The Slippery Slope of Political Correctness

As the country tries to cope with the murder of some of our best and brightest at Fort Hood, Texas by Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the magnitude of just how much political correctness has infected our armed forces is being examined and better understood. To what extent should diversity be accepted into the ranks of the military before it begins to undermine discipline?

The Supreme Court visited this very question in 1986 in Goldman v. Weinberger when it upheld military regulations barring Jews from wearing yarmulkes while in uniform. This decision revealed that not only is the military governed by different rules than civilian institutions, but moreover, that the rights and freedoms guaranteed to every US citizen under the Constitution are secondary to military conventions.

The case of Hasan, along with others seeking special accommodations based upon religious grounds, represents the difficulties faced by the Army in an age of political correctness where pressures shape military culture, the soundness of leadership principles, and may even breed resentment among the ranks.