10/19/2004 01:20:11 PM|||Nathan Moore|||

Paul "Enron is bigger than 9/11" Krugman adds his intellectual weight to the fraudulent draft issue with predictably typical levity.

Not only does he believe that Bush will insitute a draft, but somehow makes the intellectually impossible leap that the military now is not a military made up of volunteers! His disingenuous logic (link requires registration) follows

Anyway, do we even have an all-volunteer Army at this point? Thousands of reservists and National Guard members are no longer serving voluntarily: they have been kept in the military past their agreed terms of enlistment by "stop loss" orders.

He cites the fact that stop-loss orders are in place, keeping some individuals in beyond the initial committment as being coercive. Yeah, they are a little coercive - I'm also coerced to be in court sometimes. It's part of the job. Unfortunately for most of us, you most certainly have deadlines - kinda coercive, isn't it?

Of course, lawyering and column writing are not interchangable with the dangers faced by the American soldier, but to make the argument Krugman makes, one would think that the Department of Defense made those currently serving enlist. No such thing happened.

Guess what, Paul? Everyone had notice that stop-loss orders could happen up front. Serving in the military is a contract agreed to in advance. Last time I checked, the draft involved actual drafting. It's not going on, and anyone who knows anything about the military knows that real soldiers and officers don't want someone else there who doesn't want to be there. It endangers everyone when you're not sure the guy next to you is willing to fight.

Is there anyone out there who thinks the world would be safer with Paul Krugman making policy? How does one get a job writing innanity for the New York Times?


UPDATE A helpful reader notes Krugman's clairvoyance from his September 28th column

Let's face it: whatever happens in Thursday's debate, cable news will proclaim President Bush the winner. This will reflect the political bias so evident during the party conventions. It will also reflect the undoubted fact that Mr. Bush does a pretty good Clint Eastwood.

Yeah, let's face it - that's not how I remember it.

|||109821119345392688|||Paul Krugman - Not So Bright