The Biden Administration’s Policies Are A Real Threat To Military Readiness

The Biden Administration’s Policies Are A Real Threat To Military Readiness

By Curtiss Leroy |

The U.S. military is facing a dangerous recruitment crisis. It seems to me, the main contributing factor to this crisis has been the Left’s insistence on infusing politics into our military. Under President Biden’s leadership, the Pentagon has been more interested in fighting the culture war at home than equipping our service men and women in their mission of deterring war and protecting our nation.

Earlier this year, President Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a memo to use taxpayer funds for paid time off, lodging, and travel expenses for military service members and their families to receive elective abortions. A clear example of the Left’s push to prioritize a political agenda over longstanding federal policy, this memo was issued without necessary congressional approvals and in spite of the Hyde amendment, a decades-old federal law prohibiting federal funding for abortion that even President Biden himself supported during his tenure in the U.S. Senate. The simple fact is that the Defense Department has no authority to use our taxpayer dollars to facilitate abortion services—in fact, existing federal law makes doing so illegal.

In response, Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has placed holds on the confirmation of certain military promotions to both demand Secretary Austin rescind the policy and also bring attention to the wider issue of the politicization of our military. Rather than addressing these clear problems and violations of federal law, Arizona’s own Senators have continued to play politics, repeat Democrat talking points, or avoid the issue altogether.

It is the policies of the Biden administration that are the real threat to military readiness and undercutting our national defense capabilities, and that is what Senator Tuberville’s holds are rightly pointing out.

As a former officer in the Army, I can tell you Arizona’s veterans and active-duty service members understand firsthand that politicizing the military is a problem—not a solution. Yet, our U.S. Senators in Arizona have both apparently missed that message. 

In July, Senator Mark Kelly claimed blocking of certain military promotions “is doing real damage to our national security right now” and that it will “have cascading effects for years.” But Senator Kelly is fear mongering, plain and simple.

Similarly, Senator Kyrsten Sinema has indicated that she wants to find a “middle ground” between Senator Tuberville and President Biden.

When the military prioritizes social justice instead of operational readiness, uses drag queens as recruiting ambassadors, and spends 6 million man-hours pushing DEI and CRT, it’s no wonder confidence in our military has already dropped by double-digits since Joe Biden took office. Common sense would tell you that is no way to foster recruitment.

We can continue down President Biden’s destructive path of turning our military into a social experiment or we can choose a path that helps our military get back to fulfilling its mission of keeping our country safe.

I stand with Senator Tommy Tuberville.

Curtiss Leroy is a resident of Tucson, AZ, and a Heritage Action Sentinel. He is a former officer in the U.S. Army, serving in Alaska and Vietnam.

Activists Beat Effigy Of Mayor Kate Gallego During Her Annual Address

Activists Beat Effigy Of Mayor Kate Gallego During Her Annual Address

By Corinne Murdock |

Leftist activists beat an effigy of Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego during her annual address last week. The effigy was a piñata filled with candy; on the front was the mayor’s name, and on the back was written “Kate (Sinema) Gallego,” referencing controversial Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). 

The activists situated themselves outside of the venue for her State of the City address, the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel. They protested the evictions of the residents of several mobile home parks — Periwinkle, Las Casitas, and Weldon Court — as well as their general discontent with Gallego’s administration. 

Fueling the activists’ discontent with Gallego was the city’s rejection of a proposal to rezone the contested properties last month. Instead, the city approved $2.5 million to help the displaced residents find new homes. 

Two of the principal organizers behind the protest and the effigy beating were residents impacted by the evictions, Alondra Patricia Ruiz Vazquez and Salvador Reza. The protestors livestreamed the beating of Gallego’s likeness to Facebook. The protesters spoke and chanted mainly in Spanish.

“¡Pégale, pégale por la lucha, pégale!” chanted the protestors, which translates roughly to, “Hit it, hit it, for the fight, hit it!” 

Members of Maricopa County Young Democrats were also present at the protest.

In a post following the protest, Reza responded to an alleged offense that Gallego took to the destruction of the effigy in her likeness. Reza said that the effigy was symbolic, and that she shouldn’t take offense to it. 

“Breaking a piñata with the image of Kate Gallego is not only against her character flaws, but against the greed of large corporations and large universities that [are] not satisfied with what they have, lash out against vulnerable families who only ask for a home to live,” stated Reza. “Breaking a piñata is symbolic. However, losing a home is catastrophic and traumatic for the families who are living it firsthand. Neither the state’s $5,000 nor a handful of piñata candy will be able to compensate them. So, looking at things clearly, who has the most to lose? A politician offended by a piñata, or 150 families thrown with their belongings into the street.”

Symbolic violence against effigies of contested public figures has been a popular move for leftist activists over the past several weeks.

On Tuesday, rioters protesting an event featuring Daily Wire pundit Michael Knowles burned an effigy of him at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Knowles was at the university to engage in a debate on transgenderism. 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.