The Sun is at it again
The Sun is at it again this morning, with three items sure with a, shall we say, different perspective.
First, is this headline: "Ehrlich Eased PSC Rules." Of course, you have to read the story to understand that the law had nothing to do with power rates, but everything to do with the time period that PSC employees had to wait before taking a job in an industry regulated by the PSC. The bill, naturally, implies that since the Governor was the sole sponsor of the legislation in 1993 (while he was a Delegate), that the Governor wants a cozy relationship between the PSC and the utilities. Of course, what the headline does not imply is that the bill was overwhelmingly supported by a Democratic General Assembly and signed into law by a Democratic Governor.
The Second Story headline: "Teacher's Endorsement Falls Short." The Maryland State Teachers Association requires 58-percent of the votes cast in order to issue and endorsement. Neither Martin O'Malley or Doug Duncan received that percentage of the vote yesterday. Of course, what the Sun tries to gloss over is that Duncan came pretty close to hitting that number, receiving 55-percent of the vote. Is the Sun once again trying to cover for the hometown mayor.
The third story is not journalism, but Dan Rodricks' column. He calls for the reinstitution of the draft. Not just a military draft, but a "Public Service Draft," which could ship 18-year olds into military service, domestic service, humanitarian service. Of course, there are more than a few problems with Rodricks' hair-brained idea:
First, is this headline: "Ehrlich Eased PSC Rules." Of course, you have to read the story to understand that the law had nothing to do with power rates, but everything to do with the time period that PSC employees had to wait before taking a job in an industry regulated by the PSC. The bill, naturally, implies that since the Governor was the sole sponsor of the legislation in 1993 (while he was a Delegate), that the Governor wants a cozy relationship between the PSC and the utilities. Of course, what the headline does not imply is that the bill was overwhelmingly supported by a Democratic General Assembly and signed into law by a Democratic Governor.
The Second Story headline: "Teacher's Endorsement Falls Short." The Maryland State Teachers Association requires 58-percent of the votes cast in order to issue and endorsement. Neither Martin O'Malley or Doug Duncan received that percentage of the vote yesterday. Of course, what the Sun tries to gloss over is that Duncan came pretty close to hitting that number, receiving 55-percent of the vote. Is the Sun once again trying to cover for the hometown mayor.
The third story is not journalism, but Dan Rodricks' column. He calls for the reinstitution of the draft. Not just a military draft, but a "Public Service Draft," which could ship 18-year olds into military service, domestic service, humanitarian service. Of course, there are more than a few problems with Rodricks' hair-brained idea:
- Mandatory Volunteerism does not work: we have had for years in Maryland public schools mandatory volunteerism as a graduation requirement. Not only were students (including this student) resentful that the government was telling them that they had to volunteer, it was not exactly encouragement for them to continue volunteering on their own merits.
- The Army Doesn't Want them: Given modern military technology, conscripted troops have little use in today's armed forces. By the time conscripted troops get trained, their time of conscription will be over given the current legal constraints of the Selective Service. If DoD leadership thought that conscription would be that constructive, we probably would have already seen it reintroduced.
- We have laws against that: Involuntary servitude was pretty explicitly outlawed by the 13th Amendment.
posted by Brian Griffiths at 11:50 AM
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