I'm not crazy about the Supreme Court's (unanimous) decision to require universities to host military recruiters if the universities accept federal money. The Court's reasoning seems to indicate that freedom of association does not include freedom from association, a position I view with unease. Granted, the universities in question are suckling at the public teat (another issue altogether), and it seems reasonable for those funds to come with certain strings attached. But it is also a form of government blackmail. That our government engages in this sort of extortion all the time doesn't make it right; indeed, it bothers me how complacent Americans are about this sort of thing.
If this case involved another government agency -- HUD, perhaps -- rather than the military, I don't think I would be as wary of the Court's decision. But something about the military, of all bodies, squeezing its way into private spaces where it is not welcome strikes me as foreign. A little Soviet, perhaps. Police state-ish. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting an equivalency. But it just doesn't feel right.
Personally, I'd like to see our government be secure enough with itself that it doesn't have to resort to this sort of bullying. I don't see that happening any time soon.
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