![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.azuse.cloud\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/ronnie-jackson-300x200.jpg\")
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Most readers here will be familiar with Congressman Ronny Jackson (R-TX). Before he was elected to Congress in 2020 he was the 1st Chief Medical Advisor to the President (Trump), was Physician to the President (Obama and Trump), and worked in the White House medical office since the mid-2000s (GW Bush and Obama).<\/p>\n
As a Naval officer, he saw service in Iraq, where he was a trauma surgeon. In July 2016, he was promoted under the Obama Administration to the rank of Rear Admiral (lower half), as can be seen in the above photo. He was nominated for two-star rank in 2018, but his nomination was twice returned to President Trump by the Senate without action.<\/p>\n
This stemmed from a report that he had engaged in a years-long hostile work environment. It also coincided with Jackson’s reports on Trump’s physical and mental health for the office of President, with Jackson popularly seen as something of a Trump sycophant. The man who had worked in three White Houses and been the chief physician for two (in two different parties) had his medical opinion questioned by Democrats and the media. It’s suspicious to me that complaints from several years prior (2013-2014) suddenly returned to the fore, particularly as Trump also nominated Jackson to head the VA around this time (meaning he was even more closely aligned with Trump politically).<\/p>\n
Anywho, Jackson decided he didn’t want to be VA Secretary if they didn’t want him, retired from the Navy as a O-7, ran for Congress, and is now in the People’s House. He repeatedly refers to himself in political and biographical materials “As a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral.” This, just today, with a report from the Washington Post<\/a> has led to accusations that he’s a liar. Is he an admiral or not?<\/p>\n As breaking news, we have none of the particulars at this point, but have received numerous tips and questions from loyal readers. Here’s what we\u00a0think<\/em> we know so far;<\/p>\n The accusations now are, is he a “retired rear admiral” or not? He technically “retired as a rear admiral”, but at the same time is also not “a retired rear admiral.” In the politics game, it’s often all about those semantics. You might remember we talked about Minnesota Governor Tim Walz<\/a> facing similar accusations. He retired as a career enlisted soldier of the MN National Guard. At the time he retired he was a command sergeant major. He elected to retire instead of joining his men on a trip to the sunny, sandy environs of ~2005 Iraq. Since he had yet to attend the Sergeants Major Academy, he reverted to his permanent rank of master sergeant in retirement. As with Jackson, Walz lays claim to having retired “as a” command sergeant major, but he is not on the retired list as such. Is that stolen valor of some shade? Arguments could be made either way. Likely depending on how you feel about these men personally, professionally, or politically.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n