Character and Courage: Missing in Action

Two events during President Trump’s recent trip to Japan have drawn concern. The first was a photograph of sailors wearing a uniform patch with the words “Make Aircrew Great Again” around a likeness of the president.  The second was the effort by some White House aides to ensure the USS John McCain did not appear in photos of the president, given his antipathy toward the late Senator. 

Reactions have centered around who authorized these acts and how they reflect the president’s sensitivities.  The president denied he knew about the McCain issue, that he “would never have done it,” but that those who requested it "were well-meaning.”

Typical reactions from Democrats were exemplified by Representative Jim Langevin of Rhode Island, who said, “It speaks volumes that the president’s staff would dishonor an American hero to protect the president’s ego.”  Republicans, typically, have been silent.

As is often the case in our national dialogue, going below the surface is rare.  Doing so in this case reveals things more subtle and serious.

All government officials, civilian and military, take an oath to “support and defend the Constitution,”  not the president.  In that, the Constitution's framers were deliberate.  The military’s allegiance to the Commander in Chief takes a back seat to its fidelity to the Constitution.  That is deliberate too. 

The framers were afraid of executive aggrandizement, especially its use of the military.  The Declaration of Independence castigated King George III for quartering troops in civilian homes, and the Constitution’s architects abhorred the notion of a standing army.  They made the military subordinate to civilian rule and limited the president’s power to use it.  Historians and military leaders understand the dangers of the power of the armed forces if used for political purposes.  That is the source of the time-honored principle of isolating the military from politics.   

There must be no confusion on this.  If one's primary loyalty is to a government official, then it would be too easy for him or her to violate the Constitution in search of power or private gain.  The founders knew this, throughout history, to be the path to despotism. 

This distinction is at the heart of how the president and the military interact.  If the president or any subordinate civilian official issues an order that violates the Constitution, the military must disobey  it.  If a civilian or military official acts in a way that uses the military as a tool for personal or purely political ends,  that person should be penalized, not excused for being "well-meaning." Whenever our men and women in uniform are used for political purposes, or allowed to express their politics in or on their uniforms, military discipline is endangered, and with that the fighting capability essential to national defense.

From time to time, this gets tested.   This is one of those times.  In this context, it was an egregious act for White House officials to suggest military officers use a warship in a partisan political act.  It was also a failure of military leadership to permit a likeness of the president or a modified political slogan on the uniform of a sailor.  For the president to excuse such behavior demonstrates a lack of Constitutional understanding and historical precedent.  

In defense of these incidents, no doubt, arguments will be raised that no law was broken.  We do the Constitution no honor when legality is the only enforceable standard left in judging the behavior of government officials.  Laws, as James Madison observed, are but "parchment barriers against the encroaching spirit of power."  It is the character of those in government and their courage in defending the Constitution that we must rely on, as well as laws, for safeguarding our republic.

The events in Japan may seem insignificant - a molehill not a mountain.  But minor transgressions set precedents for larger ones, making future deviations seem both easier to make and less concerning. The path of Constitutional violations gets deeper as it gets more trodden.

It took a man out of uniform to force attention to this larger point.  Commenting on the events regarding the McCain, Gen. Barry McCaffrey said that, even if he was unaware of it, Defense Secretary-designate Shanahan "is allowing political operatives in the White House to give orders to our military forces  . . . “a very dangerous event for our democracy."

We might also remember the courage and character of John McCain.  Hiding his name cannot hide his fidelity to the Constitution, which serves as both a reminder and a beacon for the rest of us.

Photo Credit: The USS John McCain, U.Ss Indo-Pacific Command