Trump Is Still Only Interested

The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin. This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2019

In Trump. He's defending Gallagher because he thinks it wins him votes, enough votes to squeak back into the White House ( he's certainly not doing it to broaden his support). The problem is, his tweet is not an order. Well, that's one problem.

ALL HANDS BRACE FOR SHOCK

Exclusive: U.S. Navy secretary backs SEAL's expulsion review, despite Trump objection https://t.co/b6VI48hePr

— David B. Larter (@DavidLarter) November 23, 2019

Another is, the military is not passively accepting this severe assault on military order. They are going to force Trump to make an official order, overruling military law and the chain of command. He is as unlikely to do that as he is to make a truly significant and unpopular pardon. He hasn't pardoned Manafort or Stone because those pardons would not win praise from Trump's base. Taking a hard stand against the entire chain of command of the Navy, including his own Secretary of the Navy, would not be a winning fight. (All of his pardons have been in direct defiance if the legal system and good order, but not of persons or cases important enough yo invite government push back.) But what he has done to military order is already bad enough. Trump's desire is for his own political future, probably born out of his fear of prosecution after he leaves office. He is still doing what he was doing in Ukraine: looking out for Trump, not the national interest. If this were a political thriller, it would be obvious by now that Trump is the clear and present danger from which the nation must, and will have to be, rescued.

If the Congress can't do it, the voters will have to.