All In The Family - The Draft Dodger

Sparks fly when Mike invites a former draft resister to the Bunkers' Christmas dinner, where the guest of honor is the father of a vet who was killed in Vietnam.

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• carroll
• o'connor
• jean
• stapleton
• sally
• struthers
• gloria
• stivic
• rob
• reiner
• mike
• lionel
• edith
• bunker

[allinthefamilyfan]

"Edith, how'd you like the FBI to come and have dinner with ya hear? Huh?"

"Oh, Archie. We aint got enough turkey for them."

[abooooff]

This is one of the greatest most honest episodes of All in the Family. Really shows the heart and honesty of these characters.

[dthdc4]

In 1979 President Jimmy Carter granted amnesty to all draft dodgers. It is believed that of some 30,000 such dodgers, about half returned. Of the rest, most made their homes in Canada. Deserters on the other hand were mostly returned since desertion was a crime even there. In fact most deserters from the Iraq conflict were also returned.

[AlfredDolly]

@freewill51 I agree that America fights wars over oil. But we do need a supply of oil to the US for the country to run each day. It's not like it is something frivolous to fight a war over.

[freewill51]

@AlfredDolly As long as there is oil, American troops will be told to die for it. Look at Mexico...Over 50,000 dead over drug wars that spill over and kill Americans. Are there any American troops down there "protecting our freedom"??? Nope. Because they don't sell us oil!

[Pauly69s]

@01hound Don't hate the veteran. They were forced to go to Nam. That. Or prison. Or Canada. Hope you have found peace my friend...))

[ejr23]

@AlfredDolly Vietnam was (as still is) a touchy subject to this very day.  You can also say that the Iraq War is also like Vietnam. I personally think we should have finished off Saddam back in 91. At least then we had far more allies and it wasn't very controversial.

[AlfredDolly]

@ejr23 The hole in your argument comes down to who determines if a battle is unjust? Troops in the field may not be fully informed of the reasons they are ordered to fight. We can't just have the troops taking it upon themselves to second guess every order with the limited information they may have. Ali is a poor example because he tried to make the argument about his own racial issues, even though he was arrested for failing to report for the draft.

[ejr23]

@AlfredDolly So following the country blindly into a war where it's unjust is okay? To kill despite not thinking it's right. Muhammad Ali didn't go so you're saying he should have been thrown in jail too. He (being Muslim) preached peace and kindness despite the differences in race and religion. TRUE Islam preaches just that, but you get some bigots that decide to mangle it for their own agendas. Christianity and all other groups do the same. You sir are just misguided.

[AlfredDolly]

Thank goodness most David Brewsters are put in jail where they belong.

[emeretta2010]

@MrWill99313 As MooPotPie said, freedom and liberty include the right not to kill. Of course our country's "freedom" is minimal anyway. Now that the NDAA has been signed it's non-existent

[MooPotPie]

@SeanMBryans Agreed. Brilliant episode of a brilliant show. Reading the comments here it is clear that this country's split over that war (and every war) persists to this day.