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Senate Democrats launch effort to bypass Tommy Tuberville's hold on military promotions (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 10 months ago by ZeroCool@feddit.ch to c/politics@lemmy.world

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[-] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 76 points 10 months ago

Good. Military readiness shouldn't be politicized. Tiberville has been blocking this simply because he thinks the military is "woke".

[-] NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world 38 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Nah, I'm guessing there's an alterior motive to it. Maybe with the intent to install yes men in those positions if someone other than Biden gets elected.

[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 8 points 10 months ago

I think you're giving MAGA too much credit. With them the protest is usually "the point". They don't expect to win or even capitalize on any gains. They just want to pitch a fit and get popularity for it. Their constituents aren't concerned with results only bitching.

[-] DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

This is literally what project 2025 mentions. I think you’re underestimating the desire fascists have to rule this country

[+] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works -24 points 10 months ago

I'm pretty sick of people throwing the word "fascist" around - but regardless here we are...

It's difficult to square that with how ineffective Trump actually was as president. Almost none of what he wanted to happen did happen. He could barely get a wall built that actually had strong support in his own party which controlled both branches at the time.

So is "Tuberville" a political genius working toward a greater goal? Or is he a blowhard scoring cheap political points by "fighting woke"? I dunno - maybe you're right but I lean a bit more on the side of incompetence for now.

[-] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 24 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

"Fascist" is absolutely an appropriate label for the modern GOP.

Per Umberto Eco's 14 points of ur-fascism:

The cult of tradition. “One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers. The Nazi gnosis was nourished by traditionalist, syncretistic, occult elements.”
The rejection of modernism. “The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense, Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.”
The cult of action for action’s sale. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.”
Disagreement is treason. “The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture, the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge.”
Fear of difference. “The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.”
Appeal to social frustration. “[…] one of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups.
The obsession with a plot. “The followers must feel besieged. The easiest way to solve the plot is the appeal to xenophobia.”
The enemy is both weak and strong. “[…] the followers must be convinced that they can overwhelm the enemies. Thus, by a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.”
Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. “For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle.”
Contempt for the weak. “Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology.”
Everybody is educated to become a hero. “in Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death.”
Machismo and Weaponry. “This is the origin of machismo (which implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality). Since even sex is a difficult game to play, the Ur-Fascist hero tends to play with weapons—doing so becomes an ersatz phallic exercise.”
Selective Populism. “There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.
Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak. “All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.”

[+] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works -15 points 10 months ago

Sure sure. The fact that it's related to Hitler and Mussolini has nothing at all to do with it.

[-] logicbomb@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

If the GOP doesn't want to be compared to Hitler then they should stop acting like him.

[-] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I missed where those points talked about Hitler or Mussolini.

Do you want to provide a definition of fascism if you find Eco's inadequate? I'm sure you've done a lot more research into this than he did when he wrote the book.

Or is your objection based more on vibes than reality?

[+] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works -12 points 10 months ago

I missed where those points talked about Hitler or Mussolini.

Nudge nudge wink wink - we're not comparing anyone to Hitler just fascism - that's "COMPLETELY DIFFERENT(tm)".

My objection is to the over-use of "fascism" for everything liberals don't like. MAGA is a dangerous beast and has strong authoritarian leanings but it's not fascism. It can get worse. Much worse. Calling it fascism now is hyperbole that won't be taken seriously by people who aren't already in your circle-jerk.

[-] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

So even though it fits the definition it isn't fascism because it hurts people's feelings.

Boo fuckin' hoo.

[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works -5 points 10 months ago

It doesn't meet the definition. MAGA is heavily influenced by fundamentalism. Where is that in Fascism?

Having similarities doesn't make them the same.

[-] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

It doesn't meet the definition. MAGA is heavily influenced by fundamentalism. Where is that in Fascism?

The very first one?

The cult of tradition. "One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers. The Nazi gnosis was nourished by traditionalist, syncretistic, occult elements."

[-] tomatopathe@sh.itjust.works 5 points 10 months ago

You still haven't made any sort of point.

There is a definition, and it applies. It's unclear why you disagree.

[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works -3 points 10 months ago

Definitions are useful to describe what people are talking about. They are not magical rules which speak things into existence.

Where is christian fundamentalism in that definition of "fascism"? Or un-regulated capitalism / corporatism?

There are similarities between MAGA and fascism but there are things that are quite different as well.

[-] AnonTwo@kbin.social 21 points 10 months ago

GIven how long he's been doing it for, there's absolutely no way it's because of that.

That's just what he says for his PR, because his base hates "woke"

[-] photonic_sorcerer@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 10 months ago

You think some foreign interests could have a hand in this? It'd make sense.

[-] Nougat@kbin.social 33 points 10 months ago

“I don’t want to, let’s just put it like that,” Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told NBC News on Wednesday. “I do not want to, and I think that we need to take every avenue possible to avoid it. And then let’s take every avenue first and then we’ll debate the next move.”

"We should first do a whole lot of things that are not going to work, and only then should we debate on what to do."

[-] atzanteol@sh.itjust.works 6 points 10 months ago

"We've done nothing and we're all out of ideas."

[-] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 25 points 10 months ago

I was disappointed at first that Schumer seemed to cave and agree to individual votes, but it's turned out to be a masterstroke of a political move. He called Tuberville's bluff, and Tuberville still objected on individual appointments, despite saying he wouldn't.

The good optics for Democrats here are obvious, but what this has also done is intensify tensions within the GOP. Several Republican senators, who are incredibly conservative, have been visible and vocally angry at Tuberville objecting on an individual basis as well. Lindsey Graham directly told Tuberville that he was denying excellent people promotions.

Give in to Republican demands for a compromise, and they'll move the goalposts and make new demands. Schumer beautifully exploited that here. There may be enough Republican anger now to vote for a rule change that allows bypassing Tuberville.

[-] DarkGamer@kbin.social 17 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

He wants a military that will support the next Republican coup attempt, or no military at all.

[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Taking bets now: Which Democrat is gonna be the single deciding vote that blocks this?

[-] PlantJam@lemmy.world 26 points 10 months ago

The article explains that he measure needs 60 votes, meaning at least nine republicans.

[-] RaincoatsGeorge@lemmy.zip 21 points 10 months ago

Tuberville is right about one thing. The maga base is going to go after senators that vote against his little abortion blockade because they’re stupid as Fuck. But they’re also fanatical about pretending to support the military while doing nothing to actually support them. So they’re also going to face heat the more they go against these promotions.

It’s Schrödingers fascist paradox. They’ve boxed themselves into these culture wars topics and now have no proper outlet. They need to remain pro military no matter what but must also harm the military by being anti abortion no matter what.

These chicken shit needle dick politicians are scared shitless about what will happen if they are perceived as anti maga so they are paralyzed by fear. We all suffer for their stupidity.

[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world -4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Right. So if we get 9 Republicans (It'll be exactly 9 if we do, since as few as possible are going to risk the wrath of the base), we'll see one turncoat Democrat.

Of course, I'd be happy to be wrong, but it's not like Senate Democrats have provided me with an abundance of reasons to be optimistic.

[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago

Why would a MAGA Republican want to weaken the military? I wonder…

[-] autotldr@lemmings.world 10 points 10 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A resolution crafted by Democrats and independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona would use a Senate tool to bypass Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., who for months has prevented a quick vote on more than 300 top-level military promotions in protest of the Defense Department’s abortion travel policy.

It also includes an exception for members of the joint chiefs and combatant commanders, positions which typically involve individual floor votes in the Senate due to their importance.

“We have to move forward," he added, noting that military personnel were being left "in limbo" amid the Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Schumer called Mahoney's appointment "urgent," after the Marine Corps’ commandant, Gen. Eric Smith, was hospitalized due to a medical emergency over the weekend.

In a notable intraparty escalation, Republicans on Wednesday went to the floor for the first time to try and unanimously approve a group of high-level military promotions, a tactic that Tuberville has objected to.

“One of the things that I can’t understand is if you require our military to be subordinate to the people above them in the civilian world, why would you punish them for something they’ve got nothing to do with,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said on the Senate floor before attempting to confirm a promotion for Maj. Gen. Laura Lenderman.

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this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023

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