Not Registering for the Draft (that Doesn't Exist)

Jesus, the outrages just keep coming at us. A 16-year-employee of the VA in San Francisco is going to be fired because he didn't register for the draft.

Before he was 26 years old. Which happened way back in the 1990s.

Chris Freking, now 39, was born in The Philippines to an American citizen father and a local woman. He didn't even come to this country until 1990.

The law is severe: If you didn't register by the time you were 25, you are barred from pretty much all Federal benefits. Including Federal jobs.

Freking has been an outstanding employee for the VA health care system -- caring, professional, dedicated, and well-liked by the veterans he cares for -- so it just fucking figures that they are going to fire him.

And apparently there is no appeal process, and no way to "make it better", since he's now 39 and too old to register. His career is down the toilet

Like I say, it's another outrage. Why are we making young men (and only young men!) register for a draft that doesn't exist, and then punish them for not registering, especially when they don't go to high school here and don't know the requirements?

Here's a choice bit from the SF Gate article and a quote from bureaucratic asshole Kerry McTigue of the US Dept of Personnel Management:

All eligible males are presumed to be aware of their registration requirements. And eligible males who fail in that responsibility are presumed to have done so knowingly and willingly unless they can prove otherwise.
"We're going to put the burden of proof, so to speak, on the person who hasn't registered that they're not a draft dodger, because it's more difficult for the government to prove the other side."

Got that? The burden of proof is on Freking, who now has to "prove" his state of mind at the time he did not register.

So much for innocent until proven guilty. But I guess that's a quaint idea, along with such nonsense as freedom of speech, freedom from illegal search and seizure, freedom from torture, etc. etc. etc.