political military...
I was watching the debates on Fox news tonight and realized that I am getting worried about the politicization of the military. By that, I do not mean that politicians are using the military politically, but that people within the military (or newly out of the military) are begining to speak politically. This is happening not just within one party either, but both parties and non-aligned members also. I don't see this as a good thing and because of it, I have decided against writing anything political any further. I may still speak about certain issues, but overall, I think it would be wrong for me, now that I have my commission and am in the military, to speak openly about what it is I think. On a one on one basis, I would be more than willing to talk about damn near any issue, but in a general sense, I think it detracts from the overall respect and dignity of the office were it to seem that I were a political officer.
posted by Adam at 7:45 PM
2 Comments:
Okay so sometimes I feel like I post on your blog too much, and I don't want to come off as some sort of obsessive, creepy reader, but I have to post again. Because, what you said reminds of a feeling I had while watching you graduate at West Point. And that was that these men and women who were graduating, and all of the people in the military, have voluntarily given up their right to political descent, a precious part of American citizenship. To have a military which does not dominate the state, we the citizens require that you (the military) not have on opinion on political matters, but obediently serve the decisions of the majority, or the decisions of those elected by the majority. And this realization made me feel all the greater that my duty as a civilian, as one who hasn't given up that right, is to engage constantly and forcefully in political debate and action, to make up for what you cannot do. I came away from your graduation feeling like the rest of America and I need to work a lot harder to be worthy of the sacrifice that you and your cohort have made for us.
Hey, Adam. Remaining apolitical is a tough thing to do, but I agree with you that the military needs to remain so. This boundary between civilian-military is often misunderstood by both sides. This reminds me of the Arthur Miller essay I posted a while back: A Night at West Point. Hope all is well in your parts of the Mil Intelligence world.
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