Hardly News: Two House Democrats Support The Draft

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQKspxWa-44]

After today’s discussion of blog rolls, here’s a good example of why some blogs stay on the blog roll and some do not. Liberty Papers is running this video with a comment giving the impression that this represents the position of liberal Democrats.

I’ve previously criticized on Rangel’s proposal to restore the draft. The proposal was opposed by the Democratic leadership and most House Democrats (as well as Republicans). Even the military is opposed to a draft.

Rangel proposed the draft to make a point, and subsequently urged his fellow members of Congress to vote against it. The draft lost by a vote of 402 to 2, with only Murtha and Stark voting for it. The support of two members of Congress, including a conservative member such as Murtha, hardly suggests that this is the position of liberal Democrats.

Besides Liberty Papers, the false claim that liberal Democrats support the draft is being spread by Eric Dondero, the far right winger who opposes basic civil liberties while claiming to be a libertarian. Those who have followed the comments to recent posts know him well!

Ultimately this is another example of what we see so often. Faced with being wrong on the issues, right wingers like Dondero must fall back on distorting the views of their opponents rather than engaging in an honest debate on the issues.

2 Comments

  1. 1
    Adam Selene says:

    Are you suggesting that Murtha is not liberal or a Democrat? Or that other “liberal Democrats”, other than Murtha, have not called for a draft? Are you suggesting that Rangel is not liberal or a Democrat?

    …. with a comment giving the impression that this represents the position of liberal Democrats

    Well, you’re mighty sensitive. Kevin didn’t suggest anything except that another person that most would consider to be a liberal Democrat is supporting a draft. He certainly didn’t make a comment that would appear to say that ALL liberal Democrats do so.

  2. 2
    Ron Chusid says:

    Murtha is a fairly conservative Demmocrat. He’s only being called a liberal by conservatives since he began to oppose the war.

    Rangle introduced legislation on the draft as an inane stunt to make a point, but did not actually support the draft. In the end, two Democrats voted for the draft. This incluced only one liberal Democrat (Pete Stark) along with Murtha.

    Kevin didn’t say ALL liberal Democrats support the draft, but the implication is that support of the draft is a liberal Democratic position when he says “Another liberal Democrat calls for slavery.” That hardly holds up when only one liberal Democrat voted for the draft (and one I didn’t think much of even before his vote for the draft.) Not only isn’t this the view of ALL liberal Democrats, it isn’t the view of any meaningful number of liberal Democrats.

    (And if you’re Adam Selene, does this mean I’m conversing with the fake identity of a self-aware computer? 🙂 )

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