GDaddy nailed it. I agree the criminal conduct of the convicted SEALs should not have earned such an immediate pardon but I felt the same way when Caley was pardoned by Nixon and Medina went to work for H.Ross Perot.
It is in deed a tradition in the military not to ever voice public opinions re the CinC regardless of the CinCs failures or successes. Historically, most retired senior military leaders would “fade away” In the words of General Douglas MacArthur. That was until the now common practice of networks hiring/luring senior retired brass to opine on national news broadcasters. The ex-generals and ex-admirals seem to have resulted in more brass breaking ranks with tradition and politicizing some in the military.
My last boss, Jim was a “triple dipper” after the Congress passed a special law allowing him to continue his work in Korea (he retired from the US Army and the CIA) as work for our government as a special consultant to the US Ambassador in Korea. Jim may or may not have had knowledge regarding the planned assassination of Sigmund Rhee by his Korean confident General Park Chun Hee but General Park became the next president and dictator in Korea upon Sigmund’s assassination.
Our ’section’ Korean CIA counterpart was lead by a cat we called ‘Big Kim’ (so many Kim’s, like Smith or Jones in our phone ok). After I left Korea, Kim had the bright idea to assassinate Park and completed the deed in a KCIA safe house within the Blue House compound. Big Kim didn’t figure in the Korean ‘milItaly-industrial complex’ who arrested Big Kim and executed him and his co-conspirators.
Korea is no longer lead by a dictatorship, thanks in part to the Korean military and their equivalent of the military-industrial complex. The KCIA no longer exists (in name) and Korea has come a robust democracy with a strong economy.
If the USA ever went side-ways because of politics, marshal law is provided for by our founders to get the democracy back on steady footing.
