" within the ranks of Congress, “there’s felons galore, there’s people with all sorts of shystie backgrounds.” ' When can we have a government that isnt a total embarrassment? Between Santos and Tuberville, we've lost our way. Santos is a criminal and Tommy is putting America in harms way, and seems to be proud of it. 🤦♀️ Any veteran or member of the military who would cast a vote for a Republican needs to have their head examined.
I would hazard a guess that a large portion of military vets are still old white dudes so it's actually not surprising. I mean I could be wrong but I would place money on it. Still doesn't mean they shouldn't have their head examined though
I worked with veterans for 8 years in a healthcare setting. Their preferred "news" channel is FOX. And the VA where I worked had ALL the public TVs on FOX. Some of us started turning the TVs off as we went by or changed the channel. "Leadership," acting quickly for a bureaucracy, posted signs telling us we could not TOUCH the TVs. The VA where I worked was blatantly political (and, in addition, one particular religion was favored and the majority of promotions and bonuses went to people of that religion). Since it is a volunteer army, the recruits are nowhere near the "cream of the crop." My behavioral health unit was the residential PTSD/substance use disorder unit. Nurses were expected to do nursing education. Unless they were officers, your average veteran could not write a complete sentence with proper spelling, punctuation, and logical thinking to save their lives. Most of them could not watch a film (example: Stand By Me) where PTSD was part of the film and then draw parallels between their PTSD and the PTSD in the film.
Also, the South (educationally ranked lower than the rest of the country) provides a disproportionate share of military rank and file. And most of the vets who went through my unit, sadly, were in their early twenties to early fifties. Not "old white dudes." Think Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq.
My nephew is in the military and a supporter of the traitor. I know he could care less about abortion but I automatically assume that he’s okay with Tuberville’s antics. Maybe I’m wrong about that but I don’t know.
As a proud daughter whose father served 23 years in the Navy during WWII and the Korean War I’m disgusted by Senator Redneck. Does anyone else recall how he lied about his own father’s service? For almost a month now I’ve been calling his DC office (202-224-4124) without success since his mailbox is “full”. Apparently he’s so awful he can’t even get any young interns to answer his phone calls. Our military deserves so much better than a lousy football coach who was probably too afraid to actually serve his country.
When I lived in Texas we had a representative like that, named, ironically enough, John Carter, who was no action hero. He was one of those guys who spends all his time with his feet on his desk, and who blocked me on Facebook for calling him out, very politely (for real, no sarcasm intended), for his disappearing act when it came to constituents.
"Opposing the resolution, however, pits GOP senators against the military, which they have traditionally supported without reservation."
These GOP d-bags just need to listen to a read-back of what their leader tRump thinks about the military, about veterans, about wounded soldiers, and about those killed in wars, and particularly tRump's call for the death penalty for former CJCS General Milley..."support without reservation" - LOL!
"Perhaps more deeply, many GOP senators are worried that a “yes” vote will make them targets of Heritage Action, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation, which has backed Tuberville ."
Oh, the Heritage Foundation, the same hypocrites who invented RomneyCare (including the mandate), which begat ObamaCare, and then turned against it when a brown-skinned man tried to adopt it as a compromise to a much better national health plan? That Heritage Foundation?
Re: Tuberville -- his blockade of military appointments and promotions is not about abortion. He is a far-right MAGA insurrectionist who is hoping Trump will resume the presidency (note I do NOT say "will be re-elected") and his blockade could provide Trump with the opportunity to pack the upper echelons of the military with "my generals". As Trump learned in 2020, you can't mount a successful coup without the support of the military.
There is this fear, yes. His staffers are among the Bannonite types that would see this opportunity and exploit it. I have no direct evidence for this, however.
Why does everyone seem to tap dance around the obvious? Heritage foundation is the Republican Party, is Project 2025, is a full on Christo-fascist authoritarian regime intent on destroying democracy. Tuberville is definitely holding these appointments up for his hopeful ‘dear leader’ who has claimed he will declare an insurrection and turn the military on any groups protesting his return to office. They keep telling us who they are and what they are going to do. Please take it seriously.
As a journalist and legal expert it's very understandable that Jay needs to focus on what he knows to be true and that can be proven. I do appreciate that he's leaving the door open in his writings for the very real likelihood that Tuberville's goal has nothing to do with abortions. Learning more about Project 2025 and seeing all around me at the citizen level (I live in Idaho and my mother's a christian nationalist) convinced me. Once you see it, you can't not anymore. There are SO many working together for a 2025 takeover and carrying the belief they are "saving America". 🤢
I understand that as a journalist/writer/responsible commentator you would of course need hard evidence to assert this. But it is a bit of an Occam's razor thing - Tuberville going to the mattresses over preventing abortion health care just doesn't make enough sense. The simpler idea is to take a hard and clear look at what he is ACTUALLY accomplishing - he is single-handedly crippling the military. WHY would he do that? I will say it again: you cannot mount a successful coup without the military. Trump was enraged that "his generals" came out publicly against using the military to seize voting machines and quell protests. You might not be able to say this in writing, but WE can!!
Amen. You nailed it. The abortion issue is convenient camouflage for Tuberville, a useful idiot for the christo-fascists who has had his nose stuck up Inmate P01135809's backside from the get-go. For further context, see Project 2025.
I wonder how many of these Herr Pumpkinfuhrer supporters have really read, for example, the history of Hitler’s rise to power. Because an awful lot of his supporters ended up dead. And the orange one wouldn’t blink an eye.
- any or all of the above but figure their beloved will not take away any of THEIR rights (isn't that what it's all about?) or throw them under the bus.
If one single Senator, one without any seniority or position of leadership, can hamper military and defense readiness, we are a stupid nation. For all we know he is getting promises from our enemies. A traitor. This has gone on for much too long to be treated as normal.
This should be a loudly and constant refrain: the GOP is making us less safe.
Mayhaps some Republicans will be yanked by their britches from the mouth of dissonantly prideful yet petty salt defeat, is, speaking of petty, we may hopefully parade wave the unrighteously indignant Kitara off the floor. Meow.
This one would not and didn't the first time around either. Thing is, there are few Democrats running for public office. When presented with an option of Mo Brooks and a presumed non-crazy person like Tuberville, who would you want to go with? Roy Moore?? Or let's go with Jeff Sessions again?
It would be nice if Dems wouldn't give up on states like Alabama. Republicans are masters at setting the narrative. Most rural voters in Alabama, l assume, like those here in Georgia, would actually vote for most of the policies Dems favor if they were put as line items on a ballot.
How do you foresee the Tuberville hold on US Military promotions playing out? Is compromise even possible?? Do you feel he's trying to hold the positions open for a possible Trump presidency, as some have suggested?
I don't think it's just military positions that are being held up, is it? Didn't Steve Bannon outline a comprehensive plan to fill the government with MAGAts if he gets a second term so that he isn't burdened like he was in his first term by people with morals? This whole Tumberville thing feels like a part of that plan.
Yes. You cannot have a successful coup without support of the military. Trump and his fellow insurrectionists learned this the first time around. Tuberville is trying to hold open these high level positions so Trump loyalists can be appointed should Trump re-take the White House.
"Funding abortion tourism"? Oh, yeah. Many pregnant members of the United States armed forces indulge in recreational abortions, just for the fun of it. Riiiight.
You wrote: “The military currently reimburses women who must travel out of state to receive abortion services, and it it is this policy that Tuberville claims is motivating his total blockade.”
If that is true, then those women were given a physician recommendation that has to do with risks to the woman’s health or because of a nonviable pregnancy. The military doctors are highly constrained from involvement with abortion under federal law. Secondly, dependents don’t qualify for reimbursement for travel, etc. Thirdly, it would be a HIPPA violation to require divulging medical information, so I’d like to know just what Tuberville’s accusations are based upon. He makes assertions about a situation that, in and of itself, is not common at all. I call BS and I say he’s lying. He’s a chaos-agent who is subverting governance with the intent to weaken the military. He is violating his oath to service with fraudulent accusations.
I can see instances where female soldiers might need or want to have an abortion ( outside of the risk to mother's health or baby in trouble situations). Just like any other female U. S. citizen they might just want the right to choose. If they are deployed at the time of a pregnancy or perhaps stationed at a facility in a state with draconian anti abortion laws they would need to travel to obtain a safe elective abortion. I think this is the crowd Tuberville is after abusing here. He wants to make an example and since he cannot wipe out state's rights he's going after what he hopes he can control - the money to facilitate a woman's right to choose. Once an abuser always an abuser...
But to ask the military to pay travel and per diem for a procedure that is not related to exceptions like rape, incest, risk to the mother’s health or a nonviable fetus? There is no way the military simply pays for travel expenses re: abortion that are not health-related and without the advice of a physician. These women have military careers--they aren’t using their benefits for grifting--like Tuberville.
Military heath care includes necessary abortion for things like health of the mother or nonviable fetuses. Why would she have to travel for that kind of health care - if not because she was stationed at a facility within a state ir country where elective abortion was absolutely forbidden?? No implication that female soldiers are grifters was ever made. Abortion is an elective procedure whether one likes it or not - no matter whether there are good medical reasons to choose abortion. Further, some women just do not wish to bear a child at a particular time or in a particular circumstance - if ever. Birth control is not 100% effective unless we are talking about sterilization or abstinence.
Let’s pretend that Tuberville is not lying--just for a moment. Then it begs the question of :
1. Hippa violations;
2. What is the INCIDENCE of the accusations? What would cause a Significant incidence of women requiring abortions due to health concerns or fetal viability? Are military service personnel being exposed to environmental toxins? Or--are female service personnel regularly exposed to rape and sexual violence?
3. Is Tuberville engaged in a cover up to protect root causes of frequent need for abortion in military personnel? He has thrown out serious accusations with criminal implications of military physicians/ practitioners.
In addition to my previous rant there’s this from yesterday.
“A panel of federal judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held in a 2-1 ruling that private plaintiffs can no longer bring lawsuits under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which prohibits racial discrimination in voting.”
How do you suppose, the handpicked by the Heritage Foundation, SCOTUS judges will rule on this? If the major components of Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 occur, we will no longer have an independent DOJ and they will have no interest in protecting the people from violations of the Voting Rights Act. With this new ruling individuals and organizations like ACLU and SPLC will not be able to bring lawsuits regarding violations of the Voting Rights Act. People will have no avenue for redress.
In addition they will not be allowed to protest without a Trump (or other Republican president) declaring insurrection and brought down by a loyalist military, again handpicked by Heritage Foundation not on merit, but on fealty. All this, thanks in no small part, to Tuberville’s holding up of some 450 top brass military appointments.
Oh no!! I was so hoping that the 8th Circuit would rule properly and save whatever small part remains of the Voting Rights Act. And yes indeed, what expectations, if any, do have for the SCOTUS judges to do the right thing? Just terrible!
"Heritage Action" for all purposes the enforcement providers for Project 2025 needs to be exposed to the Public at large in greater detail than ever before.
The military are being used as a political football. The legitimate needs and much deserved support are treated in appalling fashion- with both injury and insult. Thank you for your service, indeed.
" within the ranks of Congress, “there’s felons galore, there’s people with all sorts of shystie backgrounds.” ' When can we have a government that isnt a total embarrassment? Between Santos and Tuberville, we've lost our way. Santos is a criminal and Tommy is putting America in harms way, and seems to be proud of it. 🤦♀️ Any veteran or member of the military who would cast a vote for a Republican needs to have their head examined.
"Any veteran or member of the military who would cast of vote for a Republican needs to have their head examined"
Analysis of the 2022 elections showed ca. 59% of military vets voting Repub...read it and weep.
Trump called our military suckers and losers. Any military personnel who votes for trump agrees with him.
I would hazard a guess that a large portion of military vets are still old white dudes so it's actually not surprising. I mean I could be wrong but I would place money on it. Still doesn't mean they shouldn't have their head examined though
I worked with veterans for 8 years in a healthcare setting. Their preferred "news" channel is FOX. And the VA where I worked had ALL the public TVs on FOX. Some of us started turning the TVs off as we went by or changed the channel. "Leadership," acting quickly for a bureaucracy, posted signs telling us we could not TOUCH the TVs. The VA where I worked was blatantly political (and, in addition, one particular religion was favored and the majority of promotions and bonuses went to people of that religion). Since it is a volunteer army, the recruits are nowhere near the "cream of the crop." My behavioral health unit was the residential PTSD/substance use disorder unit. Nurses were expected to do nursing education. Unless they were officers, your average veteran could not write a complete sentence with proper spelling, punctuation, and logical thinking to save their lives. Most of them could not watch a film (example: Stand By Me) where PTSD was part of the film and then draw parallels between their PTSD and the PTSD in the film.
Also, the South (educationally ranked lower than the rest of the country) provides a disproportionate share of military rank and file. And most of the vets who went through my unit, sadly, were in their early twenties to early fifties. Not "old white dudes." Think Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq.
*sigh
I have family in this category 😵💫🤯
My estranged brother is a vet with PTSD who has had his head examined and he STILL votes MAGA! 😡
My nephew is in the military and a supporter of the traitor. I know he could care less about abortion but I automatically assume that he’s okay with Tuberville’s antics. Maybe I’m wrong about that but I don’t know.
He’s obviously getting paid to put every American in danger.
As a proud daughter whose father served 23 years in the Navy during WWII and the Korean War I’m disgusted by Senator Redneck. Does anyone else recall how he lied about his own father’s service? For almost a month now I’ve been calling his DC office (202-224-4124) without success since his mailbox is “full”. Apparently he’s so awful he can’t even get any young interns to answer his phone calls. Our military deserves so much better than a lousy football coach who was probably too afraid to actually serve his country.
When I lived in Texas we had a representative like that, named, ironically enough, John Carter, who was no action hero. He was one of those guys who spends all his time with his feet on his desk, and who blocked me on Facebook for calling him out, very politely (for real, no sarcasm intended), for his disappearing act when it came to constituents.
"Opposing the resolution, however, pits GOP senators against the military, which they have traditionally supported without reservation."
These GOP d-bags just need to listen to a read-back of what their leader tRump thinks about the military, about veterans, about wounded soldiers, and about those killed in wars, and particularly tRump's call for the death penalty for former CJCS General Milley..."support without reservation" - LOL!
But they are ALL maga now.
And they are all d-bags as well.
That is an extremely offensive remark. No d-bag wants to be compared to MAGA morons!😉
"Perhaps more deeply, many GOP senators are worried that a “yes” vote will make them targets of Heritage Action, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation, which has backed Tuberville ."
Oh, the Heritage Foundation, the same hypocrites who invented RomneyCare (including the mandate), which begat ObamaCare, and then turned against it when a brown-skinned man tried to adopt it as a compromise to a much better national health plan? That Heritage Foundation?
https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/national-health-system-america
EDIT: I included the wrong link in my original post.
Re: Tuberville -- his blockade of military appointments and promotions is not about abortion. He is a far-right MAGA insurrectionist who is hoping Trump will resume the presidency (note I do NOT say "will be re-elected") and his blockade could provide Trump with the opportunity to pack the upper echelons of the military with "my generals". As Trump learned in 2020, you can't mount a successful coup without the support of the military.
There is this fear, yes. His staffers are among the Bannonite types that would see this opportunity and exploit it. I have no direct evidence for this, however.
Why does everyone seem to tap dance around the obvious? Heritage foundation is the Republican Party, is Project 2025, is a full on Christo-fascist authoritarian regime intent on destroying democracy. Tuberville is definitely holding these appointments up for his hopeful ‘dear leader’ who has claimed he will declare an insurrection and turn the military on any groups protesting his return to office. They keep telling us who they are and what they are going to do. Please take it seriously.
As a journalist and legal expert it's very understandable that Jay needs to focus on what he knows to be true and that can be proven. I do appreciate that he's leaving the door open in his writings for the very real likelihood that Tuberville's goal has nothing to do with abortions. Learning more about Project 2025 and seeing all around me at the citizen level (I live in Idaho and my mother's a christian nationalist) convinced me. Once you see it, you can't not anymore. There are SO many working together for a 2025 takeover and carrying the belief they are "saving America". 🤢
I understand that as a journalist/writer/responsible commentator you would of course need hard evidence to assert this. But it is a bit of an Occam's razor thing - Tuberville going to the mattresses over preventing abortion health care just doesn't make enough sense. The simpler idea is to take a hard and clear look at what he is ACTUALLY accomplishing - he is single-handedly crippling the military. WHY would he do that? I will say it again: you cannot mount a successful coup without the military. Trump was enraged that "his generals" came out publicly against using the military to seize voting machines and quell protests. You might not be able to say this in writing, but WE can!!
Yes WE can! 😊
"If it walks like a duck...etc., etc."
Sometimes we can work off circumstantial evidence to build our case.
Amen. You nailed it. The abortion issue is convenient camouflage for Tuberville, a useful idiot for the christo-fascists who has had his nose stuck up Inmate P01135809's backside from the get-go. For further context, see Project 2025.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_2025
I feel exactly the same way Carol and was wondering, could this go on for another year?
Rand Paul and the diplomatic post appointments are being held up as well.
It gets harder and harder to not think there is an agenda on the part of MAGAts for the return of trump.
Who said, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean someone isn't out to get you"?
I wonder how many of these Herr Pumpkinfuhrer supporters have really read, for example, the history of Hitler’s rise to power. Because an awful lot of his supporters ended up dead. And the orange one wouldn’t blink an eye.
My guess - zip.
Or
- read and didn't understand it,
- read, but not about the endgame history
- any or all of the above but figure their beloved will not take away any of THEIR rights (isn't that what it's all about?) or throw them under the bus.
Yepp
If one single Senator, one without any seniority or position of leadership, can hamper military and defense readiness, we are a stupid nation. For all we know he is getting promises from our enemies. A traitor. This has gone on for much too long to be treated as normal.
This should be a loudly and constant refrain: the GOP is making us less safe.
Question: which of our enemies want this.
Mayhaps some Republicans will be yanked by their britches from the mouth of dissonantly prideful yet petty salt defeat, is, speaking of petty, we may hopefully parade wave the unrighteously indignant Kitara off the floor. Meow.
Fun question: does Tuberville live in Florida although he is representing Alabama? How is this OK?
Alabama voters would vote for him if he lived in Irkutsk.
This one would not and didn't the first time around either. Thing is, there are few Democrats running for public office. When presented with an option of Mo Brooks and a presumed non-crazy person like Tuberville, who would you want to go with? Roy Moore?? Or let's go with Jeff Sessions again?
It would be nice if Dems wouldn't give up on states like Alabama. Republicans are masters at setting the narrative. Most rural voters in Alabama, l assume, like those here in Georgia, would actually vote for most of the policies Dems favor if they were put as line items on a ballot.
How do you foresee the Tuberville hold on US Military promotions playing out? Is compromise even possible?? Do you feel he's trying to hold the positions open for a possible Trump presidency, as some have suggested?
I don't think it's just military positions that are being held up, is it? Didn't Steve Bannon outline a comprehensive plan to fill the government with MAGAts if he gets a second term so that he isn't burdened like he was in his first term by people with morals? This whole Tumberville thing feels like a part of that plan.
I can’t say it’s intentionally part of the plan, but the effect would be the same if it were allowed to persist.
EXACTLY!
Yes. You cannot have a successful coup without support of the military. Trump and his fellow insurrectionists learned this the first time around. Tuberville is trying to hold open these high level positions so Trump loyalists can be appointed should Trump re-take the White House.
"Funding abortion tourism"? Oh, yeah. Many pregnant members of the United States armed forces indulge in recreational abortions, just for the fun of it. Riiiight.
You wrote: “The military currently reimburses women who must travel out of state to receive abortion services, and it it is this policy that Tuberville claims is motivating his total blockade.”
If that is true, then those women were given a physician recommendation that has to do with risks to the woman’s health or because of a nonviable pregnancy. The military doctors are highly constrained from involvement with abortion under federal law. Secondly, dependents don’t qualify for reimbursement for travel, etc. Thirdly, it would be a HIPPA violation to require divulging medical information, so I’d like to know just what Tuberville’s accusations are based upon. He makes assertions about a situation that, in and of itself, is not common at all. I call BS and I say he’s lying. He’s a chaos-agent who is subverting governance with the intent to weaken the military. He is violating his oath to service with fraudulent accusations.
I can see instances where female soldiers might need or want to have an abortion ( outside of the risk to mother's health or baby in trouble situations). Just like any other female U. S. citizen they might just want the right to choose. If they are deployed at the time of a pregnancy or perhaps stationed at a facility in a state with draconian anti abortion laws they would need to travel to obtain a safe elective abortion. I think this is the crowd Tuberville is after abusing here. He wants to make an example and since he cannot wipe out state's rights he's going after what he hopes he can control - the money to facilitate a woman's right to choose. Once an abuser always an abuser...
But to ask the military to pay travel and per diem for a procedure that is not related to exceptions like rape, incest, risk to the mother’s health or a nonviable fetus? There is no way the military simply pays for travel expenses re: abortion that are not health-related and without the advice of a physician. These women have military careers--they aren’t using their benefits for grifting--like Tuberville.
Military heath care includes necessary abortion for things like health of the mother or nonviable fetuses. Why would she have to travel for that kind of health care - if not because she was stationed at a facility within a state ir country where elective abortion was absolutely forbidden?? No implication that female soldiers are grifters was ever made. Abortion is an elective procedure whether one likes it or not - no matter whether there are good medical reasons to choose abortion. Further, some women just do not wish to bear a child at a particular time or in a particular circumstance - if ever. Birth control is not 100% effective unless we are talking about sterilization or abstinence.
Let’s pretend that Tuberville is not lying--just for a moment. Then it begs the question of :
1. Hippa violations;
2. What is the INCIDENCE of the accusations? What would cause a Significant incidence of women requiring abortions due to health concerns or fetal viability? Are military service personnel being exposed to environmental toxins? Or--are female service personnel regularly exposed to rape and sexual violence?
3. Is Tuberville engaged in a cover up to protect root causes of frequent need for abortion in military personnel? He has thrown out serious accusations with criminal implications of military physicians/ practitioners.
One would think there are thousands of military personnel trying to get abortions evey year. The number is closer to 15.
In addition to my previous rant there’s this from yesterday.
“A panel of federal judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held in a 2-1 ruling that private plaintiffs can no longer bring lawsuits under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which prohibits racial discrimination in voting.”
How do you suppose, the handpicked by the Heritage Foundation, SCOTUS judges will rule on this? If the major components of Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 occur, we will no longer have an independent DOJ and they will have no interest in protecting the people from violations of the Voting Rights Act. With this new ruling individuals and organizations like ACLU and SPLC will not be able to bring lawsuits regarding violations of the Voting Rights Act. People will have no avenue for redress.
In addition they will not be allowed to protest without a Trump (or other Republican president) declaring insurrection and brought down by a loyalist military, again handpicked by Heritage Foundation not on merit, but on fealty. All this, thanks in no small part, to Tuberville’s holding up of some 450 top brass military appointments.
Oh no!! I was so hoping that the 8th Circuit would rule properly and save whatever small part remains of the Voting Rights Act. And yes indeed, what expectations, if any, do have for the SCOTUS judges to do the right thing? Just terrible!
"Heritage Action" for all purposes the enforcement providers for Project 2025 needs to be exposed to the Public at large in greater detail than ever before.
Heritage Action is a terrorist group.
The military are being used as a political football. The legitimate needs and much deserved support are treated in appalling fashion- with both injury and insult. Thank you for your service, indeed.