Traitor Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), white nationalist asshat

[Foggy]

A sitting senator seems to have more power than the President.

For four years, Donald Trump was president. I don't want the president to have too much power.

[Sam the Centipede]

While a single person gets the attention, his colleagues could end it any time they wanted.

Excuse my ignorance, but is that so? Can they do so using normal procedures or do they have to sit on his head and explain that he's an obnoxious shit who should do better?

Not being a USaian I don't understand the procedure that Turd-devil is using to block the appointments. I guess I should googlify it, but what are you guys for if not to show off your knowledge?

[noblepa]

While a single person gets the attention, his colleagues could end it any time they wanted.

Excuse my ignorance, but is that so? Can they do so using normal procedures or do they have to sit on his head and explain that he's an obnoxious shit who should do better?

Not being a USaian I don't understand the procedure that Turd-devil is using to block the appointments. I guess I should googlify it, but what are you guys for if not to show off your knowledge?

I believe that his blocking the appointments is technically the same as a filibuster. So a simple cloture vote or 60 Senators could allow the appointments to move forward to a vote. In any case, I know that there are some arcane Senate rules that are seldom used and difficult to implement that can free the appointments.

Personally, I think that the whole notion of a filibuster is an unconscionable, undemocratic process. It should be eliminated immediately. If they must have it, return to the days of Jimmy Stewart in "Mister Smith Goes to Washington" and require the Senator to remain in the chamber and speak continuously, while no other business can be done.

[raison de arizona]

Personally, I think that the whole notion of a filibuster is an unconscionable, undemocratic process. It should be eliminated immediately. If they must have it, return to the days of Jimmy Stewart in "Mister Smith Goes to Washington" and require the Senator to remain in the chamber and speak continuously, while no other business can be done.

I agree. It wasn't so long ago either. Remember Ted Cruz getting up there and reading Green Eggs & Ham, etc.? It was stupid, but at least he had to commit to keeping it going. Now they "have no skin in the game," as the Rs would say.

[p0rtia]

While a single person gets the attention, his colleagues could end it any time they wanted.

Excuse my ignorance, but is that so? Can they do so using normal procedures or do they have to sit on his head and explain that he's an obnoxious shit who should do better?

Not being a USaian I don't understand the procedure that Turd-devil is using to block the appointments. I guess I should googlify it, but what are you guys for if not to show off your knowledge?

I believe that his blocking the appointments is technically the same as a filibuster. So a simple cloture vote or 60 Senators could allow the appointments to move forward to a vote. In any case, I know that there are some arcane Senate rules that are seldom used and difficult to implement that can free the appointments.

Personally, I think that the whole notion of a filibuster is an unconscionable, undemocratic process. It should be eliminated immediately. If they must have it, return to the days of Jimmy Stewart in "Mister Smith Goes to Washington" and require the Senator to remain in the chamber and speak continuously, while no other business can be done.

Nope. It's a rule. A rule that can and should be changed. Needs three-fifths of the Senate.

How can one senator do this alone?

In two words: unanimous consent. Among the mysteries of Senate procedure that mystify most Americans, perhaps none is more curious than the concept of unanimous consent.

As congressional scholars Casey Burgat and Charles Hunt put it in their 2023 textbook Congress Explained, "the Senate's rules grant incredibly powerful privileges to all Senators ... that greatly affect how and if the chamber schedules" floor action on any subject.

While the House has a Rules Committee that orders the debate and voting on pieces of legislation, the Senate relies heavily on consent agreements negotiated by the party leaders. Such "unanimous consent agreements" have evolved to be a crucial means of bringing Senate business to the floor for formal consideration.

Former Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (who died in 2010 after a record 51 years as a senator) once said unanimous consent was used for "easily 98 percent of the business of the Senate" that reached the floor for consideration.

And Mitch McConnell, the Republican from Kentucky who is the current GOP leader and the record-holder for longevity in that role once quipped that the Senate "requires unanimous consent to turn the lights on before noon."

Burgat and Hunt have written that "because any one senator can tank a UC request or agreement, party leaders must maintain very open lines of communication with each member within their caucuses."

And under normal circumstances, they do so. Their staffs stay in touch with members of their respective parties obsessively so as to be informed and accommodative — and to know when a UC agreement can be reached and the Senate can proceed.

Why don't the Senate leaders stop him?

The current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has made it clear he considers Tuberville's blockade an abuse and an outrage. The GOP's McConnell has also said he does not support the "blanket hold" on military nominations. Both have acknowledged the pleas coming from the Pentagon and from the ranks, and they have done what they could to encourage Tuberville to stand down.

But the leaders cannot simply bulldoze the senator from Alabama. Their power is restrained by Senate rules and traditions and by the sentiments of their respective caucuses.

If the issue here were an ordinary piece of legislation, the leaders would seek a unanimous consent agreement that would bring that matter to the floor. Individual senators may object to that with a notice that they seek "extended debate" on that legislation. This is an implicit threat to filibuster, and the majority leader routinely files a cloture petition and holds a vote.

If cloture fails, the legislation does not go to the floor. If three-fifths of the Senate supports cloture, the legislation can be brought to the floor with time limits on debate.

Presidential nominations have been largely exempt from this since 2013 when a Democratic Senate majority decided only nominations to the Supreme Court would be subject to filibusters. In 2017, a Republican majority decided to extend that exemption to include Supreme Court nominations.

Nonetheless, Tuberville's maneuver has the effect of freezing confirmations for the current backlog presidential nominations because they are submitted in batches for group consideration and approval. The batching procedure itself requires unanimous consent, allowing even one senator to stand in the way.

The Senate majority leader could bring the nominations to the floor one by one for consideration by regular procedure, but that would require two to three days for each. Had the Senate tried to individually process even the first 150 promotions Tuberville blocked back in February, it could have done little else in the months since – and it would still be far behind on confirmations. That is scarcely practical when the military alone submits hundreds a year and the larger executive branch far more.

Is this really the way the Senate wants to be?

Does a Tuberville-style use of senatorial privilege strain relations with other senators and especially the leadership? Surely it does. It may even mark an individual for years, affecting their careers in the chamber. Surely Republican Ted Cruz of Texas, paid a price in terms of such relationships after he pushed a government shutdown as a first-year senator in 2013.

But there instances when the notice to be gained for an issue — or for an individual senator — may seem worth the notoriety that goes with this kind of tactic.

The Senate has long styled itself as "the greatest deliberative body in the world." That is both a boast and an invitation for the institution to be held to its own standard — to be judged against its own image of itself.

But when it comes to changing the Senate's "standing rules" — or its powerful precedents, practices, customs and folkways – the members of the club have been wary of reforms that would reduce their own privileges.

They may decry an egregious case such as Tuberville's, or speak against the hold or the filibuster. They may criticize the Senate as a whole as being too often anti-democratic in its procedures.

But when it comes to voting for actual reform, senators tend to remember their own reliance on those "incredibly powerful privileges" scholars note they are granted under the rules.

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/15/11875308 ... n-military

[raison de arizona]

Tubervile gets defeated?

Democrats eye rare procedural move to defeat Tuberville military holds

Senate Democrats are working with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and a handful of Republicans on a rarely used procedural tactic to defeat Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) blockade of more than 360 military promotions, a stalemate that has consumed the Senate for months.

Democrats are looking at using a standing order resolution to move a block of more than 300 nonpolitical military nominees who have been stalled for months because of Tuberville’s holds to protest the Department of Defense’s (DOD) abortion policies.

The resolution would allow the Senate to move military promotions in a group through the end of 2024, providing exceptions for officers nominated to a position on the Joint Chiefs of Staff or to lead a Combatant Command.

Sources familiar with internal deliberations said the standing order resolution would likely get introduced next week unless Tuberville drops his holds.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/427 ... ary-holds/

[Suranis]

Sadly I would believe it when I see it. Republicans have a history of negotiating and then saying no when it comes to the crunch, then blaming Dems for the impasse they are were negotiating to shift.

[Gregg]

Asa change to Senate Rules, it doesn't require any Republican support or votes. Mitch was the all time KING of "suspension of the Rules" during the long winter of his Majority, he'd call for the fillibuster if the Dems wanted a vote and if he thought he h\could peal a few dem votes or catch a few away from the floor even, he'd call for a suspension of the rules and then an immediate vote on an issue before the dems could get people back in town.

[MN-Skeptic]

A twitter thread on tonight's action -

Steven Dennis
@StevenTDennis

Could be a long night. Lindsey Graham said they are going to request voice votes individually on all 376 pending military nominations being blocked by Tuberville. Tuberville is blocking every one of his fellow Republicans’ requests. They are visibly angry.

Sullivan is seething with anger. Calls Tuberville’s blockade “a national security suicide mission”

The tweets continue. After Tuberville objects for the 61st time, the Senate is adjourned for the night.

[Sam the Centipede]

I've seen The Godfather. There is a solution.

I don't fully understand why nobody does anything to remove this tumor. I guess it's rich white man's privilege: they never reap the consequences of their actions in the way a poor black person would.

[Volkonski]

Senate sidesteps Tuberville’s hold on military promotions
GOP senator objected to all 61 military promotions during the hearing

https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/11/02/ ... press.coop

The Senate circumvented a hold by Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville on Thursday and confirmed Adm. Lisa Franchetti to lead the Navy, making her the first woman to be a Pentagon service chief and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Franchetti’s historic confirmation as the chief of naval operations comes as Tuberville has drawn bipartisan criticism for holding up almost 400 military nominations in an effort to protest Pentagon abortion policy. In a remarkable display, several Republican senators angrily held the floor for more than four hours on Wednesday evening and called up 61 of the nominations for votes, praising each nominee for their military service. Tuberville showed no signs of letting up, standing and objecting to each one.

The Senate confirmed Franchetti with an overwhelming 95-1 vote. Senators are scheduled to confirm two other top officers on Thursday — Gen. David Allvin to be chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force and Lt. Gen. Christopher Mahoney to serve as assistant commandant for the U.S. Marine Corps.

If confirmed, Mahoney could immediately step in as acting commandant, temporarily taking over after Gen. Eric Smith, the commandant, was hospitalized on Sunday after suffering a medical emergency at his official residence in Washington.

Smith, who is listed in stable condition and is recovering, was confirmed to the top job last month, but he had been holding down two high-level posts for several months because of Tuberville’s holds.

When Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced the vote this week on Mahoney’s nomination to be assistant commandant, he said Smith’s sudden medical emergency is “precisely the kind of avoidable emergency that Sen. Tuberville has provoked through his reckless holds.”

[raison de arizona]

I have nothing good to say about Tuberville. He's a traitor. He should get what is due him.

Tuberville: I object

Sullivan: For people who are watching, that was the naval officer who would be in charge of the two carrier strike groups in the Middle East. We could have put him in charge, pretty important... but my colleague just objected

Bonus: Not content with just being a traitor, Tuberville also is a lying liar that lies.

► Show Spoiler

Sullivan: We’re gonna do what you asked. Let’s vote individually on this American hero

Tuberville: I object

[raison de arizona]

Graham: Here's what's going to happen. You've just denied this lady a promotion. You did that.

[raison de arizona]

Driving them to early graves.

Tuberville Minimizes His Obstruction Overworking U.S. Generals: 'I Did That for Years'
Gen. Eric Smith had a heart attack working two jobs due to Tuberville's obstruction of military promotions

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) minimized the overworking of U.S. generals as a result of his obstruction of military promotions Thursday.

Despite Marine Commandant Gen. Eric Smith recently experiencing a heart attack due to performing his regular duties plus additional work required running the Marine Corps, Tuberville was not at all sympathetic to the harm he has caused the generals and the military as a whole.

"Somebody said [Gen. Smith] is working 18 hours a day, [Senator] Jack Reed blamed me for his heart attack. Come on give me a break," Tuberville told CNN's Manu Raju.

"This guy is going to work 18-20 hours a day no matter what," Tuberville continued. "That's what we do. I did that for years. Because you got to get the job done."

Tuberville, who never served a day in uniform, still thinks his experience as a college football coach gives him insight into what it means to be a general in the United States military.

https://www.meidastouch.com/news/tuberv ... -for-years

[Shizzle Popped]

► Show Spoiler

Fuck him.

[AndyinPA]

Empathy and sympathy are not in republicans' playbooks.

[Suranis]

How can one fucking guy override the will of the representatives of 99.lotsof9s% of the US population. Not even the President can do that.

This bollox is bullshit.

No country can function with this kind of nutcase government system.

[raison de arizona]

ISO a real news story regarding the Tommy Tuberville Foundation.

The Tommy Tuberville Foundation was founded by @SenTuberville. It claimed to raise money to assist military and veterans. Not surprisingly, 82% of the donations went directly to Tuberville and his wife. After being investigated, @TTuberville's "charity" went belly up. Shocker.

https://x.com/TheSGTJoker/status/172052 ... 87472?s=20

[Rolodex]

ISO a real news story regarding the Tommy Tuberville Foundation.

The Tommy Tuberville Foundation was founded by @SenTuberville. It claimed to raise money to assist military and veterans. Not surprisingly, 82% of the donations went directly to Tuberville and his wife. After being investigated, @TTuberville's "charity" went belly up. Shocker.

https://x.com/TheSGTJoker/status/172052 ... 87472?s=20

The charity bought a big ol' pick up truck. But no donations to military/vets afaik.
As an Alabamian, I apologize for this waste of skin. The only redeeming factor is that he, in fact, lives in Santa Rosa, Florida.
I call and write regularly, but I think I'll take new tack and write Katie Britt, our other senator and see if she can flutter her eyelashes and tell him how stupid he is (pretty women are usually pretty good at doing that without the male mark - esp if he's a mediocre old white guy who thinks he's hot shit like tubs - understanding what just happened) and stop being a human butt plug.

ETA: I think I'll write his office on behalf of my son, a veteran (yes, he really is) and find out how to access help from this veterans' foundation.

[neonzx]

Oh wasn't tfg involved in his own raising money with an event for vets that never got to them?

[raison de arizona]

Thank you for the color Rolodex, and I promise not to hold your geography against you! Glass houses and all…

[raison de arizona]

Tommy Tuberville Isn’t Racist, He’s Just Dumb, Say Republicans
In a new report, Alabama Republicans tried to defend Tommy Tuberville. It didn’t exactly work.

Senator Tommy Tuberville’s ongoing blockade of military promotions has united his fellow Republicans around two facts: His actions are wrong, and he might not be all that smart.

Tuberville has blocked nearly 400 military promotions in protest against the Defense Department policy of reimbursing travel costs for service members who have to travel out of state for an abortion. The Pentagon has repeatedly warned that the block harms military readiness, but Tuberville refuses to budge.

In fact, earlier this year, the Alabama Republican argued that the real source of damage to military readiness is the department refusing to allow white nationalists to serve. Tuberville still seems to struggle to accept that white nationalists are, by definition, racist.

But his own words shouldn’t be taken as a sign that Tuberville is racist, multiple Alabama Republicans told Rolling Stone in a report published Friday. Instead, it should be interpreted as a sign that Tuberville is a blockhead.

“I do not believe that Tommy Tuberville is a racist at all,” one of them said, speaking anonymously. “I really believe that maybe he doesn’t have an understanding of the English language.”

https://newrepublic.com/post/176642/tom ... epublicans

[Slim Cognito]

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[Resume18]

. . . he might not be all that smart.

Might is doing quite a lot of heavy lifting here.

[p0rtia]

images.jpeg

Apparently you can only stand by, clutching your pearls, and let it bring down several institutions of government.