Deep Breath

10:59 Tuesday, 4 November 2025
Current Wx: Temp: 51.19°F Pressure: 1020hPa Humidity: 51% Wind: 16.73mph
Words: 340

I'm checking in though I really don't have the time. I've got family inbound and more stuff to do, but this is what happens when this stuff grabs hold of me.

For the moment, I'm metaphorically taking some deep breaths. As a contractor, one of the active duty LDO commanders I worked with said, "I admire your passion. You're very passionate."

He was being polite, because I can get rather, um, assertive when I think I'm right, and when I believe it's important. Which isn't necessarily a positive character trait.

I'm taking a pause here, because I don't want to just give up. Well, I kind of do, because it just feels so frustrating. Nauseating.

Someone suggested that I write a piece for a publication that deals with naval affairs. I rejected that idea, and still reject it, because this is not a matter for polite debate.

This is a crime in progress.

Treating it as something we can "discuss," in measured, academic tones normalizes it. Dignifies it.

I can't do that, and I can't understand why more people aren't screaming about it.

And there's something else, and that's ADM Holsey. We don't know why he laid his stars on the table. We can speculate, and I think we can be pretty confident about why he did.

And when the story is eventually told, I hope America honors him in a way befitting his service and his sacrifice.

ADM Holsey is an honorable man. He has kept faith with the men and women under his command, in ways that so many others are failing to.

There are moments in each individual's life when the choices we make leave an indelible mark on our character.

It is crushing to me to witness how many are failing to meet the moment. Failing to honor the trust that our men and women in uniform place in us. To employ their service honorably. Meaningfully. In good faith.

This is a profoundly sad moment in the history of our country, and the United States Navy.

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