Liberal friends, over the past few years many of you said "I plan to be consistent on basic principle when it's our guy in office!" Well, here's your chance. If you think a general running the DoD is a bad idea, it can't be a *good* idea now just because Biden did it. /1

This has zero to do with Lloyd Austin. Yes, he's qualified. Yes, the president should have his team. But this requires Congress - for the second time in four years - to pass a law saying "we didn't really mean it about that other law we passed prohibiting this thing." /2

If you voted for Biden to restore norms, saying "yeah, but Trump did worse, and this isn't so bad, and Trump something something," then you're not restoring norms. You're making a special pleading that your norm-breaking is better than the other guy's norm-breaking. /3

It's not a disaster if Austin is confirmed. But it *will* be a message that new presidents need a strong general around, and that norms don't really matter if it's *your* guy breaking them. The way you reestablish norms is to observe them. Anything else is a rationalization. /4x