Republican lawmakers go nuts over 'creeping left-wing extremism' in the US military
Category: News & Politics
Via: john-russell • 3 years ago • 45 commentsBy: Raw Story - Celebrating Years of Independent Journalism
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
On Tuesday, May 25, 30 House Republican lawmakers including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) signed on in support of a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Defense to verbalize their complaints about the "growing trend of left-wing extremism" in the United States' armed forces.
"We write to express concern about the growing trend of left-wing extremism and politicization in our armed forces," the lawmakers wrote.
The letter went on to raise concerns about the U.S. Army's latest recruitment video titled, "The Calling," which also featured an animated clip of a gay wedding ceremony.
The lawmakers argue that the ad "describes marching in left-wing social protests as 'defending freedom,' depicts 'two moms' raising a child, features a lesbian wedding, and refers to the subject of the video's service to this country as 'shattering stereotypes.'"
In conclusion, the letter — which lawmakers claimed was "printed on recycled paper" — focused on Republicans' ideologies of what the military stands for. "The sole purpose of the United States Military is to protect American citizens, defend American national security interests, and to fight and win wars when necessary," they wrote.
The letter concluded, "We urge you to use your authority to take action to fight back against the creeping left-wing extremism in the U.S. military."
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I don't recall any of these usual suspect right wing congress creatures making any noise when reports of white supremacists in the military have surfaced over the past couple decades. But soldiers supporting "social justice" is an outrage ?
Didn't you know, John, that all veterans are supposed to be conservative? Those of us who are liberals are "indecent people"
When all your programs are unpopular and your "leader" is an unindicted criminal , complaining constantly about "left wing extremism" is all you have to hang on to.
These people complaining about left wing extremism in the military don't know jack shit about the armed forces. So the military is stepping into the 21st century! BFD! Gay marriage does not hurt morale. What does hurt morale is supervisors sexually harassing their subordinates and people who have to jump from bed to bed even if they are married.
I don't know why people have to be concerned about what's going on in the house across the street. At least one of those people wear a uniform every day just you* do...that's if you live in base housing.
*that's the collective "you"
those 2 trump dick suckers know who will end up hunting down and exterminating their right wing domestic terrorist militia pals in the near future.
I thought it was one ad , but evidently it is a series of ads under the title The Calling. One is meant to appeal to gays, one features a black recruit, one has a Latino character who joined, one is about a poverty stricken immigrant girl who joins the Army, and so forth. The ads are all animated by the way. Other than to demonstrate that they are pricks, I dont know what the right wingers see in these ads to complain about.
Thankfully, the real wars are behind us.
It's now safe to socially experiment
Have you taken a good look at America lately? It's not all white, straight, men ya know.
I was watching an episode of the old Carol Burnett show on a nostalgia tv station last night. As it went along with the various skits I couldnt help but notice that every single person in those skits was white, including all the background characters without speaking parts.
That was late 60's , early 70's I think.
So now we have Army recruiting videos with all minority casts, to encourage minorities to join the US military and this is supposed to be a bad thing?
I think it's good thing. you're jumping to conclusions, again;
I never said it was. Diversity is good if standards are not lowered to accommodate specific groups.
what are you talking about?
it's not going to matter much to any rwnj dinosaurs soon...
The usual suspect blowing more hot air, they could become hot-air buffoons if they're not careful.
I think it's good thing. you're jumping to conclusions, again;
Any of these pukes ever taken the oath, and worn the uniform?
LOL, you're kidding right? You expect these self-described patriots to have actually served in the Military.
Well, Large Marge looks like she could have been a Marine...
I was "firing for effect" Special-K
Well, Large Marge looks like she could have been a Marine...
She couldn't learn to keep her mouth closed long enough....
"Private Pyle"
She would be thrown out in the first week of BCT. She is 4F (Fing c**t, Fing bitch, Fing racist, Fing moron)
More like Pile as in a steaming pile of shit.
That's insulting to Marines!
I heartily apologize. Mea culpa
Ah, yes, the party of family values
Manson had better family values than those four morons.
thebulwark.com /culture-war-comes-for-military-recruitment/
The Culture War Comes for Military Recruitment - The Bulwark
Shay Khatiri 6-8 minutes 5/27/2021
Just three years ago, the suggestion that the American military would be a punching bag for “conservative” infotainers and politicians would have sounded outlandish. And yet, so has it become. Last week, Ted Cruz retweeted a Russian military recruitment video that unfavorably compared the Russian military to the U.S. Army. “Holy crap,” he commented, “Perhaps a woke, emasculated military is not the best idea.” Tucker Carlson spent airtime on his Fox News show disparaging the Air Force’s flight suits designed to fit expectant mothers as “feminizing” the military. As is so often the case, Cruz and Carlson have no idea what they’re talking about.
Both men seem to be under the impression that the United States military exists to prove some half-coherent point about manliness or “wokeness” or airborne fashion, rather than to protect the country from foreign threats.
To accomplish its objectives, the military needs materiel and personnel. Getting the right supply of both is a perennial challenge—one which involves constant negotiation among the military, the president, and Congress. Unlike Carlson, Cruz is a senator and therefore has a seat at the table in this debate. Oversight, including over the military, is one of Cruz’s responsibilities, and it’s perfectly proper for him to second-guess the military’s recruitment strategy. The best way to do so is to invite them to testify before Congress and ask for an explanation. Childish tweets are somewhat lower down the list of effective oversight tools.
It’s a shame Cruz doesn’t take his job more seriously, because the services have been struggling to meet their recruitment goals. There are several explanations, including that the Department of Defense data from 2017 indicated that 71 percent of Americans between the ages of 17 and 24—prime ages for military recruiters—were ineligible to join the military due to health problems, educational shortcomings, drug use, and criminal background.
If only there were enough Americans with the mind of Dwight Eisenhower and the body of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson ready and eager to staff the military fully. Lacking that, the Defense Department has to find the best talent where and how it can.
The most straightforward recruitment tool the Pentagon has is compensation. But, while increasing compensation does increase recruitment, the results are less than ideal. Compensation bumps have limited effect on increasing the desirability of military service. The opportunity cost of higher compensation is less money for other expenditures such as weapons procurement and research and development. The Defense Department spends almost a quarter of its budget on uniformed personnel—an amount which by itself is greater than the total defense budgets of most countries. But even all that investment and the benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs aren’t sufficient recruitment incentives.
The military also has to make itself an attractive employer for the workers it hopes to court. (See: free market.) This is the part that infuriates the likes of Carlson and Cruz.
It is a simple demographic fact that a large percentage of the people the military needs to do its various jobs are female. If right-wing demagogues find this triggering, they should take it up with whoever decided that the species should be roughly half made up of women. Since women bring valuable skills to the Defense Department, the Pentagon does what it can to recruit and retain them. Hence the maternity flight suits Carlson so abhorred.
The recruitment ad Cruz condemned is another method to show women and LGBTQ potential recruits that they’re welcome in the military. The video contrasted a Russian recruitment ad with an American one, which depicted a female soldier telling the story of her lesbian mothers, protesting for their rights, and how she joined the Army. The military has always struggled with recruitment from more progressive communities. As Jim Golby has written , Democrats join the military at a lower rate and leave it at a higher rate. This is just as much a problem as the progressive bias among non-military civil servants. Signaling to those demographics that the military is a hospitable environment for them will help balance the force also help with meeting recruitment goals.
Skeptics of women in the military and skeptics of women in front-line infantry units—two non-congruent groups—sometimes conflate the issues of diversity with fitness. The concerns are separate but overlapping. A National Review editorial expressed concerns that the upcoming changes to Army Physical Fitness Test, writing that “the test may not be perfect, but its stated purpose was to create a new meritocratic test for the new gender-neutral Army.”
Well, yes and no. The Army Physical Fitness Test, which was created in late 1800s and last updated in 1980, is supposed to be replaced by the Army Combat Fitness Test. Half of women in the Army, however, cannot pass the proposed test. And that’s fine because most Army jobs do not require excessive physical work. Most 4-star generals, mostly in their 60s, probably can’t pass either test, which is fine since no 4-star is going to personally lead a combat unit into battle. Neither will someone the Army hires to sit in a base in the U.S. and write code.
If those who set our military strategy—with or without Cruz—decide that the best force structure balances the quality of personnel with the quantity necessary by relaxing physical standards, that doesn’t necessarily mean that military lethality or capability is being sacrificed for progressive social projects. On the contrary, Carlson’s and Cruz’s inchoate machismo is subverting military priorities to cultural ones.
Different jobs within the military have different functions. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and Army Chief of Staff James C. McConville all served as infantry officers, so they are more than qualified to review changes to recruitment efforts and fitness tests.
If Cruz disagrees with their assessment, he should use his legislative office to promote what he considers a better policy. But he appears to have more interest in being a Twitter troll than in being a legislator. Carlson, like Cruz, is demagoguing the military to feed his audience.
Both men are disserving the country and endangering national security by turning the military into a partisan football. This is the opposite of patriotism.
Physical standards are important, tho. Even as an airman I was required to maintain weight and cardiovascular fitness. That's because all soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines are warriors first. Even the code writer has to be able to take on the enemy.
If women want to be in the infantry then they are going to have to keep up with the boys. I never wanted to be in the infantry...too damn tough!
Minorities make up over 40% of our military. This is but one.
Sgt. Terri Bluebird (Lakota Sioux) 82nd Airborne. She was born at Ft. Bragg where her father was a Jumpmaster and a 20 veteran as was her mother a 20-year military vet.
She comes from good stock having both parents as veterans.
I love her last name.
There aren't any wimps in Airborne units.
Cool last name almost as cool as mine...
If I remember: "Paratrooper".... Because BAMF isn't a job description.....
That is true..LOL
I'd love to see Gaetz and Gosar get "straightened out" on the issue by the good sergeant...!
Those two are so twisted that when they die, they won't bury them. They will just screw them into the ground.
God forbid the US military try to expand its recruiting appeal.
No wingnuts, they are not models:
They don't come any tougher than the Kurdish YPG, just ask the Syrians and ISIS.
I doubt Trump would last a second in their midst.
My vote for toughest goes to the actress who is the new Wonder Woman. She spent two years in the Israel Army and is tough as nails.
The minute he found out no Big Macs or KFC served at the mess hall, he would go AWOL.