Our
View: NYCLU lawsuit frivolous, disrespectful
Some Americans are afraid of their own military.
They’re afraid of our brave men and women in the Armed Forces who are fighting
abroad and, more specifically, trying to recruit others. That fear is degrading
and insulting, especially in times of conflict like Iraq, Iran and North Korea.
According to The Associated Press, a lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties
Union, a state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, is leading this
charade.
The AP reported, “The Defense Department is violating the privacy of millions
of high school students nationwide with a detailed database it uses for military
recruitment…The New York Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of six high
school students, saying the department is ignoring privacy rules set by Congress.”
According to the NYCLU, the Defense Department has violated “the privacy
of millions of high school students nationwide” by contacting more high
school students about becoming an army of one, one of the few and the proud,
accelerating their life, crossing into the blue or becoming the shield of freedom.
In case you missed those slogans, the NYCLU is suing because some students were
contacted a few times about joining the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force or Coast
Guard. Oh boo hoo.
So what? They got a few phone calls from military recruiters asking if they wanted
to do something different with their lives after high school. So what if the
military offered them a job that will pay exponentially more than McDonald’s
while covering all their living expenses? So what if they gave them another option
instead of losing focus at some junior college and dropping out to join a low-paying
workforce?
Here’s what not enough people realize about joining the Armed Forces. Though
many of us can’t speak from personal experience, we at least ought to know
that joining the military can give guidance to those out of high school who have
none.
The military can provide a career path, trade or skill, all in an incredibly
structured environment. They are less likely to waste their precious years of
youth in a structured setting than wandering through what they feel is a meaningless
academia or workplace.
For a man or woman who has no plans to attend a university, doesn’t like
school or wants to do something meaningful, the military is without a doubt one
of the best options there is. And even if he or she actually does want to attend
a university straight out of high school, the military will pay for that education
with the promise of a few years of service. In many cases, all of this isn’t
a bad deal.
The NYCLU obviously thinks differently. According to The AP, the suit is riding
on an accusation that the Defense Department’s information database is
violating a 1982 military recruitment law disallowing the department from collecting
information (like ages, Social Security numbers, gender and ethnicities) on students
younger than 17.
The NYCLU’s Web site states, “[The database] includes information
about 16 year olds, in defiance of the mandate that it only include students
17 and older. The [Department of Defense] has also announced that it will keep
the information for five years, rather than the three allowed by the statute,
and that it will share the information widely with law enforcement and other
agencies and individuals, rather than keeping it private.”
We still say so what. This whole case highlights the stigmatism of a Vietnam
draft-dodging mentality still heavily residing in places like the NYCLU. That
tumultuous era of peace, love, drugs, protests and war still resonates within
those who remember those times within our nation. This case isn’t about
claiming violation of “privacy” rights, but rather is an undercurrent
of the NYCLU’s fear of the military and a possible draft.
But do not fret. There is no draft, people, and there is not likely to be one.
Maybe we cannot believe President George W. Bush’s every word, but concerning
a draft he has said multiple times there shall not be one. Besides, modern warfare
does not require massive amounts of men like say, WWII’s D-Day European
invasion, to necessitate a draft.
The NYCLU should stop wasting its and the student’s time with this nonsense.
Even if one doesn’t agree with the motives behind the conflicts the Armed
Forces are currently involved in, no one should be disrespecting that establishment
and its efforts for this country.
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