The question that just won't die, Part II

Charles Rangel is at it again, speaking about something that he obviously doesn't have any real knowledge about, in calling for the reinstitution of a military draft, as we had during the Vietnam era. I posted about this previously, here. Mr. Rangel's remarks shows that he has not done any real research as to the true demographics of who does enlist in the military.

Mr. Rangel's remarks that only people who have no prospects for a "meaningful career" enlist is outrageously off the mark, and shows exactly what he and his fellow Dems really feel about our military - contempt - and the American Legion wants an apology.

Mr. Rangel tries to show that he has done some research into this by stating that, "[W]e also have done some research with the Department of Defense. And we have found that 26 percent of those killed in action are either African-American or Hispanics.", implying that only poor, uneducated folks are becoming casualties. What Mr. Rangel fails to mention is that only 26% of those killed in action are African-American or Hispanics, meaning that a whopping seventy four per cent of those killed in action are white and other ethnicities.

Mr. Rangel also conveniently ignores data that shows that those who enlist in our all-volunteer military are better educated and better off economically than their peers, instead of what he and Jessie Jackson continue to claim. As Tim Kane states in his article, "According to military data analyzed by the Heritage Foundation, U.S. troops come from wealthier neighborhoods than their civilian peers. In fact, the only underrepresented neighborhoods are those with the lowest incomes.".

Fortunately for our military, and hence our nation's security, there are adults in charge - even in the Democrat camp, amazingly enough - who say that a military draft is both unnecessary, and not even on the agenda. "We did not include that" in legislative plans for early next year, said Democratic Rep. Steny Hoyer (news, bio, voting record) of Maryland, who will be House majority leader when the new Congress convenes in January.