Trump's firing of Navy Secretary yet another threat to democracy
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By John Wojcik
President Trump has been recognized as a leader of the authoritarian mindset that has been operating in this country to win Senate and House seats, to control state legislatures, and to take over the federal courts. His recent pardoning of war criminals in the military, capped by his firing of Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer yesterday, shows that the power grab by the right wing in most branches of government includes a determination to add the military to its list of conquests.

Spencer's letter of acceptance of his termination reflects his anger about Trump's violation of democratic and constitutional norms. Spencer's letter, his official response to his firing by Pentagon Chief Mark Esper, was published by CNN.

Spencer's firing followed meddling by Trump in the court martial of a Navy SEAL charged with war crimes. The president issued a pardon for Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher by revoking his demotion and by ordering that his full rank be reinstated. Gallagher had been convicted of posing for a photo with the body of a dead Islamic State captive.

The Navy had no choice but to accept the orders of its commander-in-chief. The next step for them was to review whether, despite maintaining his rank, Gallagher should have his status as a SEAL removed. Once more, Trump intervened directly by going on Twitter and telling the Navy to stop the review and "Get back to business!"

The Navy Secretary rejected the interference and was determined to go ahead with the process to remove Gallagher's SEAL pin. His position was that he had no official order since a tweet, in his view, did not constitute an order....

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