Oxymoron of the week: Mandatory voluntarism. A lot of candidates are offering volunteer-service ideas to get people more engaged in their country. This columnist likes the plan Chris Dodd came up with most of all:
But the Dodd plan includes a particular position that's worth pursuing by the next president because it drills down beyond the college-age graduate to the budding adulthood of all high school graduates.
Every student in America would be required to perform 100 hours of community-based service prior to high school graduation.
Only down to the high school level? Why not make the elementary kids put in a little time in the soup kitchens? Hell, let 'em hand out condoms and clean needles.
