<p>The armed forces of the United States are best left apolitical. As a Republican I see my party as being hi-jacked by conservative social activists who want to claim the US military as their constituancy. I see this as a fundamentally dangerous concept that is not consistent with the design of our republic. General Eisenhower understood this very well. The efforts by extremists on both ends of the political spectrum to polarize this nation into blue or red states, conservatives or liberals are designed to undermine the will of any remaining free thinkers who may be as likely to vote the party line or not, depending on their conscience.</p>