A Resignation Steeped in Irony
Yesterday the acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned because of comments he gave about Captain Brett Crozier, who Modly fired a week ago (Google "Crozier" and you can catch up on the story if you're unfamiliar). In accepting Modly's resignation, his boss Mark Esper (Defense Secretary) said, "I have the greatest respect for anyone who serves our country, and who places the greater good above all else." Modly himself noted that the Navy was placed in a negative spotlight "largely due to my poor use of words," so he thought the honorable response was to resign.
Interesting. So does this same standard apply to our president, the Navy's commander in chief?
I'm not going to waste my time finding specific examples of our president using a poor choice of words that has placed our nation, numerous ethnic groups, other countries, scientists, women, career civil servants, and even his own staff in a negative spotlight. I'm not going to dignify him with that fact-checking effort, because any of us can go to YouTube and within seconds find hundreds of examples. We've all heard them.
It seems that if you rain down a steady stream of poor word choices, so that it's a consistent blur of insult and derisiveness week after week, you get a free pass. No resignation is necessary, because which poor choice of words can be cited as the one that is bad enough to merit an honorable response? It's like sticking your head down into a sewer and trying to figure out which piece of shit smells the worst.
So we have a top military official stepping down after one slip of the tongue, but his boss's boss gets a free pass. I don't think we'll ever see a choice of words poor enough spew forth from the Oval Office that leads to an honorable resignation. Because there's no honor to draw from -- that well has gone dry.
Interesting. So does this same standard apply to our president, the Navy's commander in chief?
I'm not going to waste my time finding specific examples of our president using a poor choice of words that has placed our nation, numerous ethnic groups, other countries, scientists, women, career civil servants, and even his own staff in a negative spotlight. I'm not going to dignify him with that fact-checking effort, because any of us can go to YouTube and within seconds find hundreds of examples. We've all heard them.
It seems that if you rain down a steady stream of poor word choices, so that it's a consistent blur of insult and derisiveness week after week, you get a free pass. No resignation is necessary, because which poor choice of words can be cited as the one that is bad enough to merit an honorable response? It's like sticking your head down into a sewer and trying to figure out which piece of shit smells the worst.
So we have a top military official stepping down after one slip of the tongue, but his boss's boss gets a free pass. I don't think we'll ever see a choice of words poor enough spew forth from the Oval Office that leads to an honorable resignation. Because there's no honor to draw from -- that well has gone dry.
Amen!
ReplyDeleteGood choice of words!
ReplyDelete