View this email in your browser ([link removed])
Celebrity candidates for office are becoming more common. When someone who spent his life coaching football is then elected to the Senate, expectations are low. Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama has generally met them. (He's a celebrity in Alabama.) Shortly after his election in 2020 he identified the three branches of government as the House, the Senate, and the executive. I assume by now the Supreme Court has come to his attention.

Senator Tuberville found his way onto the Senate Armed Services Committee which oversees the military. He has recently made headlines by holding up the promotions and assignments of over 100 senior military officers to important/critical positions because he objects to the Defense Department’s new policy that allows personnel seeking abortions to travel out of state if they are stationed in a state where abortion is now illegal. Using generals and admirals as pawns like this has not been done in recent memory.

Official portrait of Tuberville in 2021
This week however Senator Tuberville changed the narrative: "Tuberville Appears to Defend White Nationalists in the Military ([link removed]) " In a radio interview he said, “We are losing in the military, so fast, our readiness in terms of recruitment. I can tell you why. Because the Democrats are attacking our military, saying we need to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists, people that don’t believe in our agenda, Joe Biden’s agenda. They’re destroying it. This year, we will not reach any recruiting goals in the military.”

In response, the reporter asked Senator Tuberville, “Do you believe they should allow white nationalists in the military?” Tuberville said, “Well, they call them that. I call them Americans.” You can read the entire remarkable interview here, ([link removed]) including this follow-up: "Right after [January 6th], we, our military and Secretary Austin, put out an order to stand down and all military across the country, saying we’re going to run out the white nationalists, people that don’t believe how we believe. And that’s not how we do it in this country." Really? That's not what we do with white nationalists in the military ([link removed]) ? His office did promptly put out a statement
([link removed]) telling us what he meant to say.

The reporter's question was not about white Christian nationalists but in practice there really isn't any other kind. Senator Tuberville joined an alarming number of members of Congress (and numerous state officials) who just say it out loud: white nationalists are simply good Americans and I'm not going to criticize them because I basically agree with them. You can use this Action Alert ([link removed]) to tell him that white Christian nationalism is a threat to this country and that Congress should prioritize eliminating it in the military.

Incidentally, military recruitment has always been challenging when unemployment is low, and unemployment is historically low. You can pick up that kind of info when you haven't spent your life recruiting 18-year-old quarterbacks and drawing up goal line defenses.


**
------------------------------------------------------------

Scott MacConomy, Director of Policy ad Government Affairs at the Secular Coalition for America, wears a blue suit and stands with his arms crossed over his chest in front of the United States Capitol Building.

Your advocate,

Scott MacConomy
Director of Policy and Government Affairs
Secular Coalition for America
Did someone forward this to you? You can sign up at secular.org ([link removed]) with your email and zip code.

The Secular Coalition for America works every day to defend the separation of religion and government and to fight anti-democratic ideologies like Christian nationalism. Your support for this work is vital.

Donate to protect equal rights for nonreligious Americans! ([link removed])

P.S. Please consider leaving a legacy gift to the Secular Coalition for America ([link removed]) . The protection of our secular values requires eternal vigilance.

============================================================

** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])

Copyright © 2023 Secular Coalition for America, All rights reserved.
Contributions to the Secular Coalition for America are not tax-deductible; they support our effective, citizen-based advocacy and lobbying efforts. Tax-deductible donations, including from Donor Advised Funds and IRA Rollovers, can be made to the Secular Coalition for America Education Fund.



You are receiving this email because you requested to receive updates from the Secular Coalition for America.

Our mailing address is:
Secular Coalition for America
1012 14th St, NW
Suite 205
Washington, DC xxxxxx
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.