You Magnificent Bastard

A captain is fired after a letter detailing the Navy’s failures in dealing with the ...

Apr 6, 2020

A captain is fired after a letter detailing the Navy’s failures in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak is leaked. The intelligence community inspector general is fired for his role in the Ukraine matter. Queen Elizabeth II gives a rare address to the United Kingdom. David and Sarah have thoughts.

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Comments (17)

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DieHardTrojan 4 years ago

Good podcast! When TR incident first broke the news my initial reaction was the Truth is still missing. You filled in some gaps and were spot on, lots of blame to share. Obviously the Acting Secretary let his anger get the best of him. Why didn't he simply let the Capt. come ashore and get quietly get transferred. All he did by making a public dismissal and a subsequent tirade was get the antagonistic Press involved. I agree with JAG Maj. French. Also agree that after two damaged Destroyers and several dead Sailors there is a level of distrust that needs to be addressed. This doesn't feel like my old Navy.

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TheKingPrawn 4 years ago

This never showed up as available on Stitcher. Waiting patiently.

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C C Writer 4 years ago

I was happy to hear you two comment on the Queen's speech. Don't forget what her parents did during WWII: They refused to move out of Buckingham Palace, in solidarity with the Londoners who were being bombed in the Blitz--and the palace did take several hits. The movie "The King's Speech," which I just happened to be rewatching the day the Queen gave hers, had duty to the nation as one of its themes. The movie culminated in the historic speech the King (playing through the pain of his stuttering problem) gave to the nation at the beginning of the war, urging them to stand firm and united through the dark days ahead. https://www.historic-uk.com/assets/Images/kingsspeechtranscript.jpg?1390899955

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Joe 4 years ago

An investigation will determine if CAPT Crozier should have gone to these measures. 20+ years and 4 combat deployments, tells me - no, but I’ll keep an open mind. However, the fact the SECNAV had 12 hours-ish on a plane flying to Guam to think about what he was going to say to the crew, AND this is what he came up with. Ya, he needs to go. Interesting point about the Trump/Gallagher and the effect on SECNAV thinking. POTUS does need to give guidance/intent and then step away.

David, Point of Order: SEALs do NOT occupy the top rung of the SOF ladder, that honor belongs to Delta. (Delta also know how to keep their mouth’s shut.)

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Doug B. 4 years ago

I'm former Navy and when this initially broke, based on the limited details we had, I could see both CAPT Crozier and acting SECNAV having justification for their actions. CAPT Crozier had to know he was likely torching his career - and make no mistake, if you are selected for command of an aircraft carrier you are on the fast track to flag rank. I give him full credit for leadership for doing that for his crew and can only believe it was a last resort. I also think acting SECNAV Modly's initial rationale and explanation took the right tone. He was clear he was fine with issues being raised and did not question CAPT Crozier's motives, but there was a serious process foul that couldn't be ignored. However, the speech Modly gave to the TR sailors undercut everything he said before and made it seem his real concern was political blow back and how it affected him personally. He also went into a number of personal attacks on CAPT Crozier. Modly gave the Navy a public black eye and came off as emotional and unsteady, basically the same things he said he relieved CAPT Crozier for.

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Jimcarp707 4 years ago

The knowledge and insight that Sarah brings to this podcast Is invaluable, but that’s also true for David. Too frequently, as David is driving to a point, Sarah will interrupt him with a comment or an aside, sometimes derailing the point. I admire what they each have to say equally, but a more even cadence would be most welcome.

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WKDawson 4 years ago

To add to your point about Modly's "victim" claim to the sailors about "the media" (implicitly from the context meaning the "liberal media")... The SF Chronicle, to my memory, is the conservative newspaper of the Bay Area. Maybe things have changed, but that was always my impression -- they used to run Pat Buchanon for goodness sake.

On the other hand, the Washington Post is clearly "liberal media". If you are not supposed to go to "the media" (real the liberal media), then why did he go there?

I'm not a military person, but, I'm sure Captain Crozier clearly understood the protocols and duties in the chain of command. The risking of revealing intelligence aside (a matter that is a little puzzling), usually, when I find myself cc-ing an email to several people outside of the person directly concerned, it is because I want witnesses. It seems like there is a lot more to this story than just this singular exchange of one letter. I don't know if it was the 10th, the 100th, the 1000th, or the 10,000th time something was not working, but, as a civilian, it strikes me as a last desperate act to do something that you understand must be done.

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David Williams 4 years ago

Reading the transcript of Modly's speech I couldn't help but think that this is how Roman legions ended up stoning a group of Senatorial envoys and rallying around Sulla. I also thought about my late grandfather who served as a pilot in WW2 and then gave the rest of his life to the service. From what I've been told about him he would have yelled that the captain be relieved and probably court martialed. He then would have turned his attention to Acting Secretary Modly and said "someone should shoot that mother****er."

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Emory 4 years ago

You failed to ask the most important question about this affair. That is, "Why did he not just send the letter to his boss, and only to his boss?" Unless he had a very good reason to not handle it this way what he did makes no sense. What was that reason.

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Pastorfbt 4 years ago

Think it may have been alluded to in the pod, but there are ongoing issues in Pacific Fleet chain of command. Perhaps he thought a proper referral upstairs would be fruitless. But your point is valid.

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BW 4 years ago

Would like you guys to comment on the Supreme Court, Wisconsin Supreme Court, and Wisconsin legislature to allow the primary/vote to go on. To me this seems disgustingly politically motivated please give me another reason why you could excuse this decision during a PANDEMIC.

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