re: #199 Ace Rothstein

He wasn’t aping Trump. He was saying what Trump wanted him to say and it backfired. Spectacularly.

Everything about this whole mess sounds like it was a response to Trump outbursts.

I’ve no doubt that Modly first yanked Crozier because he got a nasty call from the WH to “fire” the man responsible for the letter in the first place. Why? Make up an excuse, say he violated “national security,” just get him off the ship and replace him with somebody “loyal.” Modly complies and then overcompensates by pinning the “leak” on Crozier, but Trump takes his cue and declares the captain made the US look “weak.”

Then Modly gets informed about the video of crew cheering and applauding Crozier as he disembarks, just before he gets another nasty call from the WH about how he fucked up because the media now sees the captain as a martyr rather than a criminal. Now Modly’s pissed, this was all supposed to be over and done with, so he flies straight to Guam in a huff to rant at the crew. But not just any rant, the rant of a mid-level manager who’s been told to get out there and break up talk among the workers of unionizing. So he slags Crozier, he gives the crew the “remember who signs your paycheck” bit, and then ends off on whining about how everybody’s being so mean to him.

Gets back to D.C., arriving just in time to find out that his “private” speech to the crew is now all over the internet. And the boss is saying that he may get “involved” in the investigation. And then that phone call from the WH comes…