Capt. Crozier's firing shows the growing Trumpification of the military
“WTF?”
Those words — spelled out, not abbreviated — can be heard two minutes into the remarks delivered by acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly on Monday aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt as he sought to explain why he relieved the aircraft carrier’s captain for warning about a coronavirus outbreak. Specifically, that exclamation from an anonymous sailor came after Modly said Capt. Brett Crozier was “too naive or too stupid to be commanding officer of a ship like this,” because he should have known that a letter he emailed to 20 to 30 officials would leak to the media.
By the same token, Modly is too naive or stupid to be acting Navy secretary because he did not realize that his embarrassing diatribe — delivered to sailors who cheered and applauded Crozier when he left the ship — would leak to the media. Some unnamed Navy factotum had the gall to dispute the quotes attributed to Modly and to argue that his remarks were “private” — as if it’s possible to deliver private remarks over a public address system.
The whole speech was astonishing in its tone-deafness. It was full of profanity, media-bashing and self-pity. “If I could offer you a glimpse of the level of hatred and pure evil that has been thrown my way, my family’s way, over this decision, I would,” Modly said. “But it doesn’t matter. It’s not about me.” His complaints make clear that, in his view, it is all about him. Totally missing were any expressions of sympathy for Crozier — an outstanding aviator with decades of unblemished service who has now contracted covid-19 — or for all of the other crew members (174 and counting) battling this terrible virus. Instead, he accused Crozier of a “betrayal” of the Navy and his crew — a highly serious and completely unwarranted accusation.
We now know, thanks to the reporting of various journalists, first and foremost my plugged-in Post colleague David Ignatius, that in firing Crozier, Modly overruled the recommendation of Adm. Michael Gilday, the chief of naval operations, and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In an interview with Ignatius, Modly made clear that his overriding desire was to please President Trump. He noted that his predecessor, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, had been fired for opposing Trump’s desire to reinstate with full rank a disgraced Navy SEAL who had been accused of war crimes in Iraq. “I didn’t want that to happen again,” Modly told Ignatius. “I put myself in the president’s shoes.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/07/acting-navy-secretary-fired-then-insulted-navy-hero-he-must-go/
Glad this asshole Modly is gone, but the damage has been done.
= new reply since forum marked as read
