Monday, November 25, 2019

Trump Undermining Military Order - Firing His Own Appointee, Navy Secretary Spencer [Updated]

The president of the United States has intervened in military justice and fired the Secretary of Navy, a person he himself appointed over a Naval justice system case with which he disagreed.  Here's a little background that I haven't heard on the news blurbs I'm hearing at NPR.  Ultimately, this is one more sep onTrump's part to weaken the US internationally, by weakening the US military.  How many rogue military will disobey their officers with the hope of support from the president?

Eddie Gallagher had become, apparently, a right wing cause.  He'd been found innocent of murdering prisoners of war, but guilty of taking a picture with a dead prisoner.  There were problems in the case according to the Navy Times and the LA Times. 

[UPDATED Nov 25, 2019 11:57am] However, other Seals testified against Gallagher - something I suspect is uncommon - though ultimately their testimony wasn't convincing because they didn't actually see him pull the trigger.  Here's description of that testimony.

I tried to find some of the Free Eddie Gallagher websites, but several had been corrupted.


Forged a website aimed at veterans has a t-shirt for Gallagher with this description:
"Chief Eddie Gallagher is a highly decorated Navy SEAL with over 19 years of honorable service to our country. On September 11, 2018, he was separated from his wife and children, and locked up in pre-trial confinement in the military brig. On July 2nd, Chief Gallagher was found NOT GUILTY of all charges, except unlawfully taking a picture with a dead ISIS fighter. Although Chief Gallagher is free, his battle is not yet over. He and his legal team are still fighting for his right to retire with a full pension and benefits.

#FREEEDDIE features the Forged Frogbones, one of our classic designs which has always been, and will forever remain deeply rooted in the Navy SEAL Brotherhood.

Please join us in our fight to #FREEEDDIE! Chief Gallagher deserves justice.
*All proceeds will be donated to the Navy SEALs Fund - Brotherhood Beyond Battlefield (501c3) Justice for Eddie Gallagher Support Fund"

Navy Secretary Spencer is a marine veteran and was appointed by Trump.  Defying the president is a major action here and clearly suggests a serious breach between Trump and the US military.  That's pretty serious.  And one more move that helps Putin by weakening the morale of the US military.

Here's from Wikipedia's post on Richard V. Spencer:
"In June 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Spencer to serve as the 76th United States Secretary of the Navy Spencer was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 1, 2017. He was sworn in on August 3, 2017 and served until November 24, 2019.
On July 15, 2019, he assumed the duties of acting Secretary of Defense and expected "to continue to serve in this role until a Secretary of Defense nominee is confirmed by the Senate and assumes office. At that time, I will continue to serve as Secretary of the Navy." He assumed the duties of Deputy Secretary of Defense on July 23, 2019.
Born in 1954 in Waterbury, Connecticut, Spencer attended Rollins College as an undergraduate, majoring in economics. After graduating, he joined the United States Marine Corps, serving as a Marine Aviator from 1976 to 1981.
After leaving the Marines as a captain, he worked on Wall Street for 15 years, holding positions at Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, A. G. Becker, Paine Webber and Merrill Lynch. Spencer served on the Defense Business Board, a Pentagon advisory panel, from 2009 to 2015 and on the Chief of Naval OperationsExecutive Panel. During his time on the Defense Business Board, he proposed shutting down domestic military commissaries in favor of negotiated military discounts at public retailers.

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