301 Comments

WTF with the weak-ass Dems for letting this go on. Silly me - I thought Dems had the majority. Dems could shut that shit down tomorrow if they could only grow some balls.

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Dems have a tenuous majority in the Senate, but not the House, so no, they don't "have the majority." It's a Senate rule, not a law, that any of 100 Senators can stop nominations that require Senate approval. That rule - or any other in the Senate - can be changed only with a 60-vote majority. Not going to happen. Blaming "weak-ass Dems" for Tuberville's obstinate arrogance is absurd, especially when ignoring the fact that GOP Senate and House members are silent, making no effort to stop him and the damage he's inflicting on the military.

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Former coaches who demand to be called “coach” long after they’ve stopped coaching are some of the worst people.

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I fucking hate the title "coach." I teach in a high school that is all about athletics. They hire "coach" as a coach, then try and shoehorn him (always a "him") into a teaching position. Feh.

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Vanderbilt 14-13 Clemson........

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Can't the senate just pass legislation to strip this idiot of this ridiculous undemocratic power?

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No, because no law enables that power. It's a Senate rule and every Senator has the same power. That - or any Senate rule - can be changed or removed with a 60-vote majority. That's not likely. Many Senators on both sides of the aisle won't vote to relinquish that authority.

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Nobody ever claimed the Senate was about "democracy." It was designed to prevent it.

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Maybe it's all those years at Auburn, playing second fiddle to Alabama in the BCS, that has Tommy on a power trip. And he wants military leaders to call him "Coach", like HE'S the authority figure.

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When I worked retail back in the day, we used to say "Fuck you very much" to customers at the end of a transaction. In the rush, no one noticed.

What I'm saying is, I think if you just said "Roach" sotto voce he might not notice.

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He WOULDN'T notice, because he has the attention span and intellectual capacity of a brick.

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He is a famously terrible football coach. At auburn no less. Wtf Alabama have you no shame

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Come on, now...you know that answer to that question. : )

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Doin’ poems is the gateway drug to doin’ books.

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Ach. Another one of Putin's putos.

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Traitorous shitgibbon. How fucked is our country that one man can bring our entire Military to its knees? How can this be part of government? How have other people not locked this bastard in a coat closet and voted without him?

WHY THE FUCK ARE WE NEGOTIATING WITH THIS GODDAMNED TERRORIST???

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As a wise man said in another wonkette piece, he can suck 100% of their (military) balls

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The man is outright STUPID. He could even be dumber than Boobert.

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founding

Sure he can. Just because you keep saying he can't doesn't make your postulate magically come true

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I really wish people would understand the system and the rules before railing against the rules they don't care to know and crying that if only those weak Dems would follow the one weird trick they just made up it would be fixed.

Again.

Every single one of these military promotions and assignments Tuberville is holding up is considered a nominee. All nominees need the advice and consent of the Senate. To get that advice and consent there needs to be a hearing, mandatory debate time, and a full floor vote for each individual nominee.

Unanimous consent bypasses the rules and streamlines the whole thing. Military promotions and assignments are further streamlined by being done in batches.

Tuberville is fucking with the shortcut.

Schumer can't bypass Tuberville's obstruction by just holding a floor vote. He would have to schedule over 300 hearings then over 300 floor votes. At best he could get one nominee through every 3 days or so assuming no other Senate business. 900 days of nothing but military promotions with bullshit GOP grandstanding during the hearings.

None of that was scheduled in originally because until now promotions like this have not been controversial.

I suppose it's easier and better to blame Schumer and the weak Dems than it is to lay the blame where it belongs, especially if you just make up the rules as you go. It's certainly easier to blame Schumer than it is to do a quick internet search and devote 5 minutes to understanding the actual problem.

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Then they should start with all those hearings and votes and do nothing else except denounce Tuberville as traitorous scum until even Mitch McConnell is tired of it.

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Thx

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For the record, one of my toughest education teacher-professors had been a football coach during his 20+ys as a regular teacher. Definitely a YMMV thing. Dr M was no slouch.

(I had him in 2 ed classes and the one regular geography class; the uni had no geography profs at the time; just the one former social studies teacher who had taught it to high schoolers for years. The uni's pretty solid but it was a "nobody wants to do geography anymore" thing. sigh. *I* did.)

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I'm a PhD geographer and love the discipline. I was a good professor, but my stupid university cut my program.

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In the ancient times when I was in high school (class of '79! *19*79) in, I know, Florida, our 11th grade American History class had a full section -- several months of classwork -- on "Americanism vs. Communism." The football coach taught that one -- and guess who won? (It was "Americanism" every time.)

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Yeah, my dad was a football coach and teacher and an avid student of history and politics. OTOH, I recognize that he was a notable exception because of the mine run of coaches with a side job of teaching school.

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Did he just refer to himself as "Coach"?

I just can't. Kick this Russian asset out of the Senate already.

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So....whatabout the other 99 Senators? Perhaps they should maybe I dunno over rule this one hick Senator who represents a state with the same population as the 45th largest city in California....home of the world's 4th largest economy...... Just asking for 229,999,999 Actual Not Treasonous Putin Supporting Jackasses.....

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TBF I haven't bothered to read up on it but I don't quite understand how one Senator can hold up all this stuff by himself

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Usually this stuff is done under Unanimous Consent but Tubbs won't waive UC. And Schumer won't break "tradition" by simply bringing it up as business when Tubbs isn't in DC.

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Yes, Schumer not taking care of this when an R is gone is bullshit, imo.

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