Just another sad example of how messed up the Trump admin is…
The US Navy Aircraft carrier Captain did the right thing…
He got canned for it…
His crew gave him a standing ovation for having THEIR backs when he left ‘his’ ship…
The Defense Sec. should have been fired, not the carrier boss…
Wash Post Op Ed….
The U.S. government was fatally ill-prepared for the spread of a pandemic that has killed more Americans over the past month than died in Iraq over the past 17 years. The military could have done more to help but, like other government agencies, it was slow to act. Defense Secretary Mark Esper has come under fire for failing to cancel business as usual even as the virus spreads through the ranks. Esper joined President Trump on Wednesday in announcing an enhanced counter-drug effort when all possible resources should be focused on fighting covid-19. Even the Pentagon’s high-profile deployment of a hospital ship to New York has backfired: Local leaders are irate that the 1,000-bed ship has reportedly accepted only 20 patients.
But the only official in the entire government who has been publicly disciplined to date for mishandling the coronavirus is a Navy officer who acted to save his crew from an outbreak. This makes no sense save in the upside-down moral universe inhabited by the Trump administration.
Crozier sent an urgent letter to his chain of command on Monday, making clear that 90 percent of his crew needed to be evacuated immediately. Already more than 100 sailors out of a crew of nearly 5,000 have been diagnosed with covid-19 — and the disease was sure to spread fast in the close confines of the ship. “We are not at war,” Crozier wrote. “Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our sailors.”
Because Crozier raised the alarm, most of the crew is finally being evacuated from the ship in Guam. But an article on Crozier’s letterin the San Francisco Chronicle (and then other newspapers) embarrassed the Defense Department leadership. The Navy did not offer any evidence that he had leaked the letter himself but removed him anyway because he was said to have shown poor “judgment” in sending his email to 20 to 30 people. “In sending it out pretty broadly, he did not take care to ensure that it couldn’t be leaked,” Modly said. “And that’s part of his responsibility.”…..
*Update…
It seems that all the media attention has pushed the Navy to change course on Captain Brett Crozier…
…the backlash to Modly’s decision to fire Crozier has been intense. In videos posted online, sailors on the Theodore Roosevelt applauded Crozier and hailed him as a hero, out to defend his crew – even at great personal cost to his career.
“And that’s how you send out one of the greatest captains you ever had,” exclaimed one sailor in a video post, amid thunderous applause and cheering for Crozier as he left the carrier and its 5,000 crew members in Guam.
Modly did not suggest that Crozier’s career was over, saying he thought everyone deserved a chance at “redemption.”
“He’ll get reassigned, he’s not thrown out of the Navy,” Modly said…
…
“With them firing our (commanding officer) it feels like they are saying they don’t care about us,” a sailor on board the carrier told Reuters, while speaking on condition of anonymity.
“We are really disappointed in how they handled it and we want our captain back.”…
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/george-bush-2005-wait-pandemic-late-prepare/story?id=69979013
For Trump & Co.
Cost = Benefit?
Remember…
Trump does NOT think like a President in. terms of the GREATER Good…
He’s a BAD businessman…
I’m glad Democrats didn’t want another one in Bloom erg…
Navy Sec under pressure….
The Carrier Capt. himself has tested positive….
Defense Secretary Mark Esper faced tough questions on Sunday regarding the dismissal of a Navy captain who wrote a letter to leadership pleading for help amid a coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
Esper defended Navy leadership every time he was questioned about the removal of Capt. Brett Crozier and suggested President Trump did not play a role in the decision, which has sparked scrutiny.
“Shouldn’t there have been at least an investigation before he was relieved of command?” host Jake Tapper asked Esper on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I mean, the captains of the USS John McCain and the USS Fitzgerald, who were captains when sailors died at sea, they at least had investigations before they were relieved of their commands.”
More…
On Sunday Morning (ABC), Sec. Esper didn’t dispute that the initiative to fire the Captain came from the President, see below.
But Esper wanted to talk about anything and everything else. He looked just as much a clueless sycophantic tool with a prepackage pitch as FEMA Dir. (& Rhode Islander) David Gaynor a few Sundays ago.
You can be indicted or even convicted of criminal offenses and still be pardoned, but the gravest crime, meriting the severest retaliation, is of course, to make the Trump Administration look bad. Trying to save hundreds of the crew for whose lives you are responsible is no excuse.
ABC Transcript:
STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, we just heard from former Vice President Biden saying the treatment of Captain Crozier is close to criminal. And he was removed from his command before investigation. Is that appropriate?
ESPER: Well, George, before I answer your question, let me step back and say a few things about the — the broader issue we have facing us, and that is the coronavirus…..
With regard to — with regard to your question about the captain of the Teddy Roosevelt, look, the — Secretary Modly made a tough decision, a tough call. I have full faith and confidence in him and the Navy leadership. And I supported their decision.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And the president said you were involved in that decision as well. David Ignatius is reporting this morning that Secretary Modly said the president wanted Captain Crozier fired. Is that true?
ESPER: Look, this was Secretary Modly’s call. He came and briefed me the night before. The morning of, he sat down and talked to me.
I listened to the recommendations of the CNO, the chief of naval operations, and General Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
It was the Secretary Modly’s call and I told him I would support it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Did the military leaders agree with Secretary Modly?
ESPER: I’m not going to comment on our private conversations. You can talk to them separately. This is a chain of command issue. It’s an issue of trust and confidence in the captain of the ship.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So what happens to Captain — to the captain now?
ESPER: Well, George, I can’t talk too much about it and — because I’m in the chain of command. There’s also an investigation ongoing, and it may fall on my desk at some point in time.
What I’d really like to talk about this global pandemic facing the country…
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-20-joe-biden-secretary-mark-esper/story?id=69981088
Esper was hired to do exactly what he did….
BTW?
The US Navy does HAVE a policy that the person in charge of a ship IS responsible for ANYTHING and EVERYTHING on the ship…
And they ALWAYS have to blame or hold a boss responsible for that under their command…
The way a LOT of us see this?
The boss phoned it in up the chain…
His bosses, worried about media fucked him and blamed his notifying them…
This IS a complete disgrace to the US Military credo of taking care of those to supervise….
But Trump doesn’t believe in it…
Breaking….
The Sec of the Navy that fired the Navy Capt of the Aircraft Carrier that was fired for calling in for orders for help with his virus stricken sailors had resigned …
The idiot called the Capt names …
Then apologized for his stupidity .,.
The sailors on the Theodore Roosevelt want their Capt back…
He has the virus like his crew members…