Keeping America Strong, Despite Resistance

THE APOINTMENT OF HIGH RANKING MILITARY OFFICERS is quite obviously of paramount importance to national security. All military organizations require just that; a high degree of organization and a strong chain of command. In these United States, such appointments, the highest of the high, the general staff, require the approval of Congress. Such approval is now lacking, and the military, all branches, is being exposed to an alarming absence of command and control, thanks largely to the misguided efforts of one college football coach turned Senator: Tommy Tuberville of Alabama. He did a much better job at Auburn University than he is in the U.S. Senate. His coaching staff was always solid and complete, staffed with men of the highest quality and capability, and the head coach never refused to name an assistant to any of his staffs because of their sexual orientation, attitudes towards abortion, or attitudes toward LGTBQ people. If he had, he might have found himself alone on the sideline, trying desperately to keep dozens of energetic young men organized and under control. Even worse, he is joined in his dangerous game of obstruction by several other members of Congress, particularly in the House of Rpresentatives; Republicans, mostly from the far right, as you might imagine. The good news is that if only a handful of Republican House members agree to move military appointments forward to the Senate, where they are all likely to pass in the Democratically controlled upper chamber, we will be out of harm's way. The military is assiduous in its inclusion and fair treatment of women service members. It provides travel expenses to those who require an abortion and who must go elsewher, across state lines, to obtain one. The military has also adopted an inclusive policy of admitting and retaining women members, gay members, transgender members, members of color, and members of the LGBTQ community in general. (Long live the American military) This progressive policy has unsurprisingly aroused the wrath of those on not only the far right, but among conservatives in general, who evidently believe that an all white, all male, all heterosexual military, such as that from bygone years, is preferable. But what else are we to expect from the party of retrogression? We are told by our military leaders that it is absolutely essential to maintain a strong, well disciplined military for America's defense, and yet, Republicans seem not to be concerned. And then too, at least sixty duly empowered courts of law declared that Donald Trump indeed lost the election of 2020, and the "party of Law and Order" ignores these rulings, preferring instead to dwell in their fantasy that he in fact won, unsupported by even a trace of evidence. And now, the pernicious conservative war on human beings continues, unabated, and threatens to hobble our nation's military. Here the word "shameful" is inadequate.