Rhetoric aside, it is chilling that a sitting Senator would take such a step and we should all be concerned about what this could lead to.
Today it’s Tuberville’s hold on nominations for non-military political reasons. Maybe tomorrow it’s the Armed Services committees treating these appointments and promotions like judicial nominations. All of a sudden, you effectively have de-facto political appointments for in-the-ranks military leadership, and U.S. politics is far scarier than it’s ever been.
Sure, I’m committing a slippery slope fallacy here, but given the track record of our political leaders to cause institutional decay with zero-sum game partisan politics, I don’t think it’s a stretch.
… given the track record of our political leaders to cause institutional decay with zero-sum game partisan politics, …
One side of the political aisle is well known for open obstruction. The other is not.
I think, given the fact that we are all living in the same era of American politics and that we are all in the comments section of a story about a Republican Senator, that it was obvious Republicans are the perpetrators I’m speaking of. Their behavior with regard to institutional security is obviously abhorrent.
I am a bit bothered by your reply though. And I do mean to operate in good faith here, but I am curious about whether my comment was unclear or were you hoping for “Democrat good” to be my reply?
No, not hoping for “Democrat good.” It’s probably just a matter of mild miscommunication/misunderstanding.
The only reference you make to a Republican Senator is naming him as today’s problem. Tomorrow’s problems are described neutrally. And the last line, especially the part I quoted above, can be read in a “bOtH sIDeS” kind of way. That’s the read I was responding to, and I apologize if I misunderstood.
I still think it’s worth saying. The major and pressing problem with politics in the US in 2023 is the Republican party. This is not to say that Democrats are immune from criticism. This is not saying anything about Democrats. It’s unfortunate that the construction of our elections force a two-party system. Perhaps the right wing wouldn’t be so crazy if we had ranked choice voting, full passage of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, better civics and US history education, etc, etc.
But here we are.
Let me clarify that I’m not trying to sound like an “enlightened centrist here,” I’m just trying to make the point that playing the finger-pointing game in relation to this story also contributes to the zero-sum-game politics that causes this institutional decay. There are no winners here, only losers.
I think it speaks more about our system that relied on having a 100% consensus in order to function efficiently. It was setup for failure.
“Helping the communists.”
JFC I swear there’s something in the water making people retarded.
Correct, it’s called micro plastics.
This is a two-party system at its worst.
I’m old enough that my grandfathers fought in WWI. My mother’s second husband was a B-17 captain. Third husband was a fighter pilot in the Pacific theater. My father retired from the regular army as a LTC. Col.
These bastards would have fought each other to get to the head of the line to beat the shit out of Turderville.
But as others have noted, we have this obstructionist process in place.
As one of the other commentators said, maybe we should change the fucking rule. I just don’t know how.
I’ve never voted Republikklan in my life, but there were some who had honor. Senator McCain, for example. But now we’re stuck with this shit with legs.
McCain was an asshole, but at least he knew when to play ball.
I’m not a fan. But I felt like he had a commitment, even if I didn’t agree with it. Now you have this pond scum
The guy would rather be called “Coach” than “Senator,” by choice. He doesn’t care about what’s best for the United States, it’s citizens, and his constituents. That’s his second job. His first job is “Coach.”
As crappy as it is, work is still getting done. US military SOP is if the ranking person is unavailable for the next in line to take command.
It just sucks that it is becoming a PITA to them and probably pushing out quality troops that can easily obtain other employment.
Yes and no. Yes, officers can fill in as acting whatever, so the essential work still gets done, but acting positions also tend to be conservative in how they exercise that authority. But as the article mentions, there are also people stuck waiting for their nomination to be approved so they can actually relocate and take up the job. These people are currently in limbo while Tuberville is fucking around.
If you think that isn’t by design, you probably vote #GOP.
…aiding communist and autocratic regimes, and being used by adversaries like China against the US.
“Mission accomplished!” – Republican Tommy Tuberville
