An Apolitical Military

There was a time when many of us, upon hearing the phrase "Commander-in-Chief," thought first of George Washington. Gilbert Stuart's well-known portrait of a dignified general, later president, conjured thoughts of competency and determination. The last thought that entered our minds was of a partisan leader, one who would pit faction against faction so relentlessly that such partisanship would come to infect the American military.
This, unfortunately, seems to be changing. Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) found out first hand the penalty for endorsing legislation to begin the troop pullout in Iraq. The New York Times reports how Tauscher, a senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, was met by American soldiers and an Iraqi official armed with biographical information that stressed critical remarks she made of the administration's conduct of the war. But this "biography" did not include her legislative positions that could be seen as supportive of the troops.
Apart from Tauscher's views or Iraq or anything else, it's not the place of the military to vet our elected representatives with the purpose to distorting their voting records or positions. Indeed, distorted or otherwise, it isn't the place of the military to comment on our representatives at all, in their official capacities as soldiers.
Something similar happened to Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com. He wrote blog entries deemed too critical, apparently, for some in the military. He then cited email from a Colonel Steven Boylan, the spokesman for Gen. Petraeus, who reacted negatively to such commentary.
Here, as with Rep. Tauscher, we see signs of a military intruding into the political life of Americans and their representatives. Surely it need not be said that this is dangerous. One of our national strengths has been an apolitical armed services. It was other countries, third world countries, banana republics, was it not, where militaries were thoroughly ensconced in domestic politics?
So who is responsible for this dangerous intrusion into civilian life? Well, it lies at the feet of the Commander-in-Chief. And as our polarization worsens, as our "leadership" increasingly relies on the likes of Karl Rove, we tread ever closer to that abyss.