Try and Make Me

So the Senate is kicking around a supplement to the incredibly stupid GIVE Act, called the SERVE Act.

(Sidebar: Can we stop making up cutesy acronyms, then finding a phrase that fits them? Like, say, USA PATRIOT, GIVE, SERVE, or TARP? Good God, is Gary Busey making up the names for legislation? Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, Sewage Held In Transit, Finally Understanding Nothing, Together Everyone Achieves More?)

Here's the problem: Obama has requested that the Senate see "whether a workable, fair, and reasonable mandatory service requirement for all able young people could be developed, and how such a requirement could be implemented in a manner that would strengthen the social fabric of the Nation and overcome civic challenges by bringing together people from diverse economic, ethnic, and educational backgrounds."

See, I've got no problem volunteering. But I'll be damned if the federal government is going to force me to do the volunteer work they think I need to.

Remember the Thirteenth Amendment? About how "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude" should exist in this country "except as punishment for a crime" that someone's been convicted of by due process? That includes "involuntary servitude" in pursuit of what I'm sure will be noble, public-minded projects (after all, there's no way Barack Obama is going to use this to provide footsoldiers for radical leftist organizations). "No involuntary servitude" means even if you think it's for the greater good. I volunteer for organizations that I feel deserve my time, in pursuit of goals I choose. You're going to try and force me to do the volunteer work that serves your interests? Good luck. I will not do charity work at gunpoint. Not for Obama, not for anyone. If anyone--and I don't give a flying crap what letter is next to their name--expects me to "volunteer" or go to jail...well, bring on the 4x8 cell. It's called "volunteering" because it's VOLUNTARY. You hold a gun to my head and it's not "volunteering" anymore.