Birdperson
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That’s entirely true… however, I doubt Trump is aware of that fact, or even cares, frankly.
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How about covering the name painted on the ship’s hull with a tarp that has the name of the ship painted or printed on it? They have to make sure that no one can steal the tarp, or that if they loan it out (for use in emergency operations in which they may be participating) they get it back, right? The best way to do that is to clearly label it as belonging to the ship!
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An official naval account tweeted that the report was false, but photos showed it was true and the Pentagon ultimately admitted likewise
Well, I’m sure the person responsible for that tweet was severely reprimanded for their outright lie, and it was in no way completely ignored and treated as entirely normal and acceptable behavior for an official military organization.
Or, being more charitable, maybe they just couldn’t believe a President would really do something so childish, and dismissed it out of hand. In which case they really ought to know better by now.
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I think the order came from a preemptive sycophant in the White house, not from Drumpf himself.
My point is that major (and minor) media, and Meghan McCain, don’t seem to care either, that the ship is named for earlier McCains, the admirals. A coverup to dis the late senator pisses on USN history.
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The USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) is named after three McCains:
Admiral John S. McCain Sr.,
Admiral John S. McCain Jr.,
and, since 11 July 2018, Senator John S. McCain III.
Kinda practical, when you think about it.
Coming up next: the USS Meghan M. McCain. Stay tuned.
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Forget the media and their mistakes, acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan was confused, too. He said : “I would never dishonor the memory of a great American patriot like Senator (John) McCain. I’d never disrespect the young men and women who crew that ship,"
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I call him the fake baby billionaire or as Bill Maher calls him: “whiny little bitch”.
Well, if it helps, I’m sure Liz or Charles would be happy to welcome you back into the fold and take over as your head of state…
I’m sure we can find a White Tree somewhere. We do still have a few trees left. And spray paint if needs be.
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I don’t know how to ask this without leaving you with the feeling I’m trying to disregard your personal experience, so please take my word for it. I’m not argueing in bad faith.
Would you think that a set of orders coming from the highest level like described (cover ship’s name, remove caps and badges, stay out of sight) would be ignored?
I do not doubt that individuals find ways to ignore stupid orders, on an individual level and maybe also for a whole crew (as in: people in charge of the crew do so, to the benefit of their crew). But I really have trouble believing that a whole vessel might do so, especially if the order comes from top brass actually visiting (as opposed to top brass being very, very far away).
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this bit:
“maybe also for a whole crew (as in: people in charge of the crew do so, to the benefit of their crew).”
is essentially the same as this bit:
“a whole vessel might do so”
If the Captain says ignore it, or more likely, simply doesn’t tell the crew about the order - how would the crew find out except through rumour?
Each individual sailor doesn’t get a text message with the order.
Well, they might if Trump had actually ordered it himself. He’d probably do that via Twitter.
Would a captain do that?
There is precedent. See Nelson.
More likely, a less headstrong officer somewhere along the way between the White House and the ship’s cat might kick up a fuss with his commanding officer about the order, pointing out all the myriad reasons it’s a stupid idea, with that officer then kicking it further up the chain until someone has the sense and is prepared to assert the authority to overturn it.
Which is what appears to have happened here:
A senior Navy official confirmed Wednesday that he was aware that someone at the White House sent a message to service officials in the Pacific requesting that the USS John McCain be kept out of the picture while the president was there. That led to photographs taken Friday of a tarp obscuring the McCain name, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
When senior Navy officials grasped what was happening, they directed Navy personnel who were present to stop, the senior official said.
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Answering just the core of your question. Yes. There would be those who would get that “request from the White House” that would say “fuck that noise”.
Like I said. Ignoring bad orders happens regardless of the severity of said orders.
Additionally you are adding weight/credence to said order based on where it comes from I.e. the order came from the CiC therefor everyone must obey.
That is categorically wrong. Orders/directions are taken far more seriously the closer within the command structure they originate. Some 2 star wants XYZ and it trickles down to your platoon nco they are more likely to say “fuck that asshole” more so than if your platoon leader wanted XYZ.
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In this case, the commander of the vessel received an order from his local command, deemed it was not illegal, and complied. If the order came directly from the POTUS himself, so long as it is not illegal, the commander would be compelled to comply. That’s one of the basic tenents of military order and discipline.
What is odd here is that the order was really a request that appeared to come from white house staff, which jumped several levels of command to the pacific fleet command. That commander should have seen the order as more of a request, and told the white house to go pound sand for issuing such a disgraceful request.
ETA: Retired US Army
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Yeah. I live in Colorado Springs. What a treat. Luckily I didn’t have a reason to be anywhere near the AFA yesterday, and apart from a darkening of the skies it was hard for me to tell he was here. And that may have just been the weather.
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Again, do you think Trump knew the difference. If he thought it was named after the late senator, and wanted it covered up as a result, like many other things, then it is about the Senator, because Trump made it about him.
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Alienating our allies; seeking power for power’s sake; under the semi-covert influence of a hostile power’s ongoing misinformation campaign.
Yeah, that checks out.
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I thought Numenor sank under the sea…
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