Law & order

Joe Biden fails to understand the Constitution on military matters

Democrats regularly charge that President Trump does not understand or respect the Constitution and the law. Indeed, just months ago, Democrats in Congress voted unanimously during his impeachment trial to remove him from office. This week, however, Joe Biden displayed a woeful lack of understanding of the most fundamental cornerstone of the Constitution, which is civilian control over the military. For all of his decades of public service as vice president and senator, Biden looks at the world through a fundamentally political rather than a constitutional lens.

The presumptive Democratic nominee criticized the recent removal by the administration of Navy Captain Brett Crozier, commander of the Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier. Former Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modley, the top civilian political appointee in the Navy, removed Cozier after the leak of his email accusing Navy leaders of failing to quickly evacuate the sailors after a coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship. Biden declared that it was “close to criminal” with regard to how the Navy removed Cozier. “He should have a commendation rather than be fired,” he said, adding “poor judgment” belongs to the administration. Biden and other administration critics might be proud of themselves now that Modley has resigned over his unwise comments that attacked the ability of Cozier.