(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Waiting for the worst possible moment, DeSantis backs Tuberville [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-11-02 Tommy Tuberville, a lifelong civilian, has taken up arms against the US military. He has single-handedly blocked promotion for scores of officers, leaving already overstretched senior commanders dangerously overloaded. Why? Because he disagrees with the Pentagon’s policy of enabling pregnant servicewomen to access a full range of medical care, including abortions. If Tuberville were a good politician, he would have ridden that horse a few miles. Then stabled it — his point made. But Tommy is not a sharp knife. Despite a proxy war in Ukraine and a red-hot clash in a Middle East teetering on the edge of region-wide conflict, this anti-patriot continues to hobble America’s fighting forces. Now, his Senate colleagues have finally had enough. They are rising up against his blanket hold on senior promotions. However, Ron DeSantis has ignored the turning tide and chosen the politically worst possible time to endorse Tuberville. Worse, he presents a dismal case for his support. This Thursday morning, on the MSNBC Morning Joe show, co-host Mika Brzezinski asked DeSantis if he agreed with Senate Republicans that Tuberville should “lift the blockade on military promotions.” DeSantis said he did not. And added: “Actually, I think that what the DOD is doing, I don’t think they’re following the law with respect to the abortion tourism. I don’t think taxpayer money should be spent on that. We have a very weak defense industrial base, we’ve got huge problems with recruiting. And so their focus on that, I don’t think it’s consistent with the law, In Ron’s sadistic, sniggering soul, I am sure he was high-fiving himself for “abortion tourism.” Conservatives love the catchy phrase — “death panels” was a classic. And MAGAs appreciate it because repeating memes beats thinking. However, Ron’s language play hides his argument’s fatal flaw. If you think the military is breaking the law, sue them. That is what courts are for. Congress may have oversight rights. But judging the constitutionality of something is a job for the judicial branch — with SCOTUS the ultimate arbitrator. Ron then trots out another conservative duplicity. Identify a problem and offer the exact opposite of a solution. The military does have a problem recruiting. However, promising to restrict service member rights will not help that. DeSantis continued: "I also think it’s misguided. I would also point out that you can promote people on an individual basis, I think the Senate has decided they have not wanted to move a lot of those. But if there’s people that are mission critical, they can move it in spite of what Senator Tuberville did. But I think fighting back on the Pentagon going outside the boundaries of the law, I think that’s Congress’s appropriate role and oversight and checks and balances.” DeSantis is correct. The Senate can promote people individually. But there is already a backlog of at least 350 candidates. And with the way the Senate works, just those alone could take a metaphorical forever. Note: Schumer may now have the Republican votes to change the Senate’s rules and promote them all en masse. If he succeeds that will make DeSantis’s decision to express his support for Tuberville as pointless as it is self-destructive. We should not be surprised. Ron DeSantis is a poor politician. He had been on a hot streak. He no longer is. For a while, he was the bright new thing — a local boy made good with a military/Ivy pedigree. In 2012, he was elected to Congress. In 2018, with a Trump endorsement, he squeaked into the Governor’s office. And in 2022, he won reelection in a landslide over a hapless Democrat. Poised for greatness — he positioned himself as MAGA without Trump’s baggage — the anti-woke warrior took his show on the national road. He soon cratered his ambitions. He is now a political dead man walking. But his pride, and perhaps his wife, will not admit it. After his initial assault on the MAGA godhead did not make it to the beach, he bet the farm that a win in Iowa would prove his electability. Or failing that, he maybe calculated that the GOP’s runaway leader would drown in a sea of legal troubles — or sit silenced in prison. Sadly for Ron, neither plan B has takeoff speed. And red lights are flashing on his ambitions. As he heads south in the polls, Nikki Haley is the rising national “not-Trump” candidate. And in Iowa, DeSantis still trails Trump by 30%. For DeSantis, every route to the presidency is blocked with a “road closed” sign. But Mr. Lifts is too deluded to read that writing on the wall. And too dumb to realize that backing Tuberville just confirms his political ineptitude. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/2/2203230/-Waiting-for-the-worst-possible-moment-DeSantis-backs-Tuberville?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/