meteor,
You say you want to get the pulse of the military so you visit this site. As mentioned this site is designed for those seeking admission to a SA or ROTC programs. Yes, we discuss other things, but that is not the primary purpose of the site. A few thoughts (not that they are worth anything):
1. Don't read websites to get a pulse, go see, talk, and more importantly listen to service members. That includes E-1s all the way up to the highest officers. If you want the pulse, go directly to the sources. Have you toured barracks? Not the new shiny ones bases have, but some of the old ones or an enlisted berthing space on a ship. I had Marines living in condemned housing at one point! I, for one, actually believe military pay with all the benefits and tax breaks are actually pretty decent. There are some military officers assigned to the Hill, talk to them. They arrange lots of trips to bases, ships, etc. A lot of my friends have served in these billets and they are top notch people and officers. Use them, they will talk all day about the service in which they choose to serve.
2. Have you visited Bethesda or Section 60 lately? Ever? These are the real heroes. If you are to represent the issues and all sides, ensure you know about this side of the military. These are young men and women who have made the biggest sacrifices. When you hear about VA backlogs, death benefits not being paid and all the other things, regardless of political party, these are the people and families who get hurt the most.
3. Please do not group military members as mindless drones who cannot think for themselves and are all right wing tea party members. The military has a top notch, educated, intelligent, creative force that gets the job done no matter what. This is true for the youngest service members to our Generals. IMPO, what you see from the top ranking brass on the Hill are military members trying to survive in a weird political world. I would hate their job, glad its not me, because I would probably start yelling at every politician and staffer. I just left the defense contracting world for the "regular workforce." My ability to communicate, brief, discuss things, etc are light years ahead my peers. I 100% attribute that to my time as a Marine. I would tell you to hang out in a wardroom on a ship for a few days and you will probably hear some great conversations that challenge folks on their beliefs, views, etc. Better yet they will shake hands at the end of it and it will be done without the name calling (your name calling is pretty ridiculous and comes across as extremely unprofessional).
4. Your assertion that all military members are Senator McCain blind followers and Tea Party members is really wrong. As a USNA grad, and many others, we hold Senator McCain in the highest regard for his service and what he went through as a POW and what it took to make it back to flying. Politically, not a huge fan of his, but there are plenty of others I disagree with more. As far as the Tea Party, wrong again. Actually I think you would find most service members want a balanced budget and realize we need big cuts in the DoD. But we also believe there are plenty of cuts that need to be made outside the DoD and all cuts should be done intelligently.
5. One of the things every brand new Lt or Ensign learns is never go to your boss with a problem... you better have solutions to go with them also. As far as I can tell all you do is blame and identify perceived problems. How about this... be a part of the solution? Get rid of the name calling, trash talking, blaming and be a part of the solution, not the problem.
