No, that is not a mistake in the title. If you follow the media – especially the leftwing media – you have heard a lot about Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville using one of the Senate’s unique rules to hold up the confirmation of high-ranking military personnel. The alleged danger to the Republic was expressed in an op-ed in the Washington Post (of course) by senior Defense Department officials.
So, why does the headline refer to Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer? Read on.
Tuberville is holding up the confirmations in an effort to get the military to end its woke policies, including the facilitating of abortions on bases in states with strict pro-life laws. This commentary is not to debate the abortion issue. Readers can decide for themselves how they feel about abortion and abortion laws – and Tuberville’s action. This commentary is about the Democrats’ and the media’s news narrative – their coverage of Tuberville. It is a sin of omission.
Tuberville’s action has been described as nothing less than a threat to military preparedness and national security. It is even a threat to the security of the western world. They say that China, Russia and North Korea are grinning at the damage Tuberville is doing to American defenses. Perhaps fearmongering would have more validity if America were engaged in any conflicts at the moment. But we are not.
Even though top generals are filling those positions temporarily, Tuberville’s critics apparently do not believe that they have the competency to handle the jobs – even in the short run. If that were the case, America’s military “bench” is dangerously thin.
One might wonder why Democrats are so concerned about America’s military preparedness. That is not their traditional viewpoint. They have been more interested in cutting the defense budget and not deploying the military when there are real threats to America’s national security.
Democrats are just not naturally defenders of our defense establishment. One might even suspect that their Draconian narratives depicting Tuberville’s action as an existential threat is just another hyperbolic end-of-the-world narrative being advanced for purely partisan political benefits. And if you did suspect that, you are probably correct.
Let us assume for one moment that the Democrats and their media allies are correct. Let us believe that Tuberville’s action is an existential threat to American military preparedness and national security. If that is the case, surely Schumer would do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING possible to get those vacancies filled asap.
Then why doesn’t he take any action? But what can Schumer do? Apparently, a lot.
What Tuberville is holding up is an omnibus bill that would fill a bunch of military positions in one fell swoop. But there is another option – one the Democrat-friendly media does not report. Schumer can proceed by putting up each nominee to a vote on an individual basis. That’s right.
Schumer says that would take too much time. More time than doing nothing for weeks and months? If Schumer had started confirming individual generals at the onset of Tuberville’s action, virtually all of those top positions would be filled by now. And if the situation is as Schumer and the Democrats claim, it is a dereliction of his duties and oath of office for Schumer to not take action.
Is Schumer, himself, endangering military preparedness by not taking action? Or … is he hiding behind a hyperbolic hypocritical narrative for purely political reasons. The answer is simple. Neither Tuberville’s hold nor Schumer’s inaction are existential threats to the defense of the Republic. Be calm … and feel safe. It is nothing more than a Washington insider Kabuki Theater politics game – just a momentary political tempest-in-a-teapot that the left describes as a Cat 5 hurricane.
So, there ‘tis.