Here's the scoop:

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) called yesterday for a reinstatement of the draft, saying the nation's volunteer Army has made lawmakers cavalier about risking the lives of American troops.

Ah, so Rep. Rangel thinks that his fellow legislators aren't taking war seriously enough, so he's going to spend taxpayer time and money to propose a piece of legislation on principle.

How about...oh, I don't know...writing an editorial in a major newspaper, or going on a cable news talk show? Nah, nothing gets people's attention like fatuous, disingenuous legislation.

Look, we've got an all-volunteer military, with relatively high morale, well-trained and well-equipped. Military recruiters over the past decade have consistently filled year-end quotas for new recruits well before the end of each year. There is absolutely no need for a draft.

But gosh, that's not what it's all about. It's about equality:

"Just because we have a volunteer army that is recruited from the lower- and more moderate-income people in our country, we should not just be so anxious to allow them to go in harm's way unless America feels more confident that they are in danger," Rangel told CNN's "Late Edition."

Hmm...is Rangel suggesting that military recruiting is somehow discriminatory? How about the far-fetched idea that the military is a public-service career path that provides an alternative to working in McDonalds, that actually trains people in real-world skills? That people from lower and middle income groups would be more willing to choose (note the word, "choose") the military as a career path is only common sense. Is he further suggesting that reinstating a draft would somehow even out the median background family income of military personnel?

This "legislation" is grandstanding. It's nonsensical. And it's a waste of time and resources.

Clear and simple: Rangel's proposal is idiotic.