“Captain, may I?” is a child’s game that many of us “oldies” played when we were children.  Our grandchildren still play it on occasion. Though it was a children’s game, it reinforced the idea that, sometimes, someone else can tell you what to do.  After all, Captains of ships are the final authority in everything that occurs onboard a ship.

The game taught my generation to accept that someone else might be our boss.  And, if they were, we had to obey them!

The President is the Captain of the Ship of State…..that “State” being the United States of America.  Yes, there are three co-equal branches of government with authority for different functions lying with each branch.  The Judiciary adjudicates all legal issues.  The Congress is responsible for creating legislation which the President must either sign or veto and the Judiciary weighs that legislation against the Constitution of the United States.  Each branch has equal authority in its own realm.  However, the President essentially  is the one who runs the country.

The Cabinet, chosen by the President, and confirmed by Congress, does advise the President.  But, they also serve at the “pleasure of the President”  Everyone knows this.  Everyone also knows that, though diverse opinions should be presented to the President, the President is ultimately responsible for every decision.  The President is the person who listens to the diverse opinions and then, weighing the advice, makes a judgment call.  Whether a citizen agrees with the President or not, we all must abide by his decisions because the Constitution gives him this authority.

Lately, though, it seems as if everyone — especially Democrats — believe that everything that President Trump does, says, or decides, is subject to their evaluation.  Even though these objectors do NOT have all the facts, they pursue a course of behaviour destructive to the welfare of our country.  Schumer, Pelosi, and their minions, have publicly disagreed with Mr. Trump’s stance on trade, the border wall, the fate of DACA, taxes, the judicial nominees…………..you name it.  They start out by disagreeing and being disagreeable about it, too.

Now, Mr. Tillerson has been replaced as Secretary of State, a Cabinet position that is critical to our country and to our President in his decision making processes.  Unfortunately, Mr. Tillerson has let his disagreements with President Trump become a public issue.  Somehow, he forgot that in the game of “Captain, may I?”, the Captain is the President.  Even when questioned by the media, and given the chance to affirm his President’s approach to several issues of national concern, Tillerson would tout his own philosophical ideas.  He never seemed to understand that he was no longer CEO of Exxon, but that he was an underling in a Cabinet headed by the President of the United States.

So, it was almost a relief to hear he had been replaced by someone more philosophically alligned with President Trump.  The “boss” (Trump) had finally had enough of an employee (Tillerson) running amuck both here and abroad.

Schumer, of course, was quick to publicly denounce the firing of Tillerson as an attempt to thwart an investigation.  That’s nutty.  For over a year, the FBI and DOJ have continued with this senseless Russia probe trying to link it to Trump.  That can NOT be seen as an agency in cahoots with the President.  Schumer also linked the firing of McCabe as another attempt by the President to stop Mueller’s investigation.  That’s even nuttier, if you consider how the FBI and DOJ have stone-walled and obstructed the public hearing about this investigation.  As proof of the FBI and CIA’s attempts to censor information, look at how long it has taken to have documents open to the public.  And, then, most of those documents are so heavily redacted as to be almost useless.  Look at how Judicial Watch has spent many hours and dollars bringing the illegal activities by the upper echelons of the FBI and CIA into the public purview.  That is NOT the sign of a governmental agency “helping” an Administration!

No, the two firings are not related.

Tillerson’s firing, though, is an example of someone who forgot the rules of “Captain, may I?”.   He forgot that the Captain rules the ship. Tillerson forgot that he was serving at the pleasure of the  President, and NOT at the pleasure of himself.

Maybe this is another good lesson for the next generation.  You must accept that the Boss is the boss, no matter what job you have.  And, if you buck the Boss too much, you will lose your job.

Because…………… whether in Life or in the game of “Captain, may I?”, only the Captain gets to say “you may” or “you may not”.