Tommy Tuberville’s success as a football coach propelled him into the U.S. Senate, and that’s a problem, because he’s dumber than a box of rocks.
Sen. Tuberville (R-AL) has slapped a hold on high-ranking military promotions because he doesn’t like Pentagon abortion policies.
The defense secretary says that could hurt military readiness (see story here). It’s also grossly unfair to military officers who have dedicated their lives to a career in the military services, have loyally served our country, and have spent decades working their way up the career ladder; and now their promotion to general or admiral is held up by a single senator over policies they have no say about.
Tuberville’s attempt to force changes to the Pentagon’s abortion policies will fail because there’s a workaround. Putting a hold on nominations only slows the process, it doesn’t stop it; instead of approving them in batches, the Senate now has to vote on each one individually.
That takes time away from other important national business, and delays moving these officers into positions where they’re needed. Top military jobs are assigned a rank, and the Pentagon can’t put a colonel into a brigadier general’s job, or a brigadier general into a major general’s job. That would disrupt the command structure.
This isn’t about whether you agree or disagree with Tuberville’s position on abortion. It isn’t even about the fact we’re a democracy, and in a democracy, one senator out of a hundred doesn’t get to dictate policy. It’s about bad judgment and picking your fights. Many other GOP senators also disagree with the Pentagon’s abortion policy, but you don’t see them doing this. There are other and better ways to pursue the policies they want.
So why is Tuberville doing it? Because he’s stupid. This is bull-in-china-shop stuff. He was a talented football coach, but has no political intelligence. I would argue he’s too stupid to be a senator, but that’s up to the voters of Alabama. You get what you vote for, and they elected someone who breaks things, instead of supporting our military and national defense.