The "Sovietizing" of America

A blogger caught my attention over the weekend.  Francis Porretto at Liberty's Torch wrote the following:

Because our military has suffered a thorough Sovietization. Commanders are no longer evaluated on the basis of their competence as military men and leaders, but on the basis of their "reliability:" that is, their responsiveness to the desires of the political elite. A captain or major who aspires to command rank must never, ever be heard to say a word of criticism against the masters of the regime. A colonel who wants stars on his shoulders knows that he'll be scrutinized so closely that even to nod in response to an "inappropriate" statement of opinion would be death to his prospects. Thus, corruption in our political class becomes spinelessness among our military commanders.

I'm not advocating commanders go off lone-wolf style or be excused to continually babble insubordinate lines, but how Sovietized has our system become?

Porretto's comment reminded me of discussions I had around the holidays last year regarding managers replacing leaders.  American institutions of all types appear obsessed with instilling conformist modern management principles at the expense of those who show real leadership traits.

Meanwhile, the Sovietizing of American life also seems the goal of many of Mr. Obama's efforts.

Just look at that latest executive order. Under guise of cooperation, the White House wants to build channels where it has direct influence not only on local policing, but also influence on other aspects of local government as well as on corporate security.

The pace of such things seems to be accelerating.