Friends,

When I go on MSNBC, I’m often asked about Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s block of military promotions — a scheme that’s been going on for 10 months now and which makes our country less safe every single day.

On TV, I get about 30 seconds to answer. But this one’s personal to me, and I have so much more to say. I want to take a minute to explain why Tuberville’s antics are so dangerous — and why I think it’s shaping up to be a defining issue in the next election.

When Roe v. Wade was overturned, we suddenly had a lot of women service members stationed in states where abortion was being criminalized. The Pentagon naturally decided those women need and deserve reproductive health care — and issued a policy that helps them get the care they need while granting the minimal leave they need to do so.

There are many really good reasons for that (in addition to the basic human right to decide what happens to your own body). For one, keep in mind that, when you’re in the military, you don’t get a choice of where you’re stationed. You can’t just sign up to go to a state that respects your right to choose. And, let’s face facts: We sadly still have a sexual assault problem in our military. If a woman gets assaulted, she should be able to get reproductive health care.

Tommy Tuberville didn’t like this one bit. He tried to get the Senate to reverse the common-sense Pentagon policy, but his attempts never even made it out of committee — meaning his fellow Republican senators refused to go along with it. But Tommy Tuberville cares so much about banning a women’s right to choose that he decided to put a hold on all high-ranking military promotions to try to get his way.

Now, if you’ve ever spent time with a toddler, you’re familiar with this strategy. I have flashbacks of trying to put socks on a kid who simply did not want to wear socks that day. (It wasn’t pretty.)

The difference is, Tommy Tuberville’s tantrum has been going on since February. Let’s talk about how that affects our military. For 10 months, we’ve been unable to fill important national security leadership vacancies or promote hundreds of officers at the star rank. We now have over 500 promotions being held up. By the end of the year, about two-thirds of all generals and admirals will be withheld their earned promotions.

This isn’t just an HR and payroll issue. In the military, when you aren’t promoted, you can’t take on a position. Right now, in the Navy, we simply don’t have a 7th Fleet commander overseeing all of the Pacific. We don’t have a 5th Fleet commander, overseeing essentially the Mediterranean and Middle East. What that means is we’re not able to do any long-term planning. Our allies and partners don’t know who to talk to. 

That’s all happening because Tommy Tuberville — a famous football coach who never served in the military — doesn’t agree with a policy. That behavior is a slap in the face to women in the military. It’s a slap in the face to the military leaders who, frankly, could be doing lots of other things with their lives and making lots of money, but who choose to serve our country. And it’s a disaster for our representative democracy, to think that one fringe senator can throw a wrench in the gears of critical governmental functions. Most of all, it’s scary to think about what this means for having a military ready to defend and protect our country.
Senator Tuberville has literally weaponized his position as a senator to actively hurt our military. And he isn’t alone in Republican politics. His colleague, my senator, Rand Paul has held up other positions for personal vendettas. When Hamas attacked Israel in October, the United States didn’t have an ambassador to Israel. We didn’t have an ambassador to Egypt. Right-wing ideologues are making us less effective and less safe.

I’m writing to you about this, first and foremost, because more people need to know this is happening. I want more people to be as ticked off about it as I am.

But I also believe deep down that this is part of a common thread about Trumpism and what our opponents in the next election are willing to do to get their way. These guys are eager to abuse their power. They’re telling us and showing us every day.

We started Operation Saving Democracy to lift up the voices of reason who have credibility on these matters — former generals and retired ambassadors who see the dangers Trump and his allies pose and aren’t afraid to sound the alarms in defense of our democracy. Look, we’re realistic about this: We're not going to win over the MAGA base with this effort. Those folks aren’t going to be swayed. We're aiming to reach about 2% of the population, people who have traditionally voted Republican because the Republican Party has been seen as the party of national security. In an election that will be extremely close, that 2% matters a ton.

I believe we can reach those voters, because the leaders of the Republican Party are disqualifying themselves as the party of national security. Whether it’s Tommy Tuberville’s antics, Trump’s wildly irresponsible behavior regarding classified documents, or calling our fallen soldiers “suckers” and “losers,” Republicans no longer have any credibility on this issue.

We’re going to spend the next 10 months in battleground states finding those voters and talking to them about it. We’re going to make sure they hear from leaders they trust and respect. And we’re going to do everything we can to move the needle to stop Trump and Trumpism at the ballot box to save our democracy. I hope you’re with me.

Right now, we’re raising funds to build our programming and set plans in motion — if you can, make a donation to help out here. [[link removed]]

Whew. Thank you for reading all that. I knew I had a lot to say, but I didn’t know it’d be a novel! I hope it’s clear that I care so much about the future of this country. I know you do, too.

More soon (but not as lengthy next time, I promise)!
Amy

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