Abuse of Power
Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican from the State of Alabama, is abusing his position and putting the structure of our military at risk.
By the way, he is clearly an arrogant douchebag as well.
Senator Tuberville is currently holding up the process for somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 senior military officer moves across the military. Current DoD policy allows for female servicemembers to travel to other states for an abortion if the state they are stationed in does not allow or restricts them. That female servicemember is authorized leave and travel expenses. Senator Tuberville doesn’t think taxpayers should be footing the bill for this. Keep in mind Alabama has SIX military installations and is one of the most restrictive states when it comes to abortion law. By the way, he just screwed Alabama out of a 4-Star headquarters because of his antics. Good job Senator, you just lost a shit ton of jobs for your constituents.
I don’t care what your personal opinion is about abortion. And truthfully, you have much bigger tax concerns than the fraction of one penny this may cost you as a taxpayer. This is about our military structure and the strain that he is personally putting upon it. Let me explain.
Every single 4-Star position in the military requires confirmation by Congress. Many, many 3-Star positions also require confirmation. Officers cannot assume those duties until they are confirmed. Senator Tuberville is personally holding up the process because he wants the DoD abortion policy changed. There are 300-ish General and Admiral positions across our military waiting for those confirmations to happen. In some cases, the officer who was holding the job has retired and the duties are now being fulfilled by the second in command or deputy commander, who already has plenty to do. In some cases, there are officer waiting to retire who are staying in position and delaying their own retirement out of a sense of duty.
So, we have 300 jobs waiting to be filled. That means there are over 600 families who are waiting to see what happens next. By the way, these moves have a domino effect, so the number is closer 1200 families (one person moves out and another moves up, and so on and so on). There are also 300 organizations, at minimum, who are overstressed for no real reason except the arrogance of Senator Tuberville.
Have I mentioned that Senator Tuberville often claims “No one is more military than me”? Except he’s never served in uniform. Ever. He spent his adult life with an overinflated sense of importance because he coached collegiate football. I guess the arrogance comes with the job. He clearly doesn’t know, understand, or care about the impact he is having on the military. Again…total douchebag.
Our military is strained enough. Over twenty years of consistent conflict. A force that is strained due to poor recruiting and a lack of direction after the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq ended, not to mention a significant shift by American youth away from patriotism and service.
But Senator Tuberville, who I am positive preached Teamwork and Sacrifice as a college coach, can’t see the damage he is doing. He is allowing his personal politics to interfere with our readiness to fight wars and our own defense. “No one is more military than me”? Give it a fucking rest, dude. He is probably the same guy who used all the military cliches when he was coaching about his players being “warriors” (they aren’t) and them “fighting in the trenches” (they don’t) and how “every play is a battle” (it isn’t). This guy wouldn’t know a war if it showed up on his doorstep.
Pick your “battles” Senator Tuberville. Make your “stand” in a different way. This is wrong on so many levels and he is too stupid or arrogant to see it. Put your clipboard down and act responsibly as a Congressman. You’re not a coach anymore.
Because this…this is an absolute Abuse of Power.