Worried Social Security Won't Be There For You? Join The National Guard!

Thanks to the backdoor draft, the abuse of the National Guard (45% of the troops in Iraq are reserves) and a million other reasons (Bush's lack of respect for the troops by refusing to go to a single military funeral, etc.) recruiting is a disaster for our military.

The latest Band Aid solution? Raise the age the Army Reserve and National Guard can recruit soldiers 5 years from 34 to 39.

The age for the regular Army is 34 and set by Congress and can't be changed without its approval. This means another 22 million poor people can be targeted by recruiters to join up. My favorite quote in an earlier version of this New York Times article said that fighting war was a middle-aged person's job now -- there just isn't that much hand-to-hand combat anymore.

Think of it as a jobs program being extended to more Americans. And maybe if they keep raising the age you can join up when your Social Security checks disappear after being "privatized."

This is sad if it weren't so funny and another example of how Bush is abusing the military and the National Guard and Reserves in particular in ways that are going to make it harder and harder to defend America for decades to come.