oh good, by dint of presidential fiat my country's military is being gutted today

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by ArmySGT.

This comes back to the issue of FRANCHISE or the issue of the VOTE.

How do you limit the quality of the vote to those qualified to vote??

Right to vote and qualified to vote are two different things. Qualification, to me, smacks of Jim Crow and all the crap pulled by prejudiced, white people over time to limit the ability of minorities to vote. Or the crap being pulled by Republican governors or legislatures these days to prevent liberal and Democratic voters from voting. In my mind, even a homeless person who is a US citizen should have the right to vote.

Right to vote, however, deals with the requirements of the Constitution to vote, possibly (and I really mean possibly, reviewed by courts if there is the slightest question of unfairness) modified by state and local law. While I believe in a national service system, failure to take part should not remove your right to vote.