Connect with us

News

Tuberville Refuses Responsibility but Says He’s Blocking 300 Military Promotions Because ‘We’re Not a Communist Country’

Published

on

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville‘s list of blocked military promotions has now reached over 300, he’s being rebuked by Democrats and Republicans alike, including GOP Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and now he’s refusing to take responsibility for the blockade while insisting he’s put the hold on hundreds of officers because “we’re not a communist country.”

The Alabama freshman Republican Senator, who single-handedly has been blocking the required Senate confirmations since February for what reportedly are now 319 promotions, says Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is to blame. He told Bloomberg News each military officer’s promotion takes two hours of voting by the Senate, which could take them up individually despite his block. Tuberville said voting on all the promotions would take “no time at all” to complete.

“I want to ask you another question about national security and the readiness,” a Bloomberg News reporter told Tuberville. “Though we do have at the moment a position that is affected by this, it has to do with a new task force when it comes to intercontinental ballistic missiles. There is a name that has been floated for a nomination and even if it is not that individual is to two star general position, which means the Senate would have to vote on it. Isn’t that quite concerning, given what we are seeing from the position of what’s happening in Russia and as well as what’s happening in Beijing?”

READ MORE: ‘Does He Think Everybody Is Stupid?’ Morning Joe Shreds Kevin McCarthy’s Reasons for Impeachment

“Yeah,” Sen. Tuberville responded, “it’s quite concerning. Bring him to the floor. And it take two hours to confirm it. I mean, that’s all I’m asking. Chuck Schumer needs to do his job. You know, when everything doesn’t go perfect for you. When I was in coaching, it’s not a perfect job. Things are gonna go wrong. You’re going to make adjustments, make this adjustment. Let’s bring them to the floor. We can do them every two hours. We can have these done in no time. They don’t want to do it. They do not want to do it.”

The Alabama Reflector notes, “voting on the 319 nominees would take hundreds of hours of floor time just as Congress must pass numerous bills to avert a government shutdown and lapses in federal programs before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.”

“Any attempt to blame the vacancies of these confirmed positions on Sen. Schumer is embarrassing,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said, according to the Reflector. “We don’t mind voting on people, but the implication is, ‘Why not vote on the top brass and just punish all the people below them?’ That seems to be the offer.”

Tuberville then lashed out at the Pentagon for discharging 8000 service members who refused to get vaccinated.

“They call readiness. How about the 8000 military people and their families that they ran out of the military because this vaccine mandate they pushed on ’em a year ago?” he asked Bloomberg News. “That’s what I talked about readiness. That’s what I call a travesty is when you run 8000 people out at one time because they won’t go by mandate that they pushed on the military.”

Tuberville has claimed his blockade is over the Pentagon’s post-Roe v. Wade policy of reimbursing service members for necessary out-of state travel to obtain abortion services. In his Bloomberg interview he said the policy came from “a memo from the White House.”

READ MORE: ‘Chaos Vibes’: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Mocks GOP After Gaetz Threatens McCarthy

“We’re not a communist country. Everything this made policy and law goes through Congress. And I told them that if you change it, I’m gonna block your admirals and generals. What at that time, there was one or two. Now we’re up to 300. I think they’re starting to believe me,” he bragged. “That meant what I said. And again, they could be clear in these nominations one at a time, two hours each. They don’t want to do that. Democrats have not been told no since they’ve been up here for two, two and a half, almost three years. Since the code. President Biden was elected. And now they can’t handle it, but we’re not gonna have any movement on my side. Unless they change this back and let’s vote on it. Let’s just vote on it. And if it passes, passes, done.”

“They have no clue of what this policy is,” Tuberville also said. “They just wanted to change it to let the American people know, ‘hey, we can do what we want to,’ and I’m not gonna allow them to do it. Now if they continue to do it. We’re gonna have the same people in places admirals and generals. Again, there’s no readiness problem. We got people in place that are doing their jobs, and sooner or later, I think they will start to come around but right now we’ve got a standoff.”

Last month NPR reported if Tuberville does not release his holds 650 military officers’ promotions may be “in limbo” by year’s end.

Watch short clip of Tuberville’s remarks below or at this link.

 

Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

Pete Buttigieg Nails Trump for His Ugly Comments About Wounded Vets

Published

on

During his Sunday morning appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called out Donald Trump over reports he told military leaders he didn’t want wounded vets to be seen by the public while he was president.

In a recent Atlantic profile of General Mark Milley, the retiring military office recounted the former president telling him “no one wants to see” wounded soldiers, with Milley adding he found Trump’s attitude to those serving their country “superficial, callous, and, at the deepest human level, repugnant.”

Buttigieg, who served in Afghanistan during his 8 years while in the Naval Reserve, was asked by CNN host Dana Bash about the former president’s apparent distaste for service members.

“I want to ask you about a new Atlantic profile that says that then President Trump complained to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley after an Army veteran who lost a leg in combat sang at an event at the Pentagon,” Bash prompted her guest. “Trump reportedly told Milley, ‘Why do you bring people like that here, no one wants to see that, the wounded.'”

“After that article came out, Trump attacked Milley on social media, kind of a rambling post, but suggested that milley deserved the death penalty. You’re a veteran– what’s your response?” she asked.

“It’s just the latest in a pattern of outrageous attacks on the people who keep the country safe,” the Biden administration official replied.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?

After pointing to fellow vets who suffered horrific injuries, he added, “These are the kind of people that deserve respect and a hell of a lot more than that from every American, and definitely from every American president.”

“And the idea that an American president, the person to whom service members look at as a commander in chief, and the person who sets the tone for this entire country could think that way or act that way or talk that way about anyone in uniform, and certainly about those who put their bodies on the line and sacrificed in ways that most Americans will never understand, and I guess wounded veterans make president Trump feel uncomfortable.”

Watch below or at the link.

 

 

Continue Reading

News

‘Scared to Death’: Trump’s Prison Panic Admission Means He Knows He’s Doomed Says Legal Expert

Published

on

Reacting to a report that Donald Trump has been quizzing his attorneys about what type of prison he likely will be sent to, former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner stated that is not only an indication that he knows he’s going to be convicted but also an admission of guilt.

Speaking with MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart, the attorney was asked about a recent Rolling Stone report about Trump’s prison panic.

As Rolling Stone reported, Trump asked if he’s “be sent to a ‘club fed’ style prison — a place that’s relatively comfortable, as far these things go — or a ‘bad’ prison? Would he serve out a sentence in a plush home confinement? Would government officials try to strip him of his lifetime Secret Service protections? What would they make him wear, if his enemies actually did ever get him in a cell — an unprecedented set of consequences for a former leader of the free world.”

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?

According to the attorney, Trump is revealing himself by asking for so many details.

“What does this tell you about Trump’s mindset?” host Capehart asked.

“It tells me he is scared to death” Kirschner quickly answered. “It tells me he has overwhelming consciousness of guilt because he knows what he did wrong and he knows he is about to be held accountable for his crimes. So it is not surprising that he is obsessing.”

“If he was confident that he would be completely exonerated, would he have to obsess about what his future time in prison might look like?” he suggested. “I think the last refuge for Donald Trump can be seen in a recent post where he urged the Republicans to defund essentially the prosecutions against him. which, to this prosecutor, Jonathan, smells a lot like an attempt to obstruct justice.”

Watch below or at the link.

 

Image via Shutterstock

Continue Reading

News

‘Vulgar and Lewd’: Trump Judge Cites Extremist Group to Allow Drag Show Ban

Published

on

A federal judge in Texas known for a ruling that attempted to ban a widely-used abortion drug is citing an extremist anti-LGBTQ group in his ruling allowing a ban on drag shows to stay in place.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a former attorney for an anti-LGBTQ conservative Christian legal organization, and a member of the Federalist Society, in his 26-page ruling dated Thursday cited the “About” page of Gays Against Groomers to claim, “it’s unclear how drag shows unmistakably communicate advocacy for LGBT rights.”

Judge Kacsmaryk, appointed by Donald Trump twice before finally assuming office in 2019, suggests the First Amendment does not provide for freedom of expression for drag shows, calls drag “sexualized conduct,” and says it is “more regulable” because “children are in the audience.”

READ MORE: ‘The Public Deserves to Know’: Abortion Pill Banning Judge Redacted Details About Millions of Dollars in His Stock Portfolio

Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern adds, “Kacsmaryk’s conclusion that drag is probably NOT protected by the First Amendment conflicts with decisions from Texas, Florida, Tennessee, and Montana which held that drag is constitutionally protected expression. It also bristles with undisguised hostility toward LGBTQ people.”

Calling the judge “a proud Christian nationalist who flatly refuses to apply binding Supreme Court precedent when it conflicts with his extremist far-right beliefs,” Stern at Slate writes that Kacsmaryk ruled drag “may be outlawed to protect ‘the sexual exploitation and abuse of children.’ In short, he concluded that drag fails to convey a message, while explaining all the reasons why he’s offended by the message it conveys.”

Stern does not let Kacsmaryk off the hook there.

“From almost any other judge, the ruling in Spectrum WT v. Wendler would be a shocking rejection of basic free speech principles; from Kacsmaryk, it’s par for the course. This is, after all, the judge who sought to ban medication abortion nationwide, restricted minors’ access to birth control, seize control over border policy to exclude asylum-seekers, and flouted recent precedent protecting LGBTQ+ equality,” Stern says.

READ MORE: Far-Right Judge Under Fire for Failing to Disclose Interviews on Civil Rights – but LGBTQ Community Had Warned Senators

“He is also poised to bankrupt Planned Parenthood by compelling them to pay a $1.8 billion penalty on truly ludicrous grounds. And he is not the only Trump-appointed judge substituting his reactionary beliefs for legal analysis. We have reached a point where these lawless decisions are not only predictable but inevitable, and they show no sign of stopping: Their authors are still just settling into a decadeslong service in the federal judiciary.”

West Texas A&M University President Walter V. Wendler penned the letter that sparked the lawsuit.

Titled, “A Harmless Drag Show? No Such Thing,” Wendler wrote: “I believe every human being is created in the image of God and, therefore, a person of dignity. Being created in God’s image is the basis of Natural Law. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, prisoners of the culture of their time as are we, declared the Creator’s origin as the foundational fiber in the fabric of our nation as they breathed life into it. Does a drag show preserve a single thread of human dignity? I think not.”

Journalist Chris Geidner concludes, “It’s an extremely biased ruling by a judge who has established that he does not care about being overturned — even by the most conservative appeals court in the nation.”

READ MORE: ‘Corruption of the Highest Order’: Experts ‘Sickened’ at ‘Definitely Bought’ Clarence Thomas and His ‘Pay to Play’ Lifestyle

 

 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.