Funk Babblings

Election day is almost here, and it can't come fast enough for me. Among other things, it means the end of my (physical) mailbox and answering machine being filled with Republican lies. "John Kerry will raise your taxes"? Nope, not unless you make at least $200,000 a year. (And if you do, were your taxes really that bad under Clinton? Cause that's what they'll go back to under Kerry.) "John Kerry supports a 50 cent gas tax hike"? Nope, a decade ago he mentioned that it might be necessary, that's all; he didn't even vote for it, though Dick Cheney did. Oh yeah, and that thing about Kerry voting 98 times to raise taxes? Cheney voted 148 times to raise taxes. Cheney must be really liberal. The good thing is that the Republicans seem to think our suburb is a lock for them, so they're encouraging us to vote; we're not likely to face polling-place challenges as we cast our votes for Kerry. I should probably update my driver's license with my current address just in case though.

Then there's that issue that the Republicans keep dismissing as ludicrous: the draft. Everyone else looks at Bush's plan to "stay on the offensive", and wonders where he'll get the manpower to keep invading more countries, considering we're already overextended -- keeping people longer than they signed up for ("stop-loss"), and calling back people whose terms of service were over. Turns out that the Selective Service System has already recommended a draft plan that includes drafting men and women with specialized skills (medical professionals, computer specialists, linguists) up to age 34 -- possibly up to age 44 for medical professionals. The counter-argument here is that the SSS's job is to plan for a draft, but that still doesn't answer the question of where Bush will get all the troops to stay on the offensive. (Those words out of Bush's mouth send chills down my spine.)