The thing that wouldn't die

Media pundit types are apt to cluck-cluck and tut-tut over why rumors about a renewal of the draft just won't seem to go away despite official denials.

Leaving aside the question of just why anyone should believe a single blessed little thing this administration says (as Mary McCarthy said of Lillian Hellman, "Every word she says is a lie, including 'and' and 'the'"), one reason could be that the Seattle Post Intelligencer learned earlier this year that the Selective Service System had been "designing procedures" for instituting a "skills draft" and had met with upper-echelon Defense Department officials about it.

And it certainly doesn't increase confidence when,

[p]ressed on why he continued to oppose increasing the size of the army in light of the strains on the force, Rumsfeld admitted [last Thursday] it was uncertain that efficiencies in the army would be enough to offset the need for more troops.

"Believe me, if we need more end strength, we'll request more end strength," he said.

Worrying about a draft may be a little paranoid - but sometimes a little touch of paranoia is a good thing.