Leaders of the Church of the Brethren say they will follow through on a request from the Selective Service to have"alternative service" programs in place for conscientious objectors if a draft is reinstated.

As one of the historic"peace churches" that shun military service, Brethren officials were" cautious" after an unannounced visit by a draft official to a church center in Maryland last October. Officials were worried that the visit signaled that a draft may be at hand.

In follow-up meetings, draft officials urged the church to dust off long-standing"alternative service" programs that allow conscientious objectors to serve in two-year domestic service projects in lieu of military service. [...]

Selective Service officials have insisted there are no plans to reinstate the draft, and said Alternative Service Director Cassandra Costley stopped by the Brethren Service Center simply because she was in the area.

"It is difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of self-delusion," Coolidge wrote."They are always surrounded by worshipers. They are constantly, and for the most part sincerely, assured of their greatness. They live in an artificial atmosphere of adulation and exaltation which sooner or later impairs their judgment."

Longer excerpt here:

Coolidge made remarks around this time, which would benefit anyone holding high office to consider...."It is also difficult for men in high office to avoid the malady of self-delusion. They are surrounded by worshippers... They live in an artificial atmosphere of adulation and exaltation, which sooner or later impairs their judgment. They are in grave danger of becoming arrogant or careless... the chances of having wise and faithful public service are increased by a change in presidential office after a moderate length of time... It's also a pretty good idea to get out when they still want you."

The system we've got for determining control over nuclear weapons and history's most powerful military already pre-selects for odd characters. Few of us would want to spend two or more years riding a bus around Iowa mouthing platitudes to people we've never met, and scrupulously self-censoring to avoid"gaffes," which Michael Kinsley famously defined as when a politician accidently tells the truth. Even fewer of us are so suffused with a sense of our own grandeur that we'd feel up to the job. I remember my first visit to Little Rock, Arkansas, which is distinctly less impressive than Red Bank, New Jersey, near where I grew up. Bill Clinton imagining he could be president struck me as about as outlandish as the mayor of Red Bank thinking he could be"Leader of the Free World."

If and when that sort of insane ambition actually pays off, and you win the presidency, it would be hard to avoid thinking you'd been touched by God, even if you aren't religious. Add to that the social environment the president moves in, where he's surrounded by people who treat him like a god and insulated from people who'll tell him he's full of crap. (It's probably worse if you don't read newspapers and the Secret Service cordons off protestors beyond your line of sight). I wrote more about this here, with just as little insight into what can be done about it.

I know this is old news already... but since I posted on this topic here and here back in November, I felt an obligation to report that the FCC ruled that the unedited showing of"Saving Private Ryan" did not violate its guidelines on"indecency." This should send a signal to those 66 ABC affiliates who chose not to air the film in the wake of FCC crackdowns and fines in the post-Janet Jackson Boob Era.

It's interesting that the FCC suggests that it's all a matter of context. Saying"FUBAR" ("Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition") in"Saving Private Ryan" is okay, but would probably be cause for a fine if, say, Chris Rock had uttered it on the Academy Awards broadcast. In this atmosphere, it's understandable why Steven Bochco, co-creator of NYPD Blue, which ended its 12-year run last night in a glorious finale, would be reluctant to launch such a show today. As Bochco puts it here:"I don't think today we could sell NYPD Blue in the form that it launched 12 years ago ... I had hoped, and I think probably everybody in television had hoped, that NYPD Blue would pave the way for a more open approach to programming, a more adult, 10 o'clock kind of programming. But there's no question that over the course of the last 10 years, the medium has become increasingly conservative."

Well, either way, I'll miss the drama of Andy Sipowicz and the cops at the 15th Precinct. And I'll switch over to premium cable channels if I'd like a dose of"blue" language and images.

Cross-posted to Notablog.

At"Not a Blog," I posted some musings on neoconservative ideology, and the nature of political and cultural change. As I state in my conclusion:

I am in full agreement with the neoconservatives ... that a freer world is more desirable and that it is a necessary (though not sufficient) ingredient in the creation of a more secure world; my fundamental problem with the neocons is that they do not understand the complex conditions that foster either freedom or security.

Read the whole post here.