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Dick Storey
I have posted about this self-focused senator before. Here is more:
Politico website
By Joe Gould and Connor O’Brien
11/03/2023 02:57 PM EDT
Republicans have had it with Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s nine-month blockade of military promotions. And after publicly putting pressure on the Alabama Republican to lift his hold on hundreds of officers, GOP senators are plotting new ways to break the impasse.
During a special meeting planned for next week, some will ask Tuberville to focus his obstruction on only the Pentagon’s civilian nominees and not uniformed officers who have nothing to do with the policy he’s protesting. Others want to shift the fight to the courts to challenge the policy at the center of the hold, which reimburses troops who have to travel to obtain abortions and other reproductive services.
Democrats, meanwhile, are devising their own ways to get around the blockade, and are hoping the GOP frustration they see will push Republicans to support their idea.
The deadlock reached a dramatic and very public phase when a cadre of GOP senators confronted Tuberville on the Senate floor Wednesday night, blaming the Alabama lawmaker’s blanket hold for weakening the military at a precarious moment for the world.
The four-hour-plus event, which forced Tuberville to object to votes on 61 nominees, marked a pivotal moment for Republicans as their private frustrations with the freshman lawmaker spilled over onto live TV for all to see.
“I think what it says about where things are is Tommy’s losing support,” Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said of the Republican-on-Republican fight. “And you’re seeing the frustration build up because the consequences are building up.”
And while the attempt was doomed — those Republicans knew Tuberville wouldn’t budge — it’s also made some Senate Democrats optimistic that enough GOP members will join their push to confirm most of the promotions in one big bloc.
While it’s not yet clear whether Republicans are ready to go beyond speeches and take action to defang Tuberville’s hold, which is rooted in opposition to abortion policies they oppose, it was a stunning moment for a chamber that rarely sees senators go after members of their own party.
(and so on............)
MORE from The New Republic website
Tommy Tuberville Isn’t Racist, He’s Just Dumb, Say Republicans
In a new report, Alabama Republicans tried to defend Tommy Tuberville. It didn’t exactly work.
Tori Otten/
November 3, 2023/11:28 a.m. ET
Senator Tommy Tuberville’s ongoing blockade of military promotions has united his fellow Republicans around two facts: His actions are wrong, and he might not be all that smart.
Tuberville has blocked nearly 400 military promotions in protest against the Defense Department policy of reimbursing travel costs for service members who have to travel out of state for an abortion. The Pentagon has repeatedly warned that the block harms military readiness, but Tuberville refuses to budge.
But his own words shouldn’t be taken as a sign that Tuberville is racist, multiple Alabama Republicans told Rolling Stone in a report published Friday. Instead, it should be interpreted as a sign that Tuberville is a blockhead.
“I do not believe that Tommy Tuberville is a racist at all,” one of them said, speaking anonymously. “I really believe that maybe he doesn’t have an understanding of the English language.”
An Alabama Republican lobbyist, also speaking anonymously, separately praised Tuberville’s political skills as “very underestimated.”
“It’s his policy skills where the jury is still out,” the lobbyist told Rolling Stone.
Tuberville’s stunt has dragged on so long that other Republican senators have turned on him. They pleaded with him to approve individual promotion nominations Thursday night, taking to the floor to berate him when he tanked 61 nominations.
The most scathing rebukes came from Dan Sullivan, who called Tuberville’s belief that he wasn’t damaging military readiness “ridiculous” and “patently absurd.”
“How dumb can we be, man?” Sullivan demanded.
One of the biggest ironies of the situation is that Tuberville often says he ran for Senate so he could give back to the U.S. just like his father, who served in the military. Instead, Tuberville is single-handedly wreaking havoc on the military—and may have massively embellished his father’s military record.
In fact, earlier this year, the Alabama Republican argued that the real source of damage to military readiness is the department refusing to allow white nationalists to serve. Tuberville still seems to struggle to accept that white nationalists are, by definition, racist.
Finally, from USA Today website:
Tori Otten/
November 3, 2023/11:28 a.m. ET
We knew Tommy Tuberville was incompetent, but insulting leader of the Marines is galling
Sen. Tommy Tuberville's arrogance in comparing his former job as a football coach to the life-and-death decisions faced by Gen. Eric Smith is truly stunning.
Tommy Tuberville’s incompetence would be laughable if it wasn’t so dangerous. And, now, offensive.
Not content with hamstringing the military by holding up promotions, the Republican senator from Alabama has stooped to insulting high-ranking officers, too, having the audacity to liken the stress a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff faces with what he endured as a college football coach.
You read that right. Tuberville thinks working 18 hours a day drawing up defensive schemes and mucking up his offensive coordinator’s game plan is comparable to the 18-plus hours a day Gen. Eric Smith was working to protect the United States, our allies and, most importantly, the young men and women who serve.
Smith, who is both the No. 1 and No. 2 person at the U.S. Marine Corps because of Tuberville’s performative antics, was hospitalized Sunday after an apparent heart attack.
“He’s got 2,000 people who work for him, OK? And somebody said he’s working 18 hours a day. Jack Reed blamed me for his heart attack,” Tuberville said Thursday, referring to the Rhode Island senator who, unlike Tuberville, knows a little about the demands of military service after being a platoon leader, company commander and battalion officer during eight years of active duty in the U.S. Army.
“Come on, give me a break,” Tuberville continued. “This guy’s going to work 18, 20 hours a day no matter what. That’s what we do. You know, I did that for years because you’ve got to get the job done.”
Ah yes. The life-and-death decisions Smith has to make are exactly the same as what Tuberville faced when he had third-and-eight in the red zone and was trailing by five. Or needed to hire a new running backs coach.
Yep. Exactly the same.
Tuberville’s arrogance in comparing his former job to that of Smith’s doesn’t come as a surprise, sadly. This is someone who had the hubris to think he was up to the task of being a U.S. Senator despite no previous record of public service. And no, being a football coach at a public university doesn’t count, even in SEC country.
And so on.............
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