Tommy Tuberville perfectly sums up the GOP’s embrace of religious fascism!

Tuberville fits in perfectly with today's GOP

GOP Senator Tommy Tuberville is a lot of things from a racist bigot who traffics in anti-Blackness  and defends “white nationalists” to an “election denier” to a man who put his religious beliefs over US military readiness.  Say what you will about Tuberville –and I have—he fits in perfectly with today’s MAGA GOP.  

But Tuberville’s blocking of military promotions because of his religious beliefs must be viewed as coming attractions of where the GOP is heading.  Tuberville began this crusade in response to the Department of Defense’s (DOD) policy reimbursing travel costs for service members seeking an abortion when stationed in a state that bans abortion. Tuberville has blocked more than 450 military promotions since February in an effort to force the government to rescind the policy. 

Why? Just a week ago, Tuberville reminded us of the reason during a speech on the Senate floor: “This is a policy that is illegal and immoral. This is about life.”  Tuberville is telling us point blank that his so called “pro-life” religious beliefs are the reason. And to him, his religious views are more important than our military’s readiness and the morale of members of the military. 

Tuberville knows—as three generals noted in a recent op-ed-- that his blocking of military promotions has resulted in leaving unconfirmed top military officers "without the full range of legal authorities necessary to make the decisions that will sustain the United States' military edge." And as others have stated, if Tuberville’s blockade continues until the end of 2023 it will impact “90% of the country’s most senior military commanders.”

Tuberville also knows that blocking promotion impacts the morale of members of the military as people like Rep. Mikie Sherill (D-NJ)--a Navy veteran--explained on my SiriusXM show and in other media outlets in the past.  And Kathy Roth-Douquet, the chief executive of Blue Star Families, a nonprofit founded in 2009 by military spouses, recently stated that Tuberville’s actions are hurting recruiting efforts for our military. Roth-Douquet explained, “recruiting is really down because people who serve in the military are increasingly not recommending military service anymore.”

Tuberville—in a move that has come to define the GOP—literally tried to gaslight people by telling CNN on Tuesday about his religiously motivated blockade: “I’ve talked to admirals and generals, I’ve had people call me – I have had people call me over the holidays and say ‘keep doing what you’re doing, we’re not having any problem.”  Of course, when asked for names he refused to reveal them.

And on Monday, Tuberville on Newsmax insultingly stated that, “We’ve got the weakest military that we’ve had in your or my lifetime.” He then blamed “wokeness” for the military’s recruiting woes.  In reality, there is a straight line from Tuberville’s blocking military promotions to recruitment issues. And if our military is indeed weaker now, that is because of one person: Tommy Tuberville.

But the reality is that while a few Republicans in the Senate recently voiced opposition to Tuberville’s  tactics, the rest are silent. And worse, two weeks ago in the Senate Rules committee, every single Republican Senator on the committee opposed a measure to allow Democrats to confirm the military promotions more quickly.

In the big picture, though, how is what Tuberville is doing any different than what we are seeing with the GOP imposing religious based abortion bans in states they control?!  Republicans have now enacted  total abortion bans in 14 states. (The only exception is typically an undefined “emergency.”) These Republican state lawmakers—like Tuberville- aren’t hiding that they believe abortion should be banned because their religious views tell them life begins at conception.

And just as Tuberville doesn’t care about the impact on military readiness, these Republicans don’t care that recent studies find that women in states with abortion bans are nearly three times more likely to die during pregnancy, childbirth or soon after giving birth. That means Republicans are literally killing women with their policies but they don’t care because their religious beliefs are more important.

The same report also found that  infants born in states with abortion bans were 30% more likely to die than in states that had more robust healthcare for women. So not only are Republicans killing women, but their policies are also killing the very babies they tell us they care so deeply about.

Tuberville might be getting the headlines but he is no different than the rest of the GOP.  It’s the party of imposing their religious beliefs as law regardless of the impact. In fact, the new GOP Speaker Mike Johnson is the poster child for that movement with his long history of trying to turn his religion into US law to discriminate against the LGBTG community. He has blamed mass shootings on abortion, “feminism” and no-fault divorces. (I’m serious as I noted in a recent article.)  

Some call this Christian nationalism, I call it religious fascism.  And the GOP will not allow democracy or majority opinion to stand in their way. That was the very warning of historian and Christian nationalism expert Kristin Du Mez, author of the must read NY Times best-selling book, “Jesus and John Wayne.” She explained to me recently that people like Johnson in the “religious right” believe that America was founded as a distinctly Christian nation,” meaning that “constitutional rights cannot be interpreted in ways that goes against God's law in ways, for example, that support LGBTQ rights.” She warned that for some on extreme right, that view is “not compatible with a pluralistic understanding of American democracy.”

And since Roe v Wade was overturned, they have become far more embolden. Tuberville is a lot of things. But he’s no outlier. This is true even if Donald Trump disappears tomorrow from the political scene.

Remember, the GOP never becomes more reasonable, they only become more radical.

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