Tag Archives: USS John McCain

military news

Actually, Mr. Acting WH CoS, it is a big deal

The acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, went on the record this morning by declaring that the kerfuffle over the USS John McCain is “much ado about nothing.”

It’s not a big deal, he told “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd.

OK, actually it is a big deal, sir. It’s not the stuff of political cataclysms. But it’s a big enough deal for the Pentagon to implore the White House to stop politicizing the military.

You know the story. Donald Trump traveled to Japan for a state visit. The U.S. Navy, it has been confirmed, issued an order to hide the name of a U.S. destroyer, the USS John McCain, from the president’s view. Trump and the late senator from Arizona, Republican John McCain, were political adversaries. They had said some nasty things about each other. Trump once denigrated McCain’s heroic service as a Vietnam War prisoner by saying he was a hero “only because he was captured.”

The idea that the Navy — where McCain served with distinction until he entered politics in the early 1980s — would be used as a cudgel to beat on the namesake of a warship is an act of cheap politics. It has no place in the military.

The White House has said that Trump played no role in the shielding of the name. The president has said he “wouldn’t do that.” I’ll accept the denials of direct presidential involvement.

However, the matter is a big deal insofar as it dragged the military into a political dispute.

Once more, with extreme vigor: The men and women who serve in all branches of the military do not act as tools in political struggles; they take an oath to protect the rest of us from foreign adversaries.

Thus, the political directive that drags the military into the midst of a domestic dispute is a big deal.

military news

Do not politicize the military … ever!

I feel the need to weigh in one more — and likely final — time on this dust-up over the USS John McCain.

It is simply this: The U.S. military never should get caught in the middle of a political dispute.

At issue is the order that reportedly was issued directing Navy personnel to hide the name of the USS John McCain from the view of the president of the United States. Donald Trump reportedly was “spared” having to see the name of his political rival, the late Arizona Republican U.S. senator.

The president denies issuing the order. Indeed, the world does not yet know who issued it and whether, as Trump described it, the order was “well-meaning.”

For the record, the destroyer was named after Sen. McCain’s father and grandfather. Sen. McCain’s name was added after the ship went on active duty.

The idea that the U.S. Navy — or any branch of the military — would be drawn into some form of political dispute is reprehensible on its face.

The officers and enlisted personnel who serve on the USS John McCain are proud of their ship, proud of their service to the country and proud to wear their nation’s uniform. They are not politicians and should never be dragged into a dispute of this sort … not ever!

military news

Did POTUS issue this order?

Talk about a murky story.

I didn’t want to believe it when it first came to light. I now tend to believe at least part of it, maybe even most of it. The story is disturbing in the extreme.

It goes like this: U.S. Navy officials sent messages out that ordered that the name of a battle destroyer, the USS John McCain, be kept out of Donald Trump’s view when he arrived in Japan for a state visit.

This is about as disgusting as it gets.

The ship was named after the father and grandfather of the late U.S. senator, who became a consistent foe of the president before he died of brain cancer in August 2018.

What I cannot grasp is this: Who issued the order? Did it come from the commander in chief? Did it come from senior naval officers who sought to make the boss happy? And why would an officer actually carry out such a preposterous order?

The White House staff insists that Trump played no role in the order. That insistence is reason enough for me to look with dubiousness at the denial, given the lack of truth-telling that emanates with stunning regularity from the White House.

But we don’t know about the source of the order.

Trump said he’d never do such a thing. Really, Mr. President?

The USS John McCain was commissioned in honor of two admirals. The late senator’s name was added after the ship went on active duty.

If it’s true, that the order came down and that it was presented as has been reported — that the ship’s crew was ordered to shroud the name so that Trump didn’t see the name while touring the area — then we might have entered a brand new era of petulance.

According to CBS News, which has confirmed the existence of the order: “I would not have done that. I was not a big fan of John McCain in any way shape or form. To me John McCain, I wasn’t a fan. But I would never do such a thing like that. Now, someone did it because they thought I didn’t like him. They were well-meaning, I will say. But I wouldn’t have,” Mr. Trump said.

I want to believe him. Then again, it comes from the liar in chief.