Munsters, debates about debates and Martians

makes me realize I could be doing better things with my time. So I flipped to C-Span and watched as the U.S. House of Representatives voted on a bill to reinstate the civilian military draft. HR 163 was defeated by a sound 400 vote margin. Just in case anyone was concerned about Republicans pushing a draft resolution through the Congress, 215 Republicans voted against the draft. None voted for it. Of course, just today news of a possible draft hit newsstands around the University of Texas, where headline writers declare that Bush and Kerry only "appear" to dismiss the possibility of a draft.

On another front, I'm amused so many want an opinion of how Bush performed in the debate. Poorly, I say. But who among us really expected Bush to perform well? Certainly not those who claim he can't even speak in complete sentences. Tonight's debate should be different. I read one column comparing Dick Cheney to "Darth Vader" and John Edwards to "Luke Skywalker." Luke: I am your Vice-President. Puh-lease. It wasn't enough for Marianne Means to compare Edwards to Skywalker, in the next sentence she calls him Bambi with razor-like teeth.

Meanwhile, the most troubling thing to me that came out of the first debate was John Kerry's so-called "Global Test" he may or may not subject the United States to before military action. Bush jumped on the fanciful UN-love talk during the debate (though only half-heartedly), but the Republican minions have since latched on. Now Kerry says Bush and Co. are taking him out of context. If you trust the Washington Times enough to quote accurately, Kerry said: "The test I was talking about is a test of legitimacy — not just in the globe, but elsewhere." To which, I wonder: Will the man on the moon or Martian support sway Mr. Kerry? If the World is not sufficient for support, from whence will our help come? Only Gene Roddenberry knows.