GOP Votes to Weaken Military and Rep. Luna Doesn't Understand Her Job
GOP Votes to Weaken Military and Rep. Luna Doesn't Understand Her Job
Texas Judge Doesn't Do Her Job, Wiscon. Teacher Fired Over Dolly Parton/Miley Cyrus Song, California Unbans Books, Sandie Shaw Sings
GOP: Inflamed Pimple or Deadly Melanoma
Maybe my age has made me pay more attention to what at first appears like small annoyances in my body but could be symptoms of something much worse. That’s how I approach the selections I make for this newsletter. Sometimes the big stories I write about are obvious choices because they are like an open wound that needs immediate stitches to stop the bleeding. But others are like a dark mole that could just be an inflamed pimple—or the first stages of a deadly melanoma.
A U.S. Senator holds up military promotions. A Representative makes a snarky comment about the Constitution. A judge refuses to perform a wedding ceremony. A teacher is fired in Wisconsin over a song. Each by themselves might seem small against the headlines of war and the brutal effects of climate change—a throwaway story—but together, they illuminate a life-threatening pattern of abuse of power and neglect of duty. To me, democracy is in the details. Untreated, each of these stories is dangerous, maybe more so because, at first glance, they don’t appear to be.
So, let’s put them under a microscope and take a second glance.
GOP’s Determination to Weaken the Military (Heather Cox Richardson)
SUMMARY: Traditionally, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which funds the annual budget and appropriations of the Department of Defense, passes Congress on a bipartisan basis. Since 1961 it has been considered must-pass legislation, as it provides the funding for our national security. For all that there is grumbling on both sides over one thing or another in the measure, it is generally kept outside partisanship.
Late last night, House Republicans broke that tradition by loading the bill with a wish list from the far right. Republicans added amendments that eliminate all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the Defense Department; end the Defense Department program that reimburses military personnel who must travel for abortion services; bar healthcare for gender transition; prevent the military academies from using affirmative action in admissions (an exception the recent Supreme Court decision allowed); block the Pentagon from putting in place President Biden’s executive orders on climate change; prevent schools associated with the Defense Department from teaching that the United States of America is racist; and block military schools from having “pornographic and radical gender ideology books” in their libraries.
House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) tweeted: “We don’t want Disneyland to train our military. House Republicans just passed a bill that ENDS the wokism in the military and gives our troops their biggest pay raise in decades.”
MY TAKE: This is one of those stories that you’ll be tempted to skip. It’s a recipe for inducing a sudden nap: a military bill, Congress debating, Kevin McCarthy and his clown car of MAGAndroids. But it’s actually VERY IMPORTANT, not just because of the bill itself, but for what it reveals about the GOP’s long-term agenda. Like obsessed Captain Ahabs, they are harpooning the Great White Will of the majority of Americans, and I hope they meet the same deserved fate (metaphorically): dragged to dark depths of obscurity because of their own bloated egos.
What is especially concerning is that every time a major bill comes up, certain House Republicans attempt to take the country hostage by demanding they get their way or no one gets anything. This is what they did with the bill to raise the debt ceiling, which they had done three times under Trump, but refused to do under Biden unless they got their way. Worse, the things they ask for not only don’t make the country stronger, they contradict what most Americans want according to polls, and are contrary to this country’s guiding democratic principles.
Here’s what I would like to see: First, the Senate acting in bipartisan unity rejecting these hateful amendments—both on principle and to send a message that blackmailing Congress is not acceptable. Let the reasonable Republicans take back their party from the scoundrels and hucksters. Second, the constituents of every Republican who voted in support of the bill write to their representatives demanding that they behave as leaders and not as panderers grubbing for votes.
Shouldn’t we be appalled at politicians putting our country’s security at risk just so they can virtue-signal to ultra-conservatives who don’t understand how severely they’re undermining the military? Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has been single-handedly holding up military promotions, leaving the Marine Corps without a leader for the first time in 164 years (“Tommy Tuberville’s military stunt endangers national security”). Senate confirmation of military promotions usually is a simple bipartisan procedure. Tuberville has stopped that because he doesn’t like the military’s policy of supporting servicewomen seeking abortions. He’s been warned of the possible dire consequences by top military leaders, politicians, and President Biden, yet he persists because his political career is more important than national security.
Tuberville is the same guy who voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, then, after it passed anyway, bragged on his social media, “Great to see Alabama receive crucial funding to boost ongoing broadband efforts,” and sharing an article about the $1.4 billion going to Alabama for expanded broadband access—no thanks to him.
Integrity? Not so much.
Speaking of lack of integrity, McCarthy boasted, “House Republicans just passed a bill that ENDS the wokism in the military and gives our troops their biggest pay raise in decades.” He’s attempting a verbal slight of mouth by implying that Republicans were responsible for both the civil rights oppression (which he thinks is a good thing) and the pay raise. The oppression is pure GOP accessorizing while the pay raise was already in there. That’s like a waiter taking credit for cooking the dish. (Though these waiters also stuck their dirty thumbs in the soup and want us to applaud them for the “special taste.”)
Are they able to look at themselves in the mirror only because they cast no reflection?