Unfit to serve

As much as I have a Liberal political bent (according to today's values), I am willing to listen to people from the conservative side of the aisle.  Unfortunately, one of the "outsiders" on which many conservatives placed their political hopes has shown that he is unfit for the job as POTUS.

One of the things I've learned over the years is that military people take their ranks, their awards, and their service academies very seriously.  It is very important for them to know their place in the grand scheme of things, as armies and navies can not operate according to market based principles.  They must, by definition, operate on a command and control structure to succeed in their missions.

When Ben Carson was found to have lied about him being accepted to West Point, this made him unfit to serve as commander in chief.  Our military must have leaders they can trust - especially when it comes to understanding the military.  When a leader claims that he was accepted into the military elite and turned it down, and then found to be lying, a soldier will wonder - what else is he lying about, and can I trust him to be acting for the country's best interest?  

Our constitution defined a delicate check and balance between civilian and military power by defining the idea of a "well regulated militia" - even though we have an army and a navy, we also have arms in private hands - to preserve the power to rebel against tyrannical authority if needed.  The military was put under the control of civilian authority, so that they would not be independent of the elected government, and so that its focus would be to serve the needs of the nation instead of serving its own needs.  Part of the bargain was that civilians would respect the structure and functions of the military, and serve (when needed) to protect the country.

Ben Carson does not understand this.  If he can't be honest about his past, especially in regard to potential military service, then how can he lead our soldiers?  Hopefully, his supporters will realize this - and find someone else more suited for leadership - even if that candidate is someone I can't support for other reasons....