Things younger than Republican Presidential candidate (oh, and did I forget to mention war hero?) John McCain

The Peace-time Draft is younger than John McCain.

QUESTIONER: If we don’t reenact the draft, I don’t think we’ll have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of hell.

MCCAIN: Ma’am, let me say that I don’t disagree with anything you said.

Now, I’m not saying that I’m entirely against the Draft. We need to have a military and, true patriots aside, it seems like our current one is composed largely of people who have run out of options - and that seems wrong. I am, however, entirely against the Draft if it means a return to the time when children of privilege manage to find a way to circumvent service.

In other words, one for all or none for all.

The 40 hour work week is younger than John McCain.

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (which also included the establishment of a minimum wage and child labor laws) dictated that a “standard” work week consisted of 40 hours and that, beyond those hours, overtime must be paid for certain jobs.

There have been many amendments to the FSLA over the years - including the Department of Defense Authorization Act of 1986 (during the Reagan administration) that repealed the eight-hour daily overtime requirement on Federal contracts) and the changes made in 2004 (during the Bush administration) that classified millions of low-level workers as “executives”… this making them ineligible to receive overtime benefits.

I seem to be getting a lot of first time visitors to the site lately… and a lot of them hit the wall around page 3. So I thought I’d make it a little easier for people to find the older stuff by putting together a very unscientific list of the top posts (based on page views, number of comments, ones that I think really help make my case, and ones that I just thought were funny)… and here they are:

Assorted Diatribes
Ageism
A day in the life of a middle-class Republican

Books
The Grapes of Wrath

Codes
The Zip Code

Discoveries
Oil in the desert
Penicillin

Foods
The York Peppermint Pattie
The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
Cheerios

Images
A McCain campaign banner ad I wish we’d see
McCain goes after the youth vote
“Caption this photo” contest

Organizations
Mensa

People
Cindy McCain
Larry Flynt
Keith Richards
Ronald Reagan
My Mother
91% of America

Products
The Slinky
Scrabble
Duct Tape

Videos
McCain loses it on birth control issue
McCain says that his age is an issue

The Minimum Wage is younger than John McCain.

I posted this one a while back but, in honor of the fact that the Federal Minimum Wage is exploding all the way up to $6.55 this week, I thought I’d re-post it with some additions:

There were various bits of legislation setting a minimum wage prior to McCain’s birth but they were all overturned (I guess 25¢ an hour for back-breaking work in a factory was crazy-talk back then)… but it was re-established in 1938 by the Fair Labor Standards Act. And this time it stuck.

Now, some people might say that $262.00 a week for unskilled labor is fair (and I might say that those people are insane) but when you factor in the cost of gas, childcare, and the fact that - to use an everyday example as a point of comparison - ATM fees could soon be higher than the Minimum Wage (Bank of America charges $3.00… in addition to the whatever fees are charged by the account holder’s bank), $6.55 an hour is laughable.

The Copy Machine is younger than John McCain.

OK, so technically I think these guys are beating the crap out of a printer… but it could have just as easily been a copier because they get jammed all the time also - so just go with it.

Anyway, the copier is one of many inventions that was born after John McCain yet is well on its way to obsolescence. I for one have not had a copy machine in my office in years and I can’t really say that I’ve even noticed.

The GI Bill of Rights is younger than John McCain.

Officially titled the “Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944″, what is now known as the GI Bill of Rights provided for college or vocational education for returning World War II veterans as well as one year of unemployment compensation. It also provided many different types of loans for returning veterans to buy homes and start businesses.

I don’t know if John McCain availed himself of any of the benefits of the plan but, given the lengths to which he likes to talk about his military service, it seems odd to me that he would initially oppose the 21st Century version of it (going so far as skipping the vote) only to later take credit for its passage.

But then again, he does have a long record of voting against the military:

John McCain voted against a bill to establish a minimum time period between deployments to Iraq.
John McCain voted against $20 Million to Department of Veterans Affairs for medical facilities.
John McCain voted against increasing Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.
John McCain voted to table an amendment for $322,000,000 for safety equipment for US forces.

(Thanks to Andrew for the tip!)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is younger than John McCain.

One of the more interesting and unexpected parts of this whole experience has been learning about things that have been completely off my radar - things like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Here are some of sections of this beautifully well-written and inspiring document that I find particularly moving:

Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 21.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

I wonder how many of these rights - and others not mentioned here - have already been trampled by the Bush Administration and have been left unchallenged by the (so-called “liberal”) media. I wonder how many more will fall by the wayside if we elect “Bush” to a third term.

(Thanks to Odd for the tip!)

Title LXII, Chapter 646-A of New Hampshire State Law is younger than John McCain.

The U.S. Flag Code - which sets guidelines “for all handling and display of the Stars and Stripes” - is also younger than John McCain. However, since the code dictates that penalties are left to the States, let’s turn it over to the great state of New Hampshire:

“It shall be unlawful to knowingly desecrate (”Desecration” meaning the act of diverting from a sacred purpose or use to which a flag has been devoted by another individual or group of individuals. The act of desecration shall include burning, defacing, mutilating, destroying or trampling upon the flag.) a flag of the United States while it is properly displayed… (or) while it is the property of another.”

The above photograph depicts a flag John McCain autographed for a supporter at a January rally in Keene, N.H.

Oops.

(Thanks to Matt W. for the tip!)

The Minimum Wage is younger the John McCain.

This one’s a little ambiguous - as there was various bits of legislation setting a minimum wage prior to 1936 but they were all overturned (I guess 25¢ an hour for back-breaking work in a factory was crazy-talk back then)… but it was re-established in 1938 by the Fair Labor Standards Act. And this time it stuck.
Since then, the Federal minimum wage has skyrocketed to $5.85 - which means that, according to our government, someone who earns a pre-tax paycheck of $234.00 for a 40 hour week is doing just fine.
(Thanks to Caitlin, Chad, Luke, Rebecca, and others for the tip!)