U.S. Navy chief fired over handling of SEAL saga involving Trump

[ClearSky24]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-seals/u-s-navy-chief-fired-over-handling-of-seal-saga-involving-trump-idUSKBN1XY0M5

"U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired the Navy’s top civilian on Sunday over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL who was convicted of battlefield misconduct in Iraq and later won the support of President Donald Trump.

Esper also determined that the sailor in question, Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, should be allowed to retain his Trident pin designating him as a SEAL - effectively ending the Navy’s efforts to carry out a peer review that could have ousted him from the elite force.

Trump, who publicly opposed taking away Gallagher’s Trident pin and had intervened in the case to restore his rank, cheered the moves.

“Eddie will retire peacefully with all of the honors that he has earned, including his Trident Pin,” Trump said on Twitter.

The fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer last week suggested a possible split with Trump by telling Reuters that Gallagher should still face a peer review board.

The SEAL was acquitted by a military jury in July of murdering a captured and wounded Islamic State fighter in Iraq by stabbing him in the neck, but it convicted him of illegally posing with the detainee’s corpse. That had led to his rank being reduced.

The White House said in November that Trump had restored Gallagher’s rank and had pardoned two Army officers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan. Critics had said such actions would undermine military justice and send a message that battlefield atrocities will be tolerated."

[Piasladic]

1. Asshat (esper)

It makes me so sick... I can't even.

[targetpractice]

2. Spencer should be proud.

I am proud of him for taking a stand. I wish more folks would do so in this admisitration.

[BigmanPigman]

5. I respect him for his stand.

That is more than I can say for the GOP Congress and admin.

[unblock]

3. So many articles about Donnie purging out people who aren't 100% loyal to him

And yet they all refuse to use the word "purge"

[RockRaven]

4. Spencer should receive an invitation, or if necessary a subpoena, from the House Armed Services Com.

What say you Chairman Adam Smith (WA-9, fwiw)?

[softydog88]

6. The president

(I refuse to type his name) is trying to sound authoritative by sticking his nose into affairs of which he has zero understanding. Maybe if he had actually fought in Vietnam and not got a chickenshit deferment for a trumped-up reason (word choice deliberate), he would understand that the decision to demote Gallagher was based on a sickening crime (posing with a corpse) and any SEAL with such a shocking lack of judgement has no business in that elite force.

[targetpractice]

7. Does he have any other skills than firing people?

It's sad for me to reflect about this topic, but I know from experience...

Sometimes older folks in mental decline simply stick to the things they 've always known... The last hairstyle when someone told them they looked great, or that last time when they did something on the job that got them recognized, etc.

It really seems, to me, like Donald Trump is suffering from the onset of dementia, and he's falling back on his old bag of tricks..."You're fired!" He's reduced his 15 seasons of "The Apprentice" to that catch phrase.

I hpee my post is not offensive to folks who have traveled around our Sun more time than I have.. Dementia strikes people much younger than Donald Trum.