Here's something that's been eating at me: People have come to think of "politics" and something "political" as bad. They use it as a caveat. "I don't want to get all political, but..." Or to distinguish something as worthy of value. "It's not political, it's moral." Well... 1/n

Politics are just processes by which we define our values and allocate resources toward those values. To say something is "political" does not mean "sensitive" or "provocative" or "biased." It means it's up for community debate. It's important and we're arguing over it. 2/n

What are today rights, laws, and norms that we all take for granted were once political. Not only that, you can't avoid politics. You live with other humans in a town in a county in a state in a country. Laws affect you. Even if you take no proactive steps to get involved. 3/n

I have been thinking about this because I study civil-military relations, and the idea that the military can be "apolitical" is very dear to the idea of professionalism and yet, as @jimgolby and @RisaBrooks12 have convinced me, it's also not possible. 4/n

Taking part in politics is unavoidable for military institutions. Whenever mil leaders present a budget to senior DoD, White House, and congressional officials, they are weighing in on a political issue. 5/n

When officers provide advice to civilian leaders, they are shaping how political judgments are made. And whatever a service member of any rank does was, at some point, shaped by political debates over national interests and the rightful roles and missions of the mil services. 6/n

Politics still reflect domestic struggles for rights and power so the military’s institutional involvement in politics must be constrained carefully and thoughtfully. One (imperfect) way to do so is to focus on partisanship instead of politics. 7/n

Partisanship connotes a bias toward a political party. It is not a process but a commitment to a faction. Partisanship both within the military poses greater challenges to democracies because it involves loyalty to a domestic group vying for power. 8/n

The military is supposed to be non-partisan so no party is able to use the military to coerce other Americans. It's also good for the military’s future and effectiveness. Serving the whole nation helps recruiting and maintains the support of the American people. 9/n