More Body Blows to the Body Politic

The insults to the body politic just keep a’ coming.

        Donald Trump, Jr.  tweeted his adoration of his moron father for a childish and petulant letter sent on White House stationery to Senator Chuck Schumer. The letter reads, in part:

“We have given New York many things, including hospitals, medical centers, medical supplies, record numbers of ventilators, and more. You should have had New York much better prepared than you did, and as Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx said yesterday, New York was very late in its fight against the virus.  As you are aware, the Federal Government is merely a back-up for state governments.  Unfortunately, your state needed far more of a back-up than most others.

If you spent less time on your ridiculous impeachment hoax, which went haplessly on forever and ended up going nowhere (except increasing my poll numbers), and instead focused on helping the people of New York, then New York would not have been so completely unprepared for the “invisible enemy.” No wonder AOC and others are thinking about running against you in the primary. If they did, they would likely win.”

        Of course, son Don Jr. tweeted: words which included: ‘what a great president, no other US president would have written such a letter….etc.’ Trump Jr is right. No other US president has ever been as childish and narcissistic as Trump with the possible exception of Andrew Jackson who, like Trump was marginally literate and vindictive.  

        Even more disconcerting, at least to me,  is the recent summary removal from command of U.S. Navy Captain Brett Crozier, Commanding Officer of USS Theodore Roosevelt. His "sin", and, in truth it may have reached the level of “unadvisable,” was to correctly call attention to the increasing number of CoVid patients on his command. On an aircraft carrier, essentially a village of 5,000 souls when an air wing is attached, such a burgeoning problem is serious and, if unchecked, compromises the mission and even the safe operation of the vessel. Isolation, while desirable, is unfeasible. A further complication factor is that Roosevelt, a nuclear powered carrier, has two very large reactor plants (each 550 MW of power) which require 24/7 operator presence, even when shut down, for 20 years. 
 
       The apparent issue here was that in a lengthy e-mail detailing the problem, a copy or copies reached news media. It is unclear if Crozier “copied” them or someone else redirected them. If he deliberately bypassed the chain of command, and there is no real indication that he did, then he is guilty of a breach of protocol.

       The Trump administration response, having been called out while making efforts to minimize concerns over CoVid is, at best, mean spirited. Here’s the quote from NBC news:

       “Speaking at a news conference Thursday evening, Acting Navy Secretary, Thomas Modly said Crozier was removed from his post because he sent the letter over ‘non-secure unclassified email’ to a "broad array of people" rather than up the chain of command.” (my note. At no time has anyone actually shown that Crozier sent the message to any unauthorized person. The fact that it was an unsecure transmission may have allowed others to disseminate it inappropriately.)

        "I have no doubt in my mind that Captain Crozier did what he thought was in the best interest of the safety and well-being of his crew," Modly said. "Unfortunately, it did the opposite. It unnecessarily (??) raised the alarm of the families of our sailors and Marines with no plans to address those concerns."

        

This actually should read "In peacetime the Captain put the safe operation of his vessel and the welfare of the crew, first." Reading the entire actual message (I have) shows that the precautions issued by the Trump administration for isolation, self-quarantine and social distancing were (are) simply un-practicable on a vessel such as the Roosevelt. Captain Crozier even referred to a recent study of the Diamond Princess fiasco, which makes the same points. Of course he had no plan other than to medivac patients. Neither did anyone else.  

  

        Crozier was asking for a plan (and permission to act) from his bosses! Had he simply pulled into any port and begun offloading 1000 either ill or probably CoVid positive crew members, the outcry would have been epic. In my opinion, asking for guidance in the instance was completely appropriate, the only “sin” being that others outside the chain of command found out about it.

        It is highly likely that Capt. Crozier also feared the possible politically motivated minimization of the seriousness, since other White House rhetoric and response was of that nature. “Scapegoating” Crozier was a real-world possibility, I feel.   

       Under Secretary Modly insisted the that decision was his alone. He praised Crozier but said he had concluded that the captain "allowed the complexity of the challenge of the COVID breakout on the ship to overwhelm his ability to act professionally. The responsibility for this decision rests with me," Modly added. "I expect no congratulations for it. Captain Crozier is an incredible man.”

        So, what’s the issue? Twofold really. The first:  Since the statement by Modly, several White House sources have confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that the firing was directed to Under Secretary Modly by Trump, himself.  My second point is of more concern, since it extends well beyond this one incident.

        Trump has racked up just under 500% more days without Senate confirmed heads of administration departments than Barack Obama had at the same point in first term. Why does it matter? Considering the Trump psyche, there are two salient reasons at least.

The first: Reduce opposition to ill thought actions. By firing cabinet members or other department heads or forcing them to resign, Trump is content to allow second level undersecretaries (confirmed almost automatically by the Senate) to do the job. These folks are likely far less willing to attempt being a voice of reason, never mind rational opposition, if they wish to either keep the current job or more likely be nominated to succeed as Secretary. 

        One may recall that Modly’s predecessor, Richard V. Spencer, was fired by  SecDef Mike Esper  for attempting to “cut a deal” with Trump in the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, if Trump wouldn’t interfere in the Military Justice system’s actions in the case. After all the smoke cleared and Spencer had packed up and left, he wrote this in a November 27, 2019, OP Ed in The Washington Post “He (Trump) has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military", referring to Trump's actions in the Gallagher case as a "shocking and unprecedented intervention". So, we have this infighting which results in Modly’s “boss” being terminated and the handwriting is pretty clear: “Suck up to the big boss or lose your job.”

        So what? well, as the stomach turns, the absence of the confirmed department head should stir the President to nominate a replacement, but not so much in the case of Donald Trump. On February 1, 2017, in an interview with Fox News (what else”), he said, “A lot of those jobs, I don’t want to appoint someone because they’re unnecessary to have,” Trump said. “In government, we have too many people.”  (read that as “too many voices which might disagree”)

        Remember, we’re talking here about positions which include the top sub-Cabinet positions that set policies and provide the day-to-day operations for vast government departments. Using these top level (and subject to Senate approval!) positions to achieve reductions in the size of the bureaucracy, as Trump suggests is his rationale, is an unforced error. It’s like trying to reduce overcrowding in schools by firing most of the teachers.

      How dumb is this guy? Several days earlier when asked the same questions his answer was somewhat different. In fact, initially, he tried to blame the slow pace of appointments on Senate Democrats obstructing confirmations, before it was pointed out just how few nominations had been made in the first place. Uh-oh, caught in a lie again.