United States Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) went on national television this week and defended white nationalists. It was not a slip of the tongue. It was a position that Tuberville has been making publicly for months. In May, Tuberville appeared on WBHM
Tuberville should never have been elected, what a disgrace he is--as well as not very intelligent. McConnell, Schumer and other senators need to get this guy off his stump, and actually out of the senate completely, so the military can make their nominations. Why does the GOP not care about our national security? (don't answer that, I'm afraid of the answers.)
I know that my comments about the republican voter base are a broken record, however, I'll say it again and again until someone, somewhere figures out how to rein in the dis-information industry. This industry has had 30+ years of lies, distortions, character assassinations and conspiracy theory mongering to untether millions of voters from reality. It started with Rush and metastasized . These same voters elevate morons and grifters to leadership positions. These leaders didn't create the base, they just figured out how to harness the angry mob. I don't believe that the First Amendment was created as a "poison pill" to eventually wreck the democratic republic.
You are so right! They did figure out how to harness the angry mob--and they use it like the mafia's 'made' men to threaten the rest of the democratic republic.
I am so with you! I too see that we need to make propaganda/disinformation accountable to the law - but no one wants to touch it with a ten-foot pole.!
Grand Klan Wizard Tuberville is putting national security at risk to force his personal religious views on the military. His ability to place a hold on nominations is another Senate tradition that needs to end. Schumer needs to tell McConnell to get Tuberville under control, or he will remove the hold unilaterally and move the promotions forward. No more tyranny of the white racist minority that seems to run the Senate.
I don’t know that Schumer can do that. I also don’t think he’s going to want to bow to the guy who promotes white nationalism (especially since they were hunting for him on Jan 6).
His otheroption is to prioritize and vote on promotions one by one which would take an inordinate amount of time. Haven’t seen anyone say if a majority in the Senate to could suspend the rule he is using -- or if the GOPers could block it.
Military promotions are generally approved by unanimous consent except for the big ones like Chair of the Joint Chiefs. Schumer absolutely can force the Pubbies to keep someone on the floor to object. But your point is well taken, the vote for the Commandant of the Marine Corps should be scheduled for this week.
I know. He’s one of my Senators. I don’t remember the last time he held a public event. Never meets with or responds to constituents unless they are officials, part of a donor network or major donors. The rest of us might receive a random form letter not addressing the subject of our concern.
But he has military bases in KY & doesn’t want the hold. Same for most of his caucus. He always has his eye on the next election & he knows everything TT is doing from the white nationalism bit to holding up the promotions won’t be helpful in the swing states. It is hard to tell what else he has up his sleeve that keeps him from dealing with TT.
I’m sympathetic to you having him as one of your senators. I have Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, hardly representative of this constituent. Scott doesn’t bother to answer any correspondence. I get boilerplate replies from Rubio (a staffer anyway) that double-down on his position w regard to my particular topic. My small donations go to Senators I consider progressive, whatever state they represent.
Scott’s another one that walks away and leaves others to pay. He has history in KY. Perhaps you know that before he was a politician he was a CEO of Columbia hospitals, which bought Humana's "Galen" hospitals. Despite commitments here, Scott moved the headquarters from Louisville to TN where it was Columbia/HCA. Turns out there was a reason for the explosive growth.
After the board realized the feds were investigating Mr. Scott was forced out. He didn’t go empty handed. He got about $5M in severance, consulting agreement for 5 yrs at almost $1M per yr and $300M in stock. Columbia/HCA would wind up paying over $1.7B for Scott’s leadership & Medicare fraud. Next he moved to FL and as governor went recruiting companies to move there - Louisville among them. Then to the big time, FL Senate (and was trump’s health care advisor for the invisible health care plan).
Yes. I’m aware of his background and how he bought his way into seats as governor of Florida and then Senator. He’s so slimy, makes me nauseous, seriously, like in this moment, if I give him much thought. 🤢
He lost a committee vote on this issue and so he’s going this route. There are other times one Senator does this on other Senate votes - like Rand Paul. However, fewer since the holds are no longer secret. When I say ‘bow’ to Tuberville, a route that has been acknowledged would be to cut a deal like make AL the permanent base of the Space Force.
On top of all the other reasons this particular instance is bad, I’m afraid I he he gets away with it and is unscathed it will embolden Senators who know they can’t get their own way to do similar things. IOW, making the Senate into a smaller version of the chaotic House under McCarthy.
Alabama will never be the permanent base of Space Force. That waste of money is going to go to Colorado Springs where USAF Space Command has had its HQ for years.
I don’t think it will happen. It was an example of alternatives. None of which seem likely. Another is to give him a vote on an amendment but that is hazardous and who knows if he would do the same thing if he lost. Tuberville isn’t up for election and unless there is something he cares about that can leverage him they are stuck. However, if he likes being on some of his committees, McConnell should be able to work with Schumer to replace him. Drastic measure for drastic situation - but he might cave at the threat.
I think this is his current list of committees - obviously more than he can handle. Senate Armed Services Committee; Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; and Senate Help, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in the 118th Congress.
For anyone who wants to see an explanation - I finally found the ‘official’ one for how a “hold” works and why leadership often lets them do it.
In the end this is a McConnell problem that he can, or cannot, choose to solve. As with everything, Moscow Mitch will do the math and decide what will benefit him, and the GQP, the most.
This. I read along and thought, I'm bound to see him say he can't be racist because he has Black friends. Tommy Potatohead didn't disappoint. Although, to be fair I thought the quote would be, "Uh-uh, no way I'm a racist. I have friends that are ni- uh, I mean Black."
Now are they really "friends?" Or are they folk who traditionally "worked for the family?" Or (and this is my guess) folks who when he pesters them yet again, nod their heads when he asks, "we're still friends right?" They only agree because hey, the family is powerful and petty.
Or were they on a scholarship, under his authority to run wind sprints in practice pads and live games televised on Saturday, all for their performances to be replayed and analyzed by Kirk Herbstreit?
Simpletons think everyone they're talking to is a simpleton too. Unlike Coach Dumberville, the rest of us actually had to attend classes, learn the material AND prove we knew it in testing. It's an injustice that anyone like him is clogging a seat in our Senate.
Injustice. He should be sitting in a backwoods outhouse somewhere putting his lifelong contributions to society into the proper perspective. That's a plop, no fizz.
Well, it's out now and can't be denied. The man has a right to free speech, but there must be immediate repercussions—billboards outing the donors (Shame on you Jeff Bezos)—and censure by the Senate. And how about the fact that the Supreme Court left Affirmative Action standing for the armed services academies? I guess that's okay with the man holding our service appointments hostage.You can die for this country, but don't expect a promotion.
This whole "right to free speech" is getting old when you read what they're saying. What's next. Hollering fire or bomb, just cuz? Free speech and all...
Meanwhile, in IA, an anonymous letter sent out to Boone County residents about a mayoral candidate. A homophobic letter, no less, because he attended a Pride event with his wife and kids. Letter includes a picture of him at the event, with arrow pointing him out. Probably sent by 1 of the fine people tubberville calls an American. This is being taken seriously and they're trying to find who sent the mass mailings. Disgusting.
Hold on. The purpose of affirmative action in the military is to make sure that more black soldiers die in battle, relative to white ones (which happens anyway for economic reasons). Tumorville would consider that American, wouldn't he?
I'm not sure, since the academies train officers, but I didn't learn of that part of the Court's decision myself until last week. Must have been buried in the stories I read.
The military doesn’t want to invest in training officers at the academies to get them killed. This is not about using poor people and minorities as cannon fodder.
I think it is obvious that I was ridiculing a dangerous racist, whom I referred to as Tumorville, in terms that would reflect his sick mind. I have no idea whether the military academies are using affirmative action to inflate or equalize the relative number of non-white officers, nor do I have any evidence that non-white officers would be lost on the battle field in greater proportions than white officers. However, it is obvious that low income rank-and-file recruits would include a relatively high number of non-white soldiers and would be lost in battle proportionally. During the Vietnam war, the Defense Department was in such urgent need of soldiers (before the race-neutral draft lottery) they even had a secret program to enlist men with extremely low IQs (of all races). They were slaughtered. They were so incompetent that they shot and killed American soldiers by mistake and their commanders in the field begged the Pentagon to end the program. This is true, by the way, and not part of my sarcasm.
It did not seem sarcastic to me. I remember the Vietnam folly quite well including the not-so-neutral draft that favored $$ and connections. That is why I responded and said what I did. What you have confirmed is that sarcasm & serious criticisms are not that easy to discern these day on the internet machine.
I don't see how you couldn't see the sarcasm. Be that as it may, I'm glad you recognize the racially and low income-skewed infantries of the Vietnam war. As a general observation, if you believe that the military would never do that today, think again.
We’ve apparently not seen the same spectrum odd & bizarre things in comments intended to be serious (vigorously defended by the commenters). For instance, public policy should support natural selection - for the betterment of the species.
I read somewhere that Tuberville has unseated Boebert in the ‘most dumb Republican’ category. (I’d call it a volley, but that’s me.) Maybe I’ve missed it, but where are the heavy rebukes for Tuberville’s willingness to hold up military nominees? Any damage to the military is dereliction and his colleagues should be pressuring him to stop. This is worse than Ted Cruz holding up judges. We aren’t hearing enough MSM coverage of this.
I admit I don't know the ins and outs of our government, but how is it possible that one racist senator in Alabama is able to delay and hold up the process for military appointees? How does one senator have the power to hold this up? Also, it's clear as day this man is racist to his core. Not surprising the people of Alabama elected him, he stands for what they want. What a despicable human and it's a shame that he has any power at all. It's 2023. Enough of this nonsense
Its meentioned in the article but normally these positions can be conformed in mass by unanimous consent. Because he is refusing to consent, the senate would instead need to go through them 1 by 1, which would take many months to actually do. People on both sides do this kind of stuff all the time but it never gets to be this big or go on this long.
For the record, I am not defending him and believe he is the dumbest senator we have, just want to explain why he is able to do this.
I agree. I know this sort of stuff happens on both sides, but maybe we need to do away with this aspect. If all but one senator consent, it should move forward. How does the right claim to be for the people and love this country when they are currently the ones doing the most to disrupt standard procedure and weaken us at every turn? The left needs to get better at messaging. We currently suck at it and are too afraid to play the game. The right has no problem demonizing the left and we reply 'oh don't say that, that's not nice' and they continue to do it and win on the messaging front. Every Democrat in Alabama should be running ads that Tuberville hates America and doesn't support our troops. Tuberville wants a weakened military so that China can take over. These are the types of things the left needs to say. There are a LOT of stupid people out there that only read headlines and buzz words. Time for the left to play ball. If we dont, we will continue to lose. Whenever stuff like this holdup happens, it's basically a handshake agreement to not do it again in the future, and then the right does it again. Dems are dumb and don't have what it takes to go where they need to go on the messaging front.
I do think they should get rid of this rule but, as they tend to do, the Dems are too afraid of "breaking precedent" or losing losing this tool, despite it being the kind of thing thay shouldn't exist. It's basically a microcosm of the filibuster with even less historical precedent
And when they can’t get away with this they resort to things like the filibuster. They used to be secret and the public didn’t know who was behind weird things happening.
I did find the ‘explanation’ for how this works and why leadership reacts as it does. (Although I’m hoping McConnell in light of the white nationalism & other things can put some heat on Tuberville - like threaten his military related committee assignments.)
I voted for Doug Jones twice. The first time was when he ran against Roy Moore, and the second time when he ran against Tuberville. We're seriously out-numbered here. Many vote for anyone who has an R behind their name. We also still have straight party voting whereby you can check one box and you will automatically vote for every Republican on the ballot. Despite the futility, I still vote.
I think he’s re-election is due to the monetary contributions from the corporations Judd mentioned in the article. I don’t understand why they support him but I’m sure it’s self-serving.
The corporate world is always self-serving. They make public statements to impress the public w their moral position while paying lobbyists and politicians and committees to answer to their higher calling of profit, despite any political beliefs.
My dear old Daddy always said, "Stupid and Stubborn are a lethal combination." Turbeville is a prime example.
The money trails on these corporations are why that 2017 tax cut by the GOP Congress is a constant boil on the American behind. The big corporation has all the benefits and no one to answer to in the legislative branch because they grease so many pockets. Lately we have found our life appointee SCOTUS have members on the take.
Turbeville is an example of why we are tettering on the brink. He couldn't connect the dots on why military chain of command is important to US National Security if an Einstein held his hand and showed him which dots.
The years since Ronald Reagan have been a road to this point. You can no longer hope the best and brightest get elected because we know 74 million people voted for Trump in 2020. This is dot connecting. We know much of this chaos is caused by a lot of "We the People" an uninformed sect of voters influenced by lies, that result in fear, wrath and hysteria.
Please, everyone, Tuberville and others with his prejudice are not dumb about this issue--they KNOW what they're doing. He's holding the military hostage to force not allowing the military to help anyone getting an abortion or artificial insemination.
Tuberville is a poisonous bag of wind in my opinion. Thus being harmful to the U.S. & it's citizen's, in particular people of any color other than white and given his overt racism & apparent fondness for white separatist/ nationalist/ racist groups ( some potentially rooted in terrorist notions), I feel strongly that his state should either recall him, if in their constitution to do so, or the senate should censure him for his racist comments & if possible remove him from his assignments. Given his " fondness " for trump, he's likely holding up promotions in the hopes that trump will somehow wangle a nod from the republican party for candidacy for a presidential run in 2024. If he were to somehow win, Tuberville would then load leadership roles with military ( or some facsimile) favorable to trump, leaving us ripe for a coup.. Unlikely trump will beat out his legal difficulties to obtain a nod; but let's look at absolute worst case scenarios for a moment.
As for Tuberville, his state, its folks in leadership roles in Alabama, and its citizens should be appalled by his actions overall. If leadership doesn't make a public statement/ outcry against his actions & his statements, then any U.S. citizen...white, of color & folks of any other nationality should think about giving the State of Alabama wide berth, in their travels for vacations or in general, when traveling South. Why give them your hard earned tax dollars for anything, when Tuberville is, on top of racist comments, holding up our military from giving out well deserved promotions for men & women who've fought & given blood & tears for this country. Regardless of color. I am frankly tired of these two faced, lying, forked tongue, maga republican aholes holding office & holding up/ OBSTRUCTING progress in America. STOP the b.s. political theater AND DO THE JOBS YOURE BEING paid to DO. WORKING ACROSS THE AISLE IS ONE OF THEM.
AS for the corporations supporting them troglodytes with their donations, ( Tuberville & the other obstructionists and " do nothings," ) perhaps their ceos & board members would like to receive bags of negative mail, calling them out on their duplicity & hypocrisy sent to their homes.
Frankly a lot of citizens in America are tired of the b.s. We've made some progress the last few years with President Biden in office & not a lot of help from obstructionist republicans; more progress than we'd seen when the master of chaos and seditionist, trump was in office.
Additionally, WE want to see the Supreme Court cleaned up & new, stronger ethics rules in place. So Supreme Court justices who violate them, either through questionable ethics violations before or now, can be ousted & replaced with justices who won't lie, serve selfish private interests, who've financially or otherwise enriched them or family members & won't violate their oaths. We need a balanced & ethical court who will obey the laws, our Constitution & restore justice & fairness for all. We're fed up. We're "mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!"
Tuberville, or not Tuberville. That is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to endure ... eh screw it. No Tuberville. Strip him of his committee assignments and expel him from Congress.
Doug Jones, who Tuberville defeated, prosecuted the men who bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963. Tells you all you need to know about Alabama and the GOP writ large.
I want McConnell to threaten him with that - and work with Schumer to make it I a realistic threat. He sits on committees related to military issues. The white nationalism stuff should add should add more leverage.
I remain mystified that Alabama voters thought Mr Tuberville was a better choice than Doug Jones. Okay fine, I know politics is very tribal in some states, but former senator Jones distinguished himself in many ways, and did Alabama proud. What has Mr Tuberville done to help his constituents? In reality, his policy positions and his antics are hurting the very people he claims to serve. I'm equally mystified that Democrats haven't found a way to discredit him with Alabama voters (or with other Republican senators). Does Chuck Schumer have a plan for this? Does anyone? Sending angry tweets about Mr Tuberville is not a plan. Nor does expressing outrage on cable TV put an end to his shenanigans. Something needs to be done, before he does even more damage. But who will do it? And when?
You're so right! We voted for Doug Jones in our house, and we will continue to vote for him should he decide to run again. We've written to Tuberville, and received a basic form letter in response. Nowhere in that letter did he respond to our original concerns. Why? Because he knows he risks nothing by ignoring us. He only represents his donors.
white nationalists should not be in our military or police. They weaken the effectiveness of ANY organization. They are unAmercan. turberville is almost as loony as t rump.
Tuberville should never have been elected, what a disgrace he is--as well as not very intelligent. McConnell, Schumer and other senators need to get this guy off his stump, and actually out of the senate completely, so the military can make their nominations. Why does the GOP not care about our national security? (don't answer that, I'm afraid of the answers.)
I know that my comments about the republican voter base are a broken record, however, I'll say it again and again until someone, somewhere figures out how to rein in the dis-information industry. This industry has had 30+ years of lies, distortions, character assassinations and conspiracy theory mongering to untether millions of voters from reality. It started with Rush and metastasized . These same voters elevate morons and grifters to leadership positions. These leaders didn't create the base, they just figured out how to harness the angry mob. I don't believe that the First Amendment was created as a "poison pill" to eventually wreck the democratic republic.
You are so right! They did figure out how to harness the angry mob--and they use it like the mafia's 'made' men to threaten the rest of the democratic republic.
I am so with you! I too see that we need to make propaganda/disinformation accountable to the law - but no one wants to touch it with a ten-foot pole.!
But but but he's American. He SAID so!
Bwah hahaha!!
And, that is our problem! I just posted my response about this issue.
Grand Klan Wizard Tuberville is putting national security at risk to force his personal religious views on the military. His ability to place a hold on nominations is another Senate tradition that needs to end. Schumer needs to tell McConnell to get Tuberville under control, or he will remove the hold unilaterally and move the promotions forward. No more tyranny of the white racist minority that seems to run the Senate.
There is the rub. Get that fool under control.
PS:
I take it personal-like that the USMC will not have a commandant in a few weeks on account of this empty barrel of nonsense & noise.
I don’t know that Schumer can do that. I also don’t think he’s going to want to bow to the guy who promotes white nationalism (especially since they were hunting for him on Jan 6).
His otheroption is to prioritize and vote on promotions one by one which would take an inordinate amount of time. Haven’t seen anyone say if a majority in the Senate to could suspend the rule he is using -- or if the GOPers could block it.
Military promotions are generally approved by unanimous consent except for the big ones like Chair of the Joint Chiefs. Schumer absolutely can force the Pubbies to keep someone on the floor to object. But your point is well taken, the vote for the Commandant of the Marine Corps should be scheduled for this week.
I know. He’s one of my Senators. I don’t remember the last time he held a public event. Never meets with or responds to constituents unless they are officials, part of a donor network or major donors. The rest of us might receive a random form letter not addressing the subject of our concern.
But he has military bases in KY & doesn’t want the hold. Same for most of his caucus. He always has his eye on the next election & he knows everything TT is doing from the white nationalism bit to holding up the promotions won’t be helpful in the swing states. It is hard to tell what else he has up his sleeve that keeps him from dealing with TT.
I’m sympathetic to you having him as one of your senators. I have Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, hardly representative of this constituent. Scott doesn’t bother to answer any correspondence. I get boilerplate replies from Rubio (a staffer anyway) that double-down on his position w regard to my particular topic. My small donations go to Senators I consider progressive, whatever state they represent.
Scott’s another one that walks away and leaves others to pay. He has history in KY. Perhaps you know that before he was a politician he was a CEO of Columbia hospitals, which bought Humana's "Galen" hospitals. Despite commitments here, Scott moved the headquarters from Louisville to TN where it was Columbia/HCA. Turns out there was a reason for the explosive growth.
After the board realized the feds were investigating Mr. Scott was forced out. He didn’t go empty handed. He got about $5M in severance, consulting agreement for 5 yrs at almost $1M per yr and $300M in stock. Columbia/HCA would wind up paying over $1.7B for Scott’s leadership & Medicare fraud. Next he moved to FL and as governor went recruiting companies to move there - Louisville among them. Then to the big time, FL Senate (and was trump’s health care advisor for the invisible health care plan).
https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2003/June/03_civ_386.htm
Yes. I’m aware of his background and how he bought his way into seats as governor of Florida and then Senator. He’s so slimy, makes me nauseous, seriously, like in this moment, if I give him much thought. 🤢
He lost a committee vote on this issue and so he’s going this route. There are other times one Senator does this on other Senate votes - like Rand Paul. However, fewer since the holds are no longer secret. When I say ‘bow’ to Tuberville, a route that has been acknowledged would be to cut a deal like make AL the permanent base of the Space Force.
On top of all the other reasons this particular instance is bad, I’m afraid I he he gets away with it and is unscathed it will embolden Senators who know they can’t get their own way to do similar things. IOW, making the Senate into a smaller version of the chaotic House under McCarthy.
Alabama will never be the permanent base of Space Force. That waste of money is going to go to Colorado Springs where USAF Space Command has had its HQ for years.
I don’t think it will happen. It was an example of alternatives. None of which seem likely. Another is to give him a vote on an amendment but that is hazardous and who knows if he would do the same thing if he lost. Tuberville isn’t up for election and unless there is something he cares about that can leverage him they are stuck. However, if he likes being on some of his committees, McConnell should be able to work with Schumer to replace him. Drastic measure for drastic situation - but he might cave at the threat.
I think this is his current list of committees - obviously more than he can handle. Senate Armed Services Committee; Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs; and Senate Help, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in the 118th Congress.
For anyone who wants to see an explanation - I finally found the ‘official’ one for how a “hold” works and why leadership often lets them do it.
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R43563#:~:text=Senators%20place%20holds%20to%20accomplish,rests%20with%20the%20majority%20leader.
In the end this is a McConnell problem that he can, or cannot, choose to solve. As with everything, Moscow Mitch will do the math and decide what will benefit him, and the GQP, the most.
The man really used the "some of my best friends are black" line to defend himself against accusations of racism. What a disgrace.
This. I read along and thought, I'm bound to see him say he can't be racist because he has Black friends. Tommy Potatohead didn't disappoint. Although, to be fair I thought the quote would be, "Uh-uh, no way I'm a racist. I have friends that are ni- uh, I mean Black."
Now are they really "friends?" Or are they folk who traditionally "worked for the family?" Or (and this is my guess) folks who when he pesters them yet again, nod their heads when he asks, "we're still friends right?" They only agree because hey, the family is powerful and petty.
Or were they on a scholarship, under his authority to run wind sprints in practice pads and live games televised on Saturday, all for their performances to be replayed and analyzed by Kirk Herbstreit?
Simpletons think everyone they're talking to is a simpleton too. Unlike Coach Dumberville, the rest of us actually had to attend classes, learn the material AND prove we knew it in testing. It's an injustice that anyone like him is clogging a seat in our Senate.
Injustice. He should be sitting in a backwoods outhouse somewhere putting his lifelong contributions to society into the proper perspective. That's a plop, no fizz.
You know I could beat the brakes off of him for that remark alone.
Well, it's out now and can't be denied. The man has a right to free speech, but there must be immediate repercussions—billboards outing the donors (Shame on you Jeff Bezos)—and censure by the Senate. And how about the fact that the Supreme Court left Affirmative Action standing for the armed services academies? I guess that's okay with the man holding our service appointments hostage.You can die for this country, but don't expect a promotion.
Sure he has a "right to free speech" and everyone else has a right to protect the general public from this racist pandering menace.
This whole "right to free speech" is getting old when you read what they're saying. What's next. Hollering fire or bomb, just cuz? Free speech and all...
Meanwhile, in IA, an anonymous letter sent out to Boone County residents about a mayoral candidate. A homophobic letter, no less, because he attended a Pride event with his wife and kids. Letter includes a picture of him at the event, with arrow pointing him out. Probably sent by 1 of the fine people tubberville calls an American. This is being taken seriously and they're trying to find who sent the mass mailings. Disgusting.
Hold on. The purpose of affirmative action in the military is to make sure that more black soldiers die in battle, relative to white ones (which happens anyway for economic reasons). Tumorville would consider that American, wouldn't he?
I'm not sure, since the academies train officers, but I didn't learn of that part of the Court's decision myself until last week. Must have been buried in the stories I read.
The military doesn’t want to invest in training officers at the academies to get them killed. This is not about using poor people and minorities as cannon fodder.
I think it is obvious that I was ridiculing a dangerous racist, whom I referred to as Tumorville, in terms that would reflect his sick mind. I have no idea whether the military academies are using affirmative action to inflate or equalize the relative number of non-white officers, nor do I have any evidence that non-white officers would be lost on the battle field in greater proportions than white officers. However, it is obvious that low income rank-and-file recruits would include a relatively high number of non-white soldiers and would be lost in battle proportionally. During the Vietnam war, the Defense Department was in such urgent need of soldiers (before the race-neutral draft lottery) they even had a secret program to enlist men with extremely low IQs (of all races). They were slaughtered. They were so incompetent that they shot and killed American soldiers by mistake and their commanders in the field begged the Pentagon to end the program. This is true, by the way, and not part of my sarcasm.
It did not seem sarcastic to me. I remember the Vietnam folly quite well including the not-so-neutral draft that favored $$ and connections. That is why I responded and said what I did. What you have confirmed is that sarcasm & serious criticisms are not that easy to discern these day on the internet machine.
I don't see how you couldn't see the sarcasm. Be that as it may, I'm glad you recognize the racially and low income-skewed infantries of the Vietnam war. As a general observation, if you believe that the military would never do that today, think again.
We’ve apparently not seen the same spectrum odd & bizarre things in comments intended to be serious (vigorously defended by the commenters). For instance, public policy should support natural selection - for the betterment of the species.
I read somewhere that Tuberville has unseated Boebert in the ‘most dumb Republican’ category. (I’d call it a volley, but that’s me.) Maybe I’ve missed it, but where are the heavy rebukes for Tuberville’s willingness to hold up military nominees? Any damage to the military is dereliction and his colleagues should be pressuring him to stop. This is worse than Ted Cruz holding up judges. We aren’t hearing enough MSM coverage of this.
Suddenly. . .it’s 1957 again! Thanks, Judd, for a full report on this social Luddite.
LoL I was born that year. Never as I have lived, did I dream 2016 would happen and here we are in 1957 again in just 7 years.
Tuberville=Traitor
I admit I don't know the ins and outs of our government, but how is it possible that one racist senator in Alabama is able to delay and hold up the process for military appointees? How does one senator have the power to hold this up? Also, it's clear as day this man is racist to his core. Not surprising the people of Alabama elected him, he stands for what they want. What a despicable human and it's a shame that he has any power at all. It's 2023. Enough of this nonsense
Its meentioned in the article but normally these positions can be conformed in mass by unanimous consent. Because he is refusing to consent, the senate would instead need to go through them 1 by 1, which would take many months to actually do. People on both sides do this kind of stuff all the time but it never gets to be this big or go on this long.
For the record, I am not defending him and believe he is the dumbest senator we have, just want to explain why he is able to do this.
I agree. I know this sort of stuff happens on both sides, but maybe we need to do away with this aspect. If all but one senator consent, it should move forward. How does the right claim to be for the people and love this country when they are currently the ones doing the most to disrupt standard procedure and weaken us at every turn? The left needs to get better at messaging. We currently suck at it and are too afraid to play the game. The right has no problem demonizing the left and we reply 'oh don't say that, that's not nice' and they continue to do it and win on the messaging front. Every Democrat in Alabama should be running ads that Tuberville hates America and doesn't support our troops. Tuberville wants a weakened military so that China can take over. These are the types of things the left needs to say. There are a LOT of stupid people out there that only read headlines and buzz words. Time for the left to play ball. If we dont, we will continue to lose. Whenever stuff like this holdup happens, it's basically a handshake agreement to not do it again in the future, and then the right does it again. Dems are dumb and don't have what it takes to go where they need to go on the messaging front.
I do think they should get rid of this rule but, as they tend to do, the Dems are too afraid of "breaking precedent" or losing losing this tool, despite it being the kind of thing thay shouldn't exist. It's basically a microcosm of the filibuster with even less historical precedent
And when they can’t get away with this they resort to things like the filibuster. They used to be secret and the public didn’t know who was behind weird things happening.
I did find the ‘explanation’ for how this works and why leadership reacts as it does. (Although I’m hoping McConnell in light of the white nationalism & other things can put some heat on Tuberville - like threaten his military related committee assignments.)
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R43563#:~:text=Senators%20place%20holds%20to%20accomplish,rests%20with%20the%20majority%20leader.
I voted for Doug Jones twice. The first time was when he ran against Roy Moore, and the second time when he ran against Tuberville. We're seriously out-numbered here. Many vote for anyone who has an R behind their name. We also still have straight party voting whereby you can check one box and you will automatically vote for every Republican on the ballot. Despite the futility, I still vote.
I think he’s re-election is due to the monetary contributions from the corporations Judd mentioned in the article. I don’t understand why they support him but I’m sure it’s self-serving.
The corporate world is always self-serving. They make public statements to impress the public w their moral position while paying lobbyists and politicians and committees to answer to their higher calling of profit, despite any political beliefs.
My dear old Daddy always said, "Stupid and Stubborn are a lethal combination." Turbeville is a prime example.
The money trails on these corporations are why that 2017 tax cut by the GOP Congress is a constant boil on the American behind. The big corporation has all the benefits and no one to answer to in the legislative branch because they grease so many pockets. Lately we have found our life appointee SCOTUS have members on the take.
Turbeville is an example of why we are tettering on the brink. He couldn't connect the dots on why military chain of command is important to US National Security if an Einstein held his hand and showed him which dots.
The years since Ronald Reagan have been a road to this point. You can no longer hope the best and brightest get elected because we know 74 million people voted for Trump in 2020. This is dot connecting. We know much of this chaos is caused by a lot of "We the People" an uninformed sect of voters influenced by lies, that result in fear, wrath and hysteria.
Please, everyone, Tuberville and others with his prejudice are not dumb about this issue--they KNOW what they're doing. He's holding the military hostage to force not allowing the military to help anyone getting an abortion or artificial insemination.
My bet is on a big donor with money influencing him.
Even other GOP are giving him heck about this. He is stubbornly holding out,
yes for abortion restrictions. He isn't smart enough to figure out National Security is much more
Important. He is MTG without the snarl.
Again how is any of this actually legal. I feel lied to about our Country and rule of law. It is so sad
Tuberville is a poisonous bag of wind in my opinion. Thus being harmful to the U.S. & it's citizen's, in particular people of any color other than white and given his overt racism & apparent fondness for white separatist/ nationalist/ racist groups ( some potentially rooted in terrorist notions), I feel strongly that his state should either recall him, if in their constitution to do so, or the senate should censure him for his racist comments & if possible remove him from his assignments. Given his " fondness " for trump, he's likely holding up promotions in the hopes that trump will somehow wangle a nod from the republican party for candidacy for a presidential run in 2024. If he were to somehow win, Tuberville would then load leadership roles with military ( or some facsimile) favorable to trump, leaving us ripe for a coup.. Unlikely trump will beat out his legal difficulties to obtain a nod; but let's look at absolute worst case scenarios for a moment.
As for Tuberville, his state, its folks in leadership roles in Alabama, and its citizens should be appalled by his actions overall. If leadership doesn't make a public statement/ outcry against his actions & his statements, then any U.S. citizen...white, of color & folks of any other nationality should think about giving the State of Alabama wide berth, in their travels for vacations or in general, when traveling South. Why give them your hard earned tax dollars for anything, when Tuberville is, on top of racist comments, holding up our military from giving out well deserved promotions for men & women who've fought & given blood & tears for this country. Regardless of color. I am frankly tired of these two faced, lying, forked tongue, maga republican aholes holding office & holding up/ OBSTRUCTING progress in America. STOP the b.s. political theater AND DO THE JOBS YOURE BEING paid to DO. WORKING ACROSS THE AISLE IS ONE OF THEM.
AS for the corporations supporting them troglodytes with their donations, ( Tuberville & the other obstructionists and " do nothings," ) perhaps their ceos & board members would like to receive bags of negative mail, calling them out on their duplicity & hypocrisy sent to their homes.
Frankly a lot of citizens in America are tired of the b.s. We've made some progress the last few years with President Biden in office & not a lot of help from obstructionist republicans; more progress than we'd seen when the master of chaos and seditionist, trump was in office.
Additionally, WE want to see the Supreme Court cleaned up & new, stronger ethics rules in place. So Supreme Court justices who violate them, either through questionable ethics violations before or now, can be ousted & replaced with justices who won't lie, serve selfish private interests, who've financially or otherwise enriched them or family members & won't violate their oaths. We need a balanced & ethical court who will obey the laws, our Constitution & restore justice & fairness for all. We're fed up. We're "mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!"
Tuberville, or not Tuberville. That is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind to endure ... eh screw it. No Tuberville. Strip him of his committee assignments and expel him from Congress.
How many forms of stupid and wrong does the Republican Party represent? Tuberville wins the prize today.
Doug Jones, who Tuberville defeated, prosecuted the men who bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963. Tells you all you need to know about Alabama and the GOP writ large.
Doug Jones is an incredible man. He's intelligent, considered, and a man of principal. He did such a good job in the Senate representing our state.
I want McConnell to threaten him with that - and work with Schumer to make it I a realistic threat. He sits on committees related to military issues. The white nationalism stuff should add should add more leverage.
I remain mystified that Alabama voters thought Mr Tuberville was a better choice than Doug Jones. Okay fine, I know politics is very tribal in some states, but former senator Jones distinguished himself in many ways, and did Alabama proud. What has Mr Tuberville done to help his constituents? In reality, his policy positions and his antics are hurting the very people he claims to serve. I'm equally mystified that Democrats haven't found a way to discredit him with Alabama voters (or with other Republican senators). Does Chuck Schumer have a plan for this? Does anyone? Sending angry tweets about Mr Tuberville is not a plan. Nor does expressing outrage on cable TV put an end to his shenanigans. Something needs to be done, before he does even more damage. But who will do it? And when?
You're so right! We voted for Doug Jones in our house, and we will continue to vote for him should he decide to run again. We've written to Tuberville, and received a basic form letter in response. Nowhere in that letter did he respond to our original concerns. Why? Because he knows he risks nothing by ignoring us. He only represents his donors.
white nationalists should not be in our military or police. They weaken the effectiveness of ANY organization. They are unAmercan. turberville is almost as loony as t rump.