Warren Stubli just sent me a good add-on to my previous message…
Just read your post about draft and why there hasn't been one, yet. Good point and pretty much right except it isn't just the draft in general they are afraid of being known for. In our modern age of equality, a draft today would include both males and females. And there is not one of them in Washington who wants to known for the first draft of some constituent's daughter.
Yeah…and another thing is that any new system of conscription would include some sort of rules as to who didn't have to serve…for health reasons or because of financial hardship or conscientious objector status or other perhaps-valid reasons. And immediately, you'd have the folks who are against reinstating the draft saying that the rules had been slanted to exempt wealthy white guys or the kids of Senators or disciples of some religions and not others. I don't know that it's humanly possible to draw up those rules in a way that will be completely fair.
They certainly weren't fair when I was draft-eligible but there was a momentum then…and frankly, people weren't that sensitive to issues of discrimination. I think it would be much more difficult today to put together those rules and have them accepted. We can't even elect a president without folks charging (with some justification) that the system has been rigged.