One thing you learn about jarheads, they will defend each other regardless of whether they deserve it or not. Personally every marine i have ever met has either been dumber than a Rock or crazier than a psychopath. I have little regard for them. They are good for charging machine gun nests and not much else.
It’s understandable Marines look out for each other and are sensitive to criticism given that they are totally dependent on the Navy.
It’s easy to see a future Democrat POTUS deciding their is no need for a warfighting Marine Corps. Everything the Marines do could easily be done by the USAF/Army/Navy. So naturally Marines are going to be very sensitive to political issues and tip toe through the tulips lest they offend budget appropriators. That is most apparent in the Marines support of homosexualization of the military and feminization of the infantry.