Charlie Rangel's political cojones

Oh no he didn't! :

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) has long advocated returning to the draft, but his efforts drew little attention during the 12 years that House Democrats were in the minority. Starting in January, however, he will chair the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. Yesterday he said "you bet your life" he will renew his drive for a draft.

"I will be introducing that bill as soon as we start the new session," Rangel said on CBS's "Face the Nation." He portrayed the draft, suspended since 1973, as a means of spreading military obligations more equitably and prompting political leaders to think twice before starting wars.

"There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way," said Rangel, a Korean War veteran. "If we're going to challenge Iran and challenge North Korea and then, as some people have asked, to send more troops to Iraq, we can't do that without a draft."

What do I think about Rangel's move? It takes balls.

Big.

HUGE.

GINORMOUS

COJONES,
to try to push this on Congress, needless to say, the American public.

My first reaction is, "Yes!" I absolutely think this makes sense. Then --and this is why I am not a quick to bash all men kind of feminist-- I think about my two boys. There is no way in fucking hell I will allow my kids to join the US Army.

So now, I have to not just think about retirement but about moving to a whole different country before they turn 18.

Lovely.

Which, by the way, takes me to this : The proposal better include both men and women.

Can you imagine the shitstorm?

Because, you know what? He wants to extend the draft to the age of 42. That's insane!

And yet.

And yet.

BRILLIANT!


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Words to live by

But I will say that it’s past time for men of color who consider themselves allies to women of color, who recognize that their freedom can’t come at the expense the women who share their history, to meditate on and interact with the words, the ideas, the actions of the women of their communities. It’s time for them to contemplate something deeper and more profound than “rape=bad”–it’s time for them to look at their own roles in the creation of “race=male,” and why it is that every woman of color I have read, talked to, interacted with, watched, heard of, all have an extremely thoughtful critique of various issues like Tookie Williams, Leonard Peltier, hip hop, Abu Ghraib, suicide bombers, lynching, etc etc etc–and yet most men of color don’t even know that Latinas, black women, and Native women are ALL disproportionately imprisoned compared to their white counter parts. Or that Asian women are committing suicide in frightening numbers. Or that our work around rape extends well beyond a “no means no” campaign. Or that the women men do organize with have all probably been on some type of harmful birth control at one point or another. And they’ve all also probably carefully weighed their words at some point or another–considered how they could say something in the “right way”.

It’s time for men to contemplate this in meaningful, thoughtful and transparent ways, with other men of color, with boys of color, with the men that call us bitch, cunt, vendida, traitor, thundercunts, ho’s, nappy headed, ugly.

It’s time to push this thing to the next level, to put your money where your mouth is.

It’s time to push this to the next level, so we ALL can be free.


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