 18 to 25.The following quotes are from pages 61-62 of the book Emanuel coauthored in 2006 entitled "The Plan: Big Ideas for America":
It's time for a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us. We propose universal civilian service for every young American. Under this plan, All Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five will be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service. ...
Here's how it would work. Young people will know that between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five, the nation will enlist them for three months of civilian service. They'll be asked to report for three months of basic civil defense training in their state or community, where they will learn what to do in the event of biochemical, nuclear or conventional attack; how to assist others in an evacuation; how to respond when a levee breaks or we're hit by a natural disaster. These young people will be available to address their communities' most pressing needs.
The frightening thing is that it looks like some of Emanuel's ideas are already being implemented in the new administration.
The official website of President-Elect Obama, Change.gov, originally announced that Obama would soon "require" that all students in middle school all the way through college would be forced to participate in community service programs.
Fortunately, the internet exploded with outrage, and the website's wording was quickly softened.
But before the change, this is what Obama's website said about this program: "Obama will call on citizens of all ages to serve America, by developing a plan to require 50 hours of community service in middle school and high school and 100 hours of community service in college every year."
I think that we have had enough of "Patriot acts" and I know that most Americans do not want to be part of any kind of a draft.
How many of you would willingly submit to mandatory national service under either George W. Bush or Barack Obama?
