Uhhhh — Yeah, one of them said that on Twitter.  And it was deleted not too long after.

But in between, the following exchange was overheard by a NYT staffer who was reviewing the latest notes sent by Andrew Weissmann for Adam Goldman to include in his next story:

NYT Colleague : “Do you realize you just told the Navy SEAL who killed Bin Laden he’s a p***y and that he hasn’t sacrificed enough for his country?”

Dan Saltzstein:  “No I didn’t.  I told some selfish moron named Robert O’Neill he was a p***ssy and he should put his mask on and sacrifice a a little comfort for his country.”

NYT Colleague:  “Is there someplace you can stay tonight so no on will know where you are?  We’ll see about getting you a fake passport tomorrow to get you out of the country.  Maybe we can get you a shack belonging to Carlos in Apatzigan.”

Dan Saltzstein:  [Googling]  “OH MY GOD, what have I done?  I’ll call Ben Rhodes, he’ll know what to do.  Maybe he can get me into Iran.  He’s got the home numbers of all the Mullahs.”

Yeah — Dan Saltztein, Deputy Editor of the NYT, called retired Navy SEAL Robert O’Niell, who killed Bin Laden, a “p***y”, and said he should wear a mask during his plane flight because he hadn’t sacrificed enough for his country.

O’Neill put up a picture of himself on Twitter, on his own account, seated on an airplane and not wearing a mask.  Under the picture he wrote “I’m not a p***y”.   That Tweet was later deleted — O’Neill said his wife, who was with him on the flight, saw it and deleted it on his account.

But before she did so, Saltzstein saw O’Neill’s Tweet, and in “All-World” face-plant fashion he Tweeted this reply:

So, using my extensive linguistic training in deciphering exchanges of comments and information between parties communicating by wire or electronic device, after careful analysis of the statement and response, I’ve deduced the following from the information provided:

O’Neill makes an affirmative declarative statement:   “I’m not a p***y.”

Saltzstein’s response includes the phrase “…you might just be…”.

My Conclusion:   Saltzstein called O’Neill a “p***y”.

Prior to leaving for the airport to catch Carlos Slim’s private jet to Michoacan, Saltzstein deleted his original tweet about O’Neill and sent out the following message:

I deleted a previous version of this tweet because I broke my own rule about name-calling. So let me try again: I honor O’Neill for his sacrifices to his country and his heroism. It’s sad that he can’t extend the same for the safety of his fellow passengers. pic.twitter.com/DxlUluIdX6

— Dan Saltzstein (@dansaltzstein) August 19, 2020

Yeah — it was all about violating your own private rule, and you actually “honor” O’Neill rather than think he’s a “p***y”.    Not because the Tweet revealed you to be clueless moron — well, you were the Travel Editor of the NYT once, so you got that going for you.

O’Neill’s basic bio is probably pretty well understood – or maybe not understood at all.  But he’s not a guy who just put in a few years, had a moment of brilliance and then got out to fame and glory.

O’Neill joined the Navy right out of high school in 1995.  He grew up in Montana, where he learned to shoot at a young age.  Originally he wanted to join the Marines as a sniper, but a Navy recruiter (the Marine recruiter was out to lunch) convinced him he could be a sniper as a Navy SEAL.

After going through SEAL team selection and training, he was assigned to SEAL Team 2 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1997.  In 2001 he moved to SEAL Team 4, where he remained until 2004.  At that point he joined SEAL Team 6 — formally known as DEVGRU, where assignment comes only by way of invitation.  Candidates for selection undergo a completely new series of tests and screenings, and must have already been deployed on operational assignments — no rookie SEALs on DEVGRU.  It is, for lack of a better description, the SEAL All-Star team.

O’Neill departed the Navy in 2012 after 16 years of service — short of the time necessary for a full military pension.  But he spent 15 of those years on SEAL teams, and reportedly engaged in more than 400 missions all over the world.  He left the Navy as an E-8 — Senior Chief Petty Officer.  While I’m sure SEALs get supplemental pay by virtue of their assignment, the standard pay range for an E-8 non-commissioned officer is $53,000 to $76,000.

I wonder what the pay range is or a Deputy Editor of the NYT?  Regardless, I’m sure that will go further for him in Mexico than it does in New York.

But I hope Slim’s jet doesn’t have Netflix — or at least not the final episode of Season 3 of “OZARK.”

Dan – it’s just a TV show.  Carlos isn’t really like that.