Let me get this off my chest. Jonah Goldberg is Tool. And big, pasty, WATB tool. In an Op Ed in today's LA Times, Goldberg equates Obama's call to service as, I shit you not "Forced Servitude". He even bandies about the "slavery" word, but denies making the comparison. I can't wait for the good folk over at Sadly, No! to get a hold of this.
Below is from Obama's Issues link on his website about service and this is what Jonah (Doughy Pantload) Goldberg is up in arms about:
Expand Service-Learning in Our Nation's Schools: Obama will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year. He will develop national guidelines for service- learning and will give schools better tools both to develop programs and to document student experience. Green Job Corps: Obama will create an energy-focused youth jobs program to provide disadvantaged youth with service opportunities weatherizing buildings and getting practical experience in fast-growing career fields.
Require 100 Hours of Service in College: Obama will establish a new American Opportunity Tax Credit that is worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year.
Sounds like a good deal for students, right? In exchange for a few hours of service you get money for college and/or career development skills. But hold on there, says Jonah:
There's a weird irony at work when Sen. Barack Obama, the black presidential candidate who will allegedly scrub the stain of racism from the nation, vows to run afoul of the constitutional amendment that abolished slavery.
For those who don't remember, the 13th Amendment says: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime ... shall exist within the United States."
I guess in Obama's mind it must be a crime to be born or to go to college.
Did he REALLY just go there? Is this the new face of racial attacks Obama? The black man who is secretly pro "forced servitude"? And the outrage doesn't end there. He goes on to say that the call to national service enforces a "slave mentality".
This is the real problem with national service mania: It seeks to fix what ain't broke. No, national service isn't slavery. But it contributes to a slave mentality, at odds with American tradition. It assumes that work not done for the government isn't really for the "common good."
Let me make it clear to Asshat Goldberg:
Slavery:
Volunteerism and National Service:
Go tell Jonah what the difference is.
jgoldberg@latimescolumnists.com
letters@latimes.com
Editorial Contacts
Readers’ Representative:
Questions or concerns about The Times'
journalistic standards and practices
Readers' Representative Office (digital form)
E-mail:readers.rep@latimes.com
Telephone message line: (877) 554-4000
Fax:(213) 237-3535
Mailing address:
202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012