One senator is holding up nominations for the military. Why? Because he objects to the military kicking out white supremacist and not trans service members!
Washington PostBy John WagnerJuly 11, 2023Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said that the definition of a “white nationalist” is a matter of “opinion” during a television interview Monday night in which he was given the opportunity to clarify remarks from this spring when he appeared to be advocating for white nationalists to serve in the U.S. military.During the CNN interview, Tuberville repeatedly said he rejects racism but pushed back against host Kaitlan Collins when she told him that by definition white nationalists are racist because they believe their race is superior to others. Tuberville at one point in the back-and-forth characterized white nationalists as people who hold “a few probably different beliefs.”Tuberville’s remarks drew a sharp rebuke Tuesday from Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who urged Tuberville to apologize.“The senator from Alabama is wrong, wrong, wrong,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “The definition of white nationalism is not a matter of opinion. White nationalism, the ideology that one race is inherently superior to others, that people of color should be segregated, subjected to second-class citizenship, is racist down to its rotten core. For the senator from Alabama to obscure the racist nature of white nationalism is indeed very, very dangerous.”Tuberville’s CNN interview resurrected another controversy for the first-term senator, who has been in the news mostly for stalling scores of senior military nominations in an attempt to stop a Defense Department policy that helps ensure access to abortions for service members and their families.[…]In a May interview with a local public radio station in Alabama, Tuberville, a former football coach, criticized Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for his efforts “to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists” from the military. Tuberville said it was part of an effort to politicize the armed services and accused Pentagon leaders of “ruining our military” and driving away supporters of former president Donald Trump.
It seems to me that if the Republicans wanted to over rule him on the Senate Committee on Armed Services so I just have to think that they approve of his blocking the nominations of military officers and the Marine Corps Commandant.
AL.com reported that,
By Howard KoplowitzFebruary 16, 2023U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., is among the co-sponsors of a Senate bill that would ban transgender people from serving in the U.S. military.“The world is on the brink of a major conflict, and America’s military must be ready to fight at a moment’s notice,” Tuberville said in a statement from U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio., R-Fla., the main sponsor of the Ensuring Military Readiness Act.The bill would prevent anyone with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria from serving in the military, with limited exceptions.“Now is not the time to socially experiment with our armed forces at the expense of readiness, morale, and our national defense,” Tuberville continued. “The military maintains rigorous mental and physical requirements because our service members must be as capable and deployable as possible.”
The military's in the NATO countries and other countries allow trans in the their military, USA Today reported in 2017,
At least 18 other countries allow transgender people in their military, and nine others may be transitioning toward that, according to a study by the Hague Center for Strategic Studies. They include all major European militaries (Britain, France, Germany and Italy), as well as all the Scandinavian militaries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland) and Estonia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic and Austria. All but Finland, Austria and Sweden are members of NATO. Other countries welcoming transgender military members include Australia, Israel, New Zealand and even Bolivia.
Tuberville is just lying to make his point just the other Republicans in their pogrom against us. A poll of U.S. service member found support for us!
The Military Times in an article in 2020 said,
A Defense Department-funded study published Feb. 18 in the journal Sexuality Research and Social Policy has found that about 66 percent of active-duty soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines support the idea of serving alongside transgender personnel.Breaking down data from nearly 500 responses, researchers found that across demographics ― regardless of ethnicity, sexuality or gender ― more than half of every group also supported allowing transgender Americans to serving in the military.“Arguments against integration have been historically disproven through research examining the integration of women, racial/ethnic minorities and [lesbian, gay and bisexual] persons into the U.S. military,” the study authors wrote, comparing the transgender ban to past bans on service for other demographics.
Tuberville objections show that he has animosity against us and that he is to say the very least, biased against us.
He says he is pro-military and wants strong military but his actions shows otherwise… that he is willing to politicize the military with white supremacist and that he is weakening military by not appointing its leaders.
I first wrote this Tuesday night since then these articles came out...
The HillBy Alexander Bolton and Al WeaverJuly 11, 2023Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) sparked uproar Tuesday after refusing to denounce white nationalists in a CNN interview, forcing Republican senators to respond to the controversial comments and giving Democrats political ammo to go on the attack.Asked about Tuberville’s comments about white nationalism in the military, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a forceful denunciation of white supremacy at his weekly leadership conference.“White supremacy is simply unacceptable in the military and in our whole country,” McConnell told reporters.McConnell’s top deputy, Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.), said there’s no room for white nationalists in the GOP or the military.“I just think there isn’t any place for it. We are a country obviously that has built around a set of principles, that’s welcoming,” he said.
But Sen. Thune wouldn’t go the last mile in denouncing the senator.
Tuberville’s Alabama colleague, Sen. Katie Britt (R), also called out Tuberville, telling a reporter for HuffPost: “White supremacy and racism have absolutely no place in our country. Period. The end.”
But Tuberville digs in and doesn’t bugle at all!
In another Hill article Tuberville is quoted as saying,
Tuberville sought to draw a distinction between white nationalism and racism, which he said he is against. He said white nationalist is a buzzword that liberals slap on their political opponents and said he didn’t necessarily want to throw people who identify as white nationalists out of the military.He said it’s “just a cover word for the Democrats now where they can use it to try to make people mad across the country,” he said.“I’m for … whoever wants to be in the military to fight for this country,” he said.
Wait a minute!
“ whoever wants to be in the military to fight for this country” but, but, but he is trying to ban trans people from the military! I think he speaks with a forked tongue!
I'm more worried about relaxing the physical fitness standards than who's going to which bathroom. If Dylan Mulvaney can do pushups, sit-ups, run a 7-minute mile and shoot like a pro, fine.
ReplyDeleteA note from a vet in a dress: None of the major European, Scandinavian militaries, Australia, Israel, New Zealand and Bolivia are called upon as the lead military when there's real work to be done. I don't care if all of them think jumping off a cliff is a good idea, it's the American military that keeps the world half-way free, and we need to be very, very good.
And a word to the wise: "We're Coming for Your Children" will turn off a LOT of voters, and it just isn't a good look.