Draft Watch
The Wal-Mart Republicans derided any claims there could ever be another draft, but right now, the military is calling up former personnel now in their 40’s, many in ill-health or with medical problems that would normally exclude them from service, and many whose obligation to serve should have already expired. Naturally, there are some who are fighting the call-up, and even some who just decline to show up. So once this pool is exhausted, what next? Iraq’s not going to be over in February, remember, so even though the reactivation of the Individual Ready Reserve is going from 120 days to a full year, we’re going to run out of soldiers to deploy, even assuming the rate of people voluntarily signing up remains constant. Luckily, the non-Wal-Mart Republicans, the ones with the money, that is, will be able to get deferments for their kids.

And meanwhile, incidents like this one - and it’s surely not the only such - are the result of calling the Geneva Convention “quaint” and failing to provide adequate training, supervision, and support of troops in the field. What’s Rumsfeld got to say, or, for that matter, what’s Cheney got to say about Rumsfeld now? (I suppose we’re all supposed to still be happy that we’ve rejected as President a veteran with the integrity to stand up and speak out on such matters, right? Because that was a betrayal, right?)