The fight is between blogger and Navy Mom Mary Brotherton and Capt. Brian “Lex” Luther, commanding officer of the carrier George H.W. Bush, a ship with ongoing commode problems.
Brotherton has a blow-by-blow account of the head troubles on the carrier, complete with accounts from her son, a sailor onboard. It’s pretty thorough and includes details on how sailors handle widespread toilet outages, the clogs that cripple the toilet system and efforts to fix breakdowns. It was her work that tipped off a bunch of reporters on what’s happening on the ship.
Not to be outdone, Capt. Luther has spoken up as well, explaining the head issue from his perspective in a post on the carrier’s Facebook page. The CO of the Navy’s newest carrier offers a bunch of data and figures to bolster his side and provides a nuanced account of life at sea.
In his Facebook page, Luther disputes some of Brotherton’s claims but doesn’t mention her by name (look for this tactic during candidate debates – political hopefuls almost never mention their opponent by name. Candidates do it to keep their opponent’s name from appearing in print, bringing them additional attention. Luther seems to be doing it out of courtesy to Brotherton.) In response, Brotherton was more direct and posted “just as [Luther] stated that he will defend my rights as an American, as that American, I will defend and advocate for, to the day I die, those men and women who are serving their country.”
This is a tough fight to call. Luther has one of the toughest call signs around, giving him a huge intimidation advantage. Brotherton, however, is a Navy mom, and Navy moms — and moms of any service members, for that matter — don’t back down.
