The headline isn’t a joke. Not completely. It appears that Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who has a reputation for blatant and severe idiocy in public-policy making, has put forth a platform of involuntary servitude to run on against Ted Cruz this fall. Yes, he wants to bring back slavery.

What else would you call this?

Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke hopes to introduce a bill to Congress this year that would require all young people to spend at least a year “in service to this country.” O’Rourke, who currently represents the 16th District of Texas, which includes El Paso, held a town hall in Corsicana on Thursday and shared his idea with those in attendance. O’Rourke’s idea would require “every young person,” regardless of their socioeconomic background, to serve their country in some way whether that be in military service, a medical unit, a teaching unit etc. The Texas congressman said he has been searching for bipartisan support on his bill and may have found a Republican colleague to help him introduce the bill as early as this year. One last idea on this — and I’m trying to find a republican colleague — I may have one and I hope to announce it soon — it will help me introduce this into the Congress this year, and that is a national service bill that would require every young person, no matter how wealthy or how poor, to spend at least a year of their lives in service to this country; in a military unit, conservation core unit, in a medical unit, in a teaching unit — in some way that they’re going to help make this country better and stronger and have to sacrifice together and leave that with a shared understanding of who we are as a people. And no kid is going to be rich enough to buy their way out of it.

Heaven help the abject moron Republican who signs on to co-sponsor this stupidity.

O’Rourke has already filed his slavery bill once, and in the legislation (which went precisely nowhere last year) he outlines that those completing their period of indentured servitude would receive an award “equal to twice the amount of tuition for the institution of higher education where the individual is enrolled, not to exceed twice the average in-state tuition.”

So he’s drafting all the 18-year olds (or 19-year olds, or whatever age he’d target) into federal service against their will, and then he’s going to break the federal bank paying them for college.

Exactly what skills are 18-year old high school graduates going to bring to the table with respect to federal service? Sure, you can put them through boot camp and get foot soldiers out of them – at least, some of them will be suitable for that. The last time we tried having a conscript military was during the Vietnam War, which didn’t exactly work out well for our national harmony.

Other than that, what? Are there lots of 18-year old doctors and lawyers who can give valuable service to the country? How about engineers? Hell, how many 18-year old welders and mechanics are there? It isn’t like our high schools are supplying these kids with marketable skills that could be used for the public good. What can they do on their first day of national service?

If you want to come up with an idea to entice idle kids off the streets before the gangs take them, then sure – that might be a defensible idea. But O’Rourke drafting everyone of a certain age, regardless of their situation, into the public sector is deeply offensive in a free country; the only purpose we can agree might justify such an offense is military necessity, which we have proven isn’t served by mass conscription in the modern age.

But to gather up the entire bulk of the nation’s 18 year olds and force them into involuntary federal service is the kind of stupidity only an airhead Democrat politician can conjure.

If this is Cruz’ opponent in the fall, Texas Republicans needn’t worry. O’Rourke isn’t smart enough to win that election.

But it’s amazing how many different ways Democrats will try to bring back slavery, isn’t it?