Dumbest Senator of the Year: Tommy Tuberville

MicroWave@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 436 points – Dumbest Senator of the Year: Tommy Tuberville
newrepublic.com

The Republican senator from Alabama spent 2023 turning himself into one of the most hated men in Washington—even by members of his own party.

Senator Tommy Tuberville’s nearly yearlong protest against the Department of Defense’s abortion policy brings to mind an old Chinese proverb that translates to, “He who rides a tiger is afraid to dismount.” It means that when you take on something risky—or in this case, downright stupid—it’s easier to keep going than to face the consequences of trying to stop.

For nine months, Tuberville single-handedly blocked more than 450 military promotions, throwing the entire U.S. military into disarray. According to the Alabama Republican, this was the best way to protest the department’s policy of reimbursing service members who have to travel out of their state of deployment for an abortion.

Tuberville partially relented on December 5, when he agreed to allow most of those promotions to go forward with the exception of four-star generals. He then dropped those remaining holds this week, and the Senate promptly confirmed 11 nominees to that position.

After all those months of protesting, Tuberville accomplished … nothing. The Defense Department’s abortion policy is still in place. The only difference is that now, all of the department leadership and pretty much every other senator is angry with him.

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And a liar:

He brought increased scrutiny on himself, resulting in multiple damaging revelations. Despite promising in 2020 to donate “every dime” he makes in Washington to veterans’ causes, Tuberville has yet to actually do so. He appears to have completely fabricated his father’s military record, and he has lived in Florida, not Alabama, for nearly two decades.

Military leaders called him out by name, accusing him of “aiding and abetting Communist and other autocratic regimes”—a devastating insult for any Republican but especially a far-right one.

I mean, they're all liars, so I don't feel that one makes him stand out much.

He's a liar, a cheat, a blackmailer, and a woman hater. Sounds like a perfect congressman, if you ask me.

damn near qualified to be his party's candidate for president.

If anything, being a liar is almost a requirement to be a Republican these days.

Almost?

I actually debated editing that out of the comment several times, but I ultimately decided to leave it as-is.

and he has lived in Florida, not Alabama, for nearly two decades

Illegal, yeah?

If he's been living in Florida, doesn't that make him ineligible for the position he holds?

Edit: Apparently US Congress representatives only need to live in the state they represent at the time they are elected. Crazy.

https://theconversation.com/tommy-tuberville-reportedly-doesnt-live-in-alabama-should-he-still-be-its-senator-211490

It may be easy to forget that Hillary Clinton was a NY senator for a couple terms. She's from Alabama.

And she moved to NY just before the election, IIRC.

It was a mini scandal that kinda nobody actually cared about in the end.