The Last Broken Promise

OK, folks hang onto your hats and while you're at it, grab your sons, brothers, husbands, uncles, nephews and male cousins, especially if they're 35 or under. According to this post at the Carpetbagger Report, it seems the possibility of the draft again looms it's ugly head.

During the 2004 Presidential Election Debates, George W. Bush was asked about the draft. The question and a portion of his answer are below (the full text of his answer can be read here).

Mr. President, since we continue to police the world, how do you intend to maintain our military presence without reinstituting a draft?

I hear there's rumors on the Internets (sic) that we're going to have a draft. We're not going to have a draft, period. The all- volunteer army works. It works particularly when we pay our troops well. It works when we make sure they've got housing, like we have done in the last military budgets.

An all-volunteer army is best suited to fight the new wars of the 21st century, which is to be specialized and to find these people as they hide around the world.

Now, forget all this talk about a draft. We're not going to have a draft so long as I am the president.

Well, like father like son. W's Daddy, George H. W. Bush, stood before the American people during and trumpeted his now famous line: Read my lips - No new taxes. Of course he went on to break his promise and raise taxes anyhow. And folks were still pretty mad about come election time which explains how he only ended up serving one term and why we ended up with Bill & Monica doing their thang in the oval office. People were ready for the President to lighten up a bit (but I don't think that much.

I'm pretty sure there were several million people hanging onto W's every word when he made his promise about the draft. I'm sure there were many mothers and fathers who breathed a sigh of relief and went ahead and spent the emergency "Send Our Kid to Canada" money because at the time of re-election between folks getting blown up and even the stop losses getting, well, stopped, they're just weren't that many folks wanting to go to Iraq or Afghanistan.

But now, according to this section of the ABC News Website, The Blotter, it seems that he may be just about to break that promise. The official quote from Cheney (who is the voice and backbone of the Bush Administration) leaves a lot to be desired for anyone hanging on to hopes that a draft is impossible and as they put it "unlikely".

"We keep the provisions for the draft in case circumstances should arise where it might be needed," he said, "but I don't foresee the development of those kinds of conditions any time in the future."

Considering the many broken promises of this President and his Chickenhawk Administration, how are we supposed to believe that the draft, which Bush/Cheney assures us is "unlikely" has always been a near certainty? Especially when the military encourages stunts like this.

How many lies will the American People tolerate before we realize that Impeachment shouldn't just be a debate anymore?