Welcome to oxymoronic America
The DC Examiner editorializes on a piece of legislation that sounds pretty creepy, mandating the self-contradiction of compulsory volunteerism from the youth of America. (Will they be called the Greenshirts?) The era of the oxymoron has arrived. As that fellow said a while ago, freedom is slavery and so forth:
Congress in the past week advanced an alarming expansion of the Americorps national service plan…behind the feel-good rhetoric spouted by the measure’s advocates is a bill that on closer inspection reveals multiple provisions that together create a strong odor of creepy authoritarianism. The House passed the measure overwhelmingly, while only 14 senators had the sense and courage to vote against it on a key procedural motion.
Last summer, then-candidate Barack Obama threw civil liberties to the wind when he proposed “a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the regular military…
The bill…summons up unsettling memories of World War II-era paramilitary groups by saying the new program should “combine the best practices of civilian service with the best aspects of military service,” while establishing “campuses” that serve as “operational headquarters,” complete with “superintendents” and “uniforms” for all participants.
It allows for the elimination of all age restrictions in order to involve Americans at all stages of life. And it calls for creation of “a permanent cadre”…The bill also calls for “youth engagement zones” in which “service learning” is “a mandatory part of the curriculum in all of the secondary schools served by the local educational agency.”
Note the creepy bureaucratese of that last sentence. Ugh. Here’s the list of those who voted for and against the measure. It is hard to believe that we now live in America where a majority in Congress would vote for this sort of disturbing mandatory volunteerism.
March 29th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Does President BO really need to train our youth to form a para military group? If this is true I support it. I hope the government puts guns into the hands of my teen agers. Come the Revolution President 666 will be faced with lots of pissed off “volunteers.”
March 30th, 2009 at 2:30 am
America does not need Hitler’s Brownshirts reincarnated.
We know how it ended when they came for the Jews and all the other enemies of the administration. What part of never again is incomprehensible? For those who know history, the Brownshirts didn’t make out too well, either. My family is not being volunteered.
Prudent people who never thought they might need or want a weapon are arming themselves. Most people will say nothing’s going to happen, don’t worry and they might be right. My house is probably not going to burn down either, but I do have insurance and smoke detectors, just in case. I’m probably not going to have an accident, but I wear my seat belt.
What will the Brownshirts actually do, make sure the wrong people don’t vote or assemble? That could never happen. That’s as silly as thinking there is some sort of journolist blog coordinating media talking points…. That’s as silly as thinking the government would refuse to enforce immigration laws or nominate tax cheats for office, or fail to prosecute elected officials who have committed crimes. Who could believe that? You’d have to be paranoid.