In Annapolis, Spicer and Standage must leave with Trump

The mission of the Naval Academy is to develop midshipmen morally, mentally and physically. The moral component of this charge has been under tremendous pressure these last four years as Midshipmen — and the entire world, for that matter— endured a commander- in- chief that peddles misinformation, bigotry and lies.

Last week, the lies stopped working. They backfired as our Capitol was attacked due to President Donald Trump’s lying. Due to this “last straw,” Trump fans are experiencing the just consequences.

Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue lost their Georgia Senate seats. Cabinet members are resigning. Former chiefs of staff are berating Trump, and those who charged into Nancy Pelosi’s office are being arrested.

Here in Annapolis, the bell needs to toll for two more names — Chase Standage and Sean Spicer.

Trump and sycophants head for the exit ignominiously still anchored in the belief that the truth does not apply to them. They believe good order and discipline does not apply to them. Whether they are laying siege to D. C.’ s most iconic buildings or re- tweeting Trump nonsense, the rules don’t apply … because their dictator despot is in the WhiteHouse and he approves.

Not anymore.

And any crackdown on Team Trump and its conspiracy theory- based beliefs is viewed as antifa- laden rhetoric and unfair restrictions on their first amendment rights. They have a right to say these things, right?

Midshipman Chase Standage is using that argument that to fight his expulsion from the Naval Academy. As The Capital reported, over a week in the summer of 2020, Standage sent out at least 40 tweets described by academy leadership as “racially insensitive, offensive, or inappropriate.”

Tweets included saying BreonnaTaylor “received justice” when she was killed and calling for drone strikes against members of antifa.

Standage is adamant he did nothing wrong. He’s just following the rhetoric and “truth” of his commander- in- chief, right?

Standage’s defenders sure have used points out of the Trump messaging playbook. Just last month, U. S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R- Arizona, tweeted this: “The midshipman at our Naval Academy may be kicked out for tweeting his agreement with @ realDonaldTrump that BLM is a Marxist terrorist organization. A rank injustice. As a member of Congress I expect our officers to be trained how to quickly kill our enemies and win.” Disturbing.

So, what is the Navy to do with Standage? Hold him accountable, right? Kick him out just like we’re doing with Trump?

Even Twitter held Trump accountable. On Friday, Twitter removed Trump’s microphone saying, “After close review of recent Tweets from the @ realDonaldTrump account… our public interest framework exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly. It is built on a principle that the people have a right to hold power to account in the open.”

Wisewords fromTwitter. Andwe need to consider that standard whenwe look at the Naval Academy Board of Visitors, too. Amember of that esteemed board is Sean Spicer. Should we not hold power to account in the open with Spicer, too?

Spicer is a presidential appointee to the board, so theNavalAcademy can’t just say, “You’re Fired,” to use a phrase from Spicer’s old boss. But doesn’t Spicer’s “Trump resume” land him in the same spot as Standage? Out of the Naval Academy?

As the Washington Post reported in 2017, “Revisiting his memorable briefingroom debut as Trump’s Press Secretary— a tirade against the media in which he falsely claimed that Trump’s Inauguration Day crowd was the largest in history — Spicer basically admitted that he was willing to lie for Trump.’”

So, to be clear, Spicer has parroted Trump’s lies and conspiracies. He’s admitted lying to the American people. He now uses his show on ultra- conservative Newsmax to continue the narrative with Trump’s talking points on claims of election fraud, wondering if Antifa was really behind the siege of the Capitol and lamenting Trump’s removal from Twitter as an unfair attack of Trump’s rights.

For me, this story needs to end with Trumpout of the WhiteHouse, Spicer out of the Board of Visitors and Standage out of school.

Bring truth, decency and character back to Washington D. C., and the Navy Academy, too.