THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Updates To Previous Posts
† Why Elites Don’t Serve In The Armed Forces (second item): You’ll recall that during Columbia University’s ServiceNation Presidential Forum, when then-candidates John McCain and Barack Obama called upon the Ivy League school to reinstate the ROTC program, the audience booed McCain and stared at Obama in stone-cold silence. Clearly, they thought their kids were meant for something better than a stint in the armed forces or – heaven forfend! – a military career. In a Washington Post op-ed, Danielle Allen, UPS Foundation Professor of social science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, notes that “since 1970, the population of the United States has grown by about 50 percent, from roughly 200 million to 300 million” while “the number of active-duty armed forces has fallen approximately 50 percent, from 3 million to 1.4 million.” But another interesting pattern emerges from her research:
In 1969, the 10 states with the highest percentage of veterans were, in order: Wyoming, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, California, Oregon, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio, Connecticut and Illinois.
In 2007, the 10 states with the highest percentage of post-Vietnam-era veterans were, in order: Alaska, Virginia, Hawaii, Washington, Wyoming, Maine, South Carolina, Montana, Maryland and Georgia.
Over the past four decades, which states have disappeared from the top 10? California, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Illinois, all big blue states that have voted Democratic in the past five presidential elections. These states and another blue state, New York, which ranked 12th in 1969, are among the 10 states with the lowest number of post-Vietnam vets per capita. New Jersey comes in 50th of the 50 states; just 1 percent of current residents have served in the military since Vietnam.
Her remedy? “[A] structure for national service - both military and non-military - that could successfully integrate young people from different regions of the country … to weave a fabric of shared citizenship anew.” But first, we need to teach their parents the meaning of shared citizenship.
† Updates To Previous Posts (second item, Is The Iraqi Criminal Justice System More Efficient Than Ours?): Although Atlanta’s “courthouse shooter,” Brian G. Nichols, was given four sentences of life without parole, plus 485 years and seven more sentences of life in prison by Judge James G. Bodiford after a jury remained deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of sending Nichols to the death chamber after 40 hours of deliberations, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard “suggested that if federal prosecutors tried Nichols for his slaying of customs agent David Wilhelm, Nichols could ultimately be sentenced to death,” reports Fulton County Daily Report. It may yet happen:
Howard said he would meet with [U.S. Attorney David] Nahmias next week to discuss possible federal charges against Nichols for the slaying of Wilhelm. …
Kent Alexander, who served as Atlanta's U.S. attorney during the 1990s, told the Daily Report on Saturday, "I don't think there would be a double jeopardy issue" because Wilhelm's position as a federal law enforcement officer "would be a new element for of the offense." …
During the post-hearing session, the families and friends of the victims took turns at the podium, expressing their gratitude to the prosecutors, victims' advocates and other support staff. They were effusive in their praise for Bodiford.
But they were also disappointed that Nichols escaped the ultimate punishment.
Candee Wilhelm -- who spent much of the Friday and Saturday hearings with her face buried in her hands -- read a statement blasting the jury decision.
"Brain Nichols' parents raised an extremely evil person," she said grimly. "He showed no mercy to four people he brutally executed, including my precious David.
"Now, after three-and-a-half years, I am extremely disappointed that this murderer has been shown the mercy that he did not show."
† Updates To Previous Posts (third item, A To Z Approach On Illegal Immigration In AZ): AZ is not the only state seeing Mexicans deporting themselves, reports The Associated Press. It seems now that jobs are drying up, forged documented aliens are finding the grass greener on the other side of the U.S. border:
After going months without a full-time job, Daniel Ramirez has decided it's time to return to family in Mexico. …
Layoffs, dwindling job opportunities, anti-immigrant sentiment and the crackdown on illegal immigrants are forcing hard choices on many Mexican nationals in Colorado. Though not an exodus, some are returning to a nation they haven't seen in years.
"You despair. You think, 'I used to earn $600 a week and now I'm getting half of that a week?'" said Ramirez, 38, who lost his Denver construction job in August. He left last week, driving to San Luis Potosi in central Mexico.
Mexico's consul general in Denver, Eduardo Arnal, said more people like Ramirez are going home for good.
He cites a rise in applications for import tax exemptions by Mexican nationals bringing home their belongings. The consulate hasn't compiled statistics for 2008 but says it receives about three applications a day, compared to one per week in 2007.
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