Dick Hubert’s Worldview: Sen. Tommy Tuberville: an albatross around America’s neck; two Haitis
August 16, 2023 at 10:16 p.m.
Attention all the veterans reading this column: are you in favor of Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville’s single-handed effort to destroy the leadership of the American military?
I ask because I don’t hear or see any outrage from local veterans’ groups.
As I write this, Tuberville’s quest to destroy the American military and its first Black Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin (yes, when dealing with Tuberville you have to deal with his state’s history of ugly racism), must be bringing joy to our enemies in Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran—just to pick a few.
As of this past Sunday, Tuberville was blocking 301 military promotions, with the count going up by the day.
The Washington Post noted that the list includes “not only the incoming leaders of the Joint Chiefs of Staff but generals and admirals focused on China policy, arming Ukraine, and modernizing U.S. combat forces after 20 years of war.”
“The Pentagon estimates that about three-quarters of the generals and admirals in the Defense Department — 650 of 852 — will be affected by Tuberville’s hold” by the end of the year.
To see the complete list of blocked military leadership, and the dangers it puts American troops and leadership in worldwide, see the Post article.
Tuberville is using Senate rules (neither Republican Leader Mitch McConnell nor Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has so far been able to stop him) to block promotions as part of his Republican war against abortion policies—in this case the Pentagon’s financially supporting women service members anywhere in the country who need to seek such medical services beyond a state where they’re stationed which bans them.
Tuberville’s ‘world of his own’
The U.S. Constitution only requires that a Senator “be an inhabitant” of a state when elected. The Post reports that “Alabama law requires a person be a state resident for seven years to run for governor — but only for one day to run for Senate.”
So it was not a surprise when the Post discovered: “Tuberville’s office says his primary residence is an Auburn (Ala.) house that records show is owned by his wife and son. But campaign finance reports and his signature on property documents indicate that his home is actually a $3 million, 4,000-square-foot beach house he has lived in for nearly two decades in Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., located in the Florida Panhandle about 90 miles south of Dothan (Ala.).”
That’s why he’s called Florida’s third Senator.
The Post’s fact checker Glenn Kessler also looked into Tuberville’s promise to voters that he would donate every dollar he earned to veterans. He has not.
So far Tuberville owes veterans $400,000 based on his pledge. By the end of his Senate term, he’ll owe them at least a million. If the past is prologue, he’ll fail to keep that pledge as well.
In this space I have urged our Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to lead a chorus demanding the Biden administration not reward Tuberville by agreeing to put the headquarters of the Space Command in Huntsville, Ala. The President recently decided to have the Space Command headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Tuberville wasn’t happy with that.
Alabama voters seem to be waking up to the monster they’ve elected.
According to an Aug. 9 dispatch in The Hill, “A majority of likely Alabama voters want Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) to drop his hold on military promotions, according to a new poll.
The poll, conducted by Public Policy Polling and commissioned by VoteVets, found that 58 percent of Alabama voters think Tuberville has “made his point” with his hold and that he should “now allow senior military promotions to move forward.”
But Tuberville isn’t budging. MAGA to the end. And to hell with the USA.
Local veterans’ groups: have I got your attention?
The two parts of Haiti
You may have read about the chaos in Haiti, and, most recently, about local gangs kidnapping an American aid worker and her son (they were just released after two weeks of “negotiations”).
The U.S State Department urged every American to get out of Haiti—they could not guarantee their safety in a country where there seems to be no effective local government—and drug gangs control the streets and impose their own form of justice.
That prompted me to get in touch with an Amherst College classmate, Dr. Mike Taylor, who established the Konbit Sante Cap-Haitien Health Partnership--a charity which has brought together Cap Haitien and Portland, Me. as sister cities.
I asked Taylor how they were coping—and received such a surprising answer that I want to quote it in its entirety—on the theory that you’ll be surprised, too.
He e-mailed:
“I’ve attached the e-mail from Tezita Negussie, our Interim Executive Director, who is now in Cap-Haitien. She had been in the US for surgery.
We have been extremely fortunate — none of our staff or volunteers have been kidnapped or abused since our founding 22 years ago. Tezita, who is small, walks to and from the office. I do worry about safety, but we are well recognized in the community and seem to be valued citizens.
Port au Prince, the Capitol, is in the south and is the primary port of entry. So most goods enter the country through Port au Prince and are transported from there by trucks. Gasoline is now about 6 times what it was last fall.
It is almost as though there are two Haitis, north and south. In fact there seem to be two different cultures. I could speculate on why that is, but it would be just that — speculation. So I won’t.”
Ms. Negussie wrote the following note to Taylor in response to my inquiry:
“I traveled back to Cap-Haitien on Tuesday (August 1), despite the travel advisory issued by the State Department. I have always and continue to feel safe in Cap-Haitien, where I've lived for the past two years. There was a period of protest and tension in the fall of 2022, but that has dissipated. Unlike Port-au-Prince, we, in Cap, are not threatened by gang violence or the possibility of kidnapping.
All of our partner facilities - Justinien University Hospital, Unite de Lutte Pour la Sane, Haitian Baptist Convention Hospital, and Fort St. Michel Hospital - are open and serving their communities. They struggle to purchase basic goods and pay staff salaries - chronic problems exacerbated by inflation and a lack of a functioning government (in the case of the JUH and FSM), but they are open.”
I know we have readers of this publication who either have Haitian backgrounds, or friends or family in Haiti, or both.
Amidst the sadness and chaos in that country, they (and you) might feel comfortable donating to the “Konbit Sante Cap-Haitien Health Partnership.” Your money will help good people deal with a horrible situation.
Correction: Canada, NOT Canadian, geese
We have the best readers, and thus my thanks to one with eagle eyes who wrote me upon reading last week’s column that I didn’t know the difference between a Canadian goose (one from Canada) and a Canada goose (a special species that plagues us locally).
To quote the explanation from a Google search: “Canada goose is the common name for the species Branta canadensis. So, it is correct to call this bird “Canada goose” and not correct to call it “Canadian goose.” A Canadian goose could be any goose from Canada."
Dick Hubert, a retired television news producer-writer-reporter living in Rye Brook, has been honored with the Peabody Award, the DuPont Columbia Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism Award.
Editor’s Note: This column, written by Dick Hubert, represents his opinion and not that of this newspaper.
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