By the time you read this, there may have been more resignations. So far, the secretary of the United States Navy has resigned. They called him the acting secretary, but the man didn't act very much like a secretary of anything, much less the United States' blue-water Navy, by God.
The secretary, acting or otherwise, insulted the captain of an aircraft carrier after said captain was removed. And the now-former secretary did so on the man's ship, or the Navy's ship, over the PA system. On that much, the various sides agree. Capt. Brett Crozier, the commanding officer of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, had sent a memo to multiple people warning of covid-19 spreading across his ship, endangering his crew, and the memo leaked. After that, the facts are disputed.
The two sides are now fighting their battle in the media. The crew, for their part, let it be known who they support. And it isn't the politicians in Washington, but their former commander. That says more about Capt. Crozier's character than anything we can add. William Bligh wasn't treated to his crew chanting his name as he left their service.
Like Will Rogers said, all we know is what we read in the papers. But it seems as though this particular officer and gentleman did what he had to do to protect his crew. And his career in the Navy may be in jeopardy. An officer isn't removed from command on one of the nation's 11 aircraft carriers so publicly only to see a likely similar command later. Fair, life ain't.
But what is more interesting in these oh-so-modern times is that so many people want to praise him for his sacrifice, then take away the sacrifice.
Once upon a time it would have been honorable to resign from office because a body couldn't, in good conscience, do the job. Or was removed for following that conscience. But these days folks want their sacrifice and their careers, too.
Remember the several county clerks around the country who refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, even though the U.S. Supreme Court had finally, finally, ruled on the matter? And instead of simply stepping aside for principle, some tried to hold onto their jobs, even though they couldn't do them. As if sincere religious convictions came without obligations.
Having convictions is no tea party, or shouldn't be. We are reminded of the county clerk in Cleburne County, Ark., who resigned in the wake of the same-sex marriage rulings. Without fanfare. Without a press conference. Without publicity or social media or accusations. It made a state proud.
Now comes along a ship's captain who, by media accounts, sent a message outside the chain of command about a slow-acting military bureaucracy and the safety of his crew. That he did the brave thing is little disputed. But having convictions has never been easy. Tell it to Paul and Silas singing in the prison house after they'd been beaten and chained. Tell it to the man who wrote "Letter From a Birmingham Jail"--57 years ago this month. People like that make real changes in the world, and they don't ask that that their convictions be made easier to endure.
Give that good captain a parade--a deserved parade. And a pension. And a book tour. But allow his sacrifice to stand. After all, he's not a politician.
Editorial on 04/09/2020