Keep My Military Out of Your Politics
Why politicizing the U.S. military is a road to disaster.
While public confidence in U.S. institutions has been steadily decreasing since the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S. military is the one government organization that a majority of Americans still trust — on both sides of the aisle.
The younger generations may not remember how poorly this country treated its returning Vietnam veterans, but the Baby Boomers do…
And right now, for better or worse, the Boomers still run this country.
Perhaps that’s why the public pendulum has swung so far toward the military’s favor over the past four decades. The idea is: “never again will we treat our servicemembers as poorly as we once did.”
Still, if we begin politicizing the military, public trust will erode.
But that doesn’t mean that the military should be completely apolitical. It should just avoid being used as props in partisan politics.
The military can never be totally apolitical
Servicemembers don’t lose the right to vote when they sign up.
Naturally, they are going to make their voices heard at the ballot box and vote for the candidate and party that most favorably impacts their lives.
