As Captain of a United States Navy ship, I
had my share of bad days. These were
days in which I made bad decisions, diminished my image as a leader, or let my
temper get the best of me. I am not
proud of any of these days. They loom
larger in my memories of command than my good days. I did not serve my crew, my ship, the Navy,
or my country well. In spite of these
bad days, however, the Navy did not fire me or abandon me. The Navy left me in command, expected me to
learn from my mistakes, and expected me to not repeat them.
There were a handful of mistakes that
would have forced the Navy to relieve me of command. These involved the fundamental requirement of
any naval commanding officer to accomplish the mission and bring the crew home
safe. Had I failed to live up to these expectations,
the Navy would not have hesitated to relieve me. Fortunately for me, my crew, and my ship, I
never committed these fundamental errors.
I retained my command and had the opportunity to learn from the mistakes
I did make. With the steadfast support
of my crew, I corrected my mistakes, moving beyond the bad days.
On the morning following the June 27th,
2024 Presidential Debate I am watching the Washington punditocracy write
President Joe Biden’s post-debate epitaph.
While admitting that he has been one of the most successful Presidents
in history, the pundits go on to consign him to the dustbin of history by
stating that it is time for Democrats to remove him from their national ticket
and find a younger replacement. Their
argument is that, while Biden is up to the task of being President, he is not
up to the task of running for President.
Setting aside the fundamental absurdity of
this statement, we should ask ourselves if, as a result of his debate performance,
President Biden has crossed some sort of line beyond which his behavior
warrants firing and humiliating him. I
believe that he has not. Just as I did
as a ship’s captain, he had a bad day. He
has also had numerous good days including, most recently, marathon trips to and
from Europe which included a very busy itinerary that would have challenged a
much younger person. Those who are, even
now, arguing that he is not up to the job are ignoring the energy, stamina, and
competence with which, even in the last few weeks, he has done that job. Instead, they are judging him, on a bad
television moment.
In Navy terms, President Biden is
accomplishing the mission while keeping the country safe. Only when he fails to do this should we
consider firing him. That’s why we fired
President Trump whose incompetence during the pandemic left one million
Americans dead and whose lawlessness jeopardized our national security and
nearly destroyed our democracy.
Joe Biden continues to justify our faith
in him. As Governor Gavin Newsome said
immediately after the debate, President Biden has had our backs, now we should
have his. We can do that by working as
hard as we can to ensure his reelection.
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