From the desk of the Scriptorium
May I see a show of hands…..How many recall the early days of the Obama presidency and he called for a Civilian Response Corps?…..volunteers in service to America, if you will….if you recall then you will also recall that some on the Right were calling this the attempt to take over the US by organizing an army that is indoctrinated in “socialism” or Fascism or whatever other pipe dream they had at the time…..any way, the CRC was a group of volunteers that would be first responders to problems across the world, the volunteers would come from many different agencies and would provide “expert” assistance. It was a big deal on Right nutcase radio for awhile, Limbaugh, Beck, Bachmann and the rest of the pea brains…..
And then nothing…it has gone silent…..
Before Obama’s CRC there was Clinton’s AmeriCorps which was put together to assist in education to environmental clean up…..GW Bush even went along for the ride and the program was expanding by 50%.
Okay, enough of the history lesson…where are you going with this, Professor?
Why have not the “volunteers” been used in the clean up? Presidents have called on Americans to volunteer in service to the country, but yet NOTHING concerning the spill. Why? We are asked to donate to every situation that crosses the wire…it is Summer…school is out….why not ask Americans to do their part and volunteer in the Coast region?
What happened to the “Case for National Service”?
Obama’s position has considerable support. Last year Time magazine profiled the calls of a number of prominent Democrats in a cover story, “The Case for National Service,” supporting a plan to mandate universal service and establishing a cabinet-level Department of National Service. The plan envisioned 419,000 jobs annually for young people between the ages of 18-25 doing one year of “national or military service.”
What happened to this “plan”? It is like all other ideas that come out at election time….once said, soon forgotten…..and you wonder why I have little use for today’s politicians?
The pundits want jobs…then use the “volunteers” to assist in the clean-up in the Gulf….granted it would be temp jobs but at least people could feed their families….
BTW, there is a phone scam going on asking for donations to assist in the oil spill clean-up…..sick bastards!