The divide continues in America. This is not the rich v poor or white v non-white debate. This is the civil-military relationship in the United States. Joshnua Green’s Company Left in the January/February issue of the Atlantic Monthly comments on a change presently happening.
Joshua Green’s article conforms with the MilitaryTimes survey’s of serving officers: an expanding disagreement with the President and the Administration over policy. I was asked the other day why doesn’t the military simply do something and act on their beliefs. Seriously, would you want that? The deep tradition of civil-military relations, a founding tenent of our democracy, requires the military to be subjugated below the civilian leadership.
It is clear the military leadership is feeling out alternative expressions. Public disagreements with the Administration is on the rise, evident in the few examples I’ve posted in the civil-military category on this site. Few people seem to remember that the Pentagon’s leadership is generally civilians, but one might conclude the "politicized" brass resident in the Pentagon is more closely aligned with civilians than the military.
I’d also suggest listening to Tom Ashbrook’s interview with Pete McCloskey. Hon McCloskey is "coming back to confront a Republican party — his party — that he says has gone dangerously wrong."
