I want to start this piece by letting it be known that I have the utmost respect for our military men and women. The training they endure, the duty that is placed in their hands, and the price they pay is often above and beyond the actual recompense they receive.

The citizens of this nation owe you a debt and the highest of honors, so whatever branch, reserve, active, or retired, thank you, one and all.

With that being said, your leaders, with particular attention paid to the social justice warriors in the upper levels of military leadership, beginning with your Marxist-in-Chief, can get bent. They are a disgrace and a drag on this nation, and in fact, an unredeemable pox on the whole of our nation’s otherwise exemplary fighting forces.

From the Washington Examiner today:

Defense Secretary Ash Carter on Thursday announced an end to the military’s ban on transgender troops, who will now be able to openly serve in the U.S. armed forces.

“This is the right thing to do for our people and for the force,” Carter said. “We’re talking about talented Americans who are serving with distinction or who want the opportunity to serve. We can’t allow barriers unrelated to a person’s qualifications to prevent us from recruiting and retaining those who can best accomplish the mission.”

Carter’s directive covers a number of issues raised by the new policy, including new guidelines that allow service members to transition to a different gender while serving, as well as setting standards.

What Carter, Obama, and the whole lot of those leftist politicians are missing is that our military has withstood the test of time, maintaining its position as the world’s most elite warriors because of the standards of training that have been put in place and rigorously enforced.

Our military should not become a laboratory of social experimentation. Furthermore, Gender Dysphoria is a mental illness. I know that’s not the politically correct way of saying somebody is totally off their nut, but it is what it is. If someone in the military is diagnosed with Schizophrenia, they are discharged. The new policies being put in place don’t discharge those who have a confused mental state about their actual gender, but rather, they’re to be coddled.

The suicide rate among the transgender community is astonishing. According to the most recent statistics by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Williams Institute, around 41% of transgendered individuals attempt suicide at some point in their lives. This is because the “change” didn’t fix the deep mental issues they struggle with. It simply masks them for a time.

… as of Thursday, service members may no longer be involuntarily separated, discharged or denied re-enlistment solely on the basis of gender identity, and troops on duty will be able to serve openly.

So hairy lipped Lolitas, possibly with a death wish, will now be a “thing” to expect prancing around openly on our military bases.

Nope. No problem, there.

And no, I don’t mean to make light of those with disturbed images of themselves. My rancor is reserved for those making these decisions who would allow social justice to threaten not just the effectiveness of our military, at a time when the world requires our troops be most prepared, but also threatens the well-being of the rest of our servicemen and women, in order to spare the feelings of the very small percentage of transgenders that may actually be in the military.

Thankfully, not everyone in office is as gooey-eyed at this new era of political correctness.

As Carter was still speaking, Rep. Mac Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said the Pentagon and president are “prioritizing politics over policy.”

“Our military readiness — and hence, our national security — is dependent on our troops being medically ready and deployable. The administration seems unwilling or unable to assure the Congress and the American people that transgender individuals will meet these individual readiness requirements at a time when our armed forces are deployed around the world.

Rep. Thornberry hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, social justice warriors don’t seem to see the difference between what they do and what actual warriors do.

Several more things you can expect: There will be an increase in pre-op transgenders joining the military, and taxpayers will be paying for their surgery.