Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has come under fire from members of both political parties for his intransigence over filling open military positions and blocking promotions, an act of resistance by Tuberville that military leaders have widely denounced.
Blocking appointments and promotions is part of Tuberville’s plan to effect a change the Pentagon’s policy on abortion, which currently provides help with travel expenses and paid leave for service members seeking abortions in states where the procedure remains legal.
Beyond the specific abortion issue, Tuberville’s larger criticism of the military includes an accusation that the Pentagon has become too “woke” — and that it is losing recruits as a result.
In a recent interview, Tuberville — a former college football coach — expresses particular disgust and disdain at the alleged wokeness demonstrated by the fact that poems have been read over intercom systems on American naval ships. “We’ve got people doing poems on aircraft carriers over the loudspeaker,” Tuberville says with exasperation. “It is absolutely insane.”
Tuberville, who did not serve in the military, portrays these instances of shared poetry as an example of weakness creeping into the armed forces through nefarious “woke” forces, like poets.
Tuberville’s prescription for a strong effective U.S. military means no abortions and no rhyming verse.
Poems. https://t.co/5ByUuzvoNu
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) September 7, 2023
Tuberville vilifies Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro, who he says “needs to get to building ships, needs to get to recruiting, and he needs to get wokeness out of our navy.” A 22-year Navy veteran, Del Toro is a graduate the United States Naval Academy who earned a masters degree in national security from the Naval War College. Tuberville coached Auburn University’s football team from 1999-2008.
Talking about Tuberville’s military blocks, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in August that “starting today for the first time in the history of the Department of Defense, three of our military services are operating without Senate confirmed leaders. This is unprecedented, it is unnecessary, and it is unsafe.”
