I’m speaking on the floor today because I am appalled by what appears to be a total betrayal of our troops by the man who’s supposed to be their Commander in Chief. Tune in: https://t.co/gBOsNpqO6i
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) June 29, 2020
Wow — Duckworth says she will block Senate approvals of **1,123** senior U.S. Armed Forces promotions until Esper "confirms in writing that he did not, or will not, block the expected and deserved promotion of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman to Colonel."
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) July 2, 2020
Sen. Duckworth to block more than 1,000 military promotions unless Pentagon vows not to retaliate against Vindman https://t.co/73pUilHSgU
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 2, 2020
Make the Squatter-in-Chief own his crimes:
… Duckworth is a Purple Heart recipient and a former Army helicopter pilot who lost both her legs in the Iraq War.
Vindman, who received a Purple Heart for his actions in Iraq and later served as a White House aide on European affairs, is among hundreds of officers selected to be promoted to full colonel this year.
In February, the White House ousted Vindman from his post on the National Security Council. He had testified to Congress in November that he was disturbed by Trump’s call for Ukraine to investigate the president’s political rivals.
“Our military is supposed to be the ultimate meritocracy,” Duckworth said in a statement. “It is simply unprecedented and wrong for any Commander in Chief to meddle in routine military matters at all, whether or not he has a personal vendetta against a Soldier who did his patriotic duty and told the truth — a Soldier who has been recommended for promotion by his superiors because of his performance. . . . This goes far beyond any single military officer, it is about protecting a merit-based system from political corruption and unlawful retaliation.”…
Whether or not she’s Joe Biden’s VP choice, it’s clear she’ll be an important part of his team.
Uncle Jeffy
She’s my Senator and I’m proud of her.Compare her sacrifice and LtCol Vindman’s to those of Cadet Bonespurs and his mealy-mouthed VP. Rethuglikkkans – cowards and traitors.
Another Scott
Excellent. Thank you Senator Duckworth.
Cheers,
Scott.
dmsilev
This is how you actually support the troops.
trollhattan
“I prefer soldiers who did not have their legs blown off.”
–Sir you-know-who
Good work senator, keep it up! Bet Turtle is off having a mumblefest somewhere.
geg6
She is awesome.
Never again do I want to hear another Republican claim their party supports the troops. After reading the WaPo story about the guys who testified against the war criminal and how they’ve suffered, the lack of outcry from them regarding the Russian bounties and how they vilified Vindman, they have lost all credibility. Vindman deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor, IMHO.
Baud
@geg6:
I hope the troops register their disgust in November.
Cameron
Reading Sen. Duckworth’s statement, my immediate thought was Lee Marvin in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: “All right, dude. This one’s right between the eyes.” And Marvin was the bad guy…
debbie
@dmsilev:
Seconded.
MomSense
@geg6:
I’m with you. I never believed their bullshit and the way they lorded their phony support for the troops and hawkish foreign policy but now – I wish a GOP motherfucker would. I’m furious.
Alison Rose
I love her and would reeeeeeeally love it if Biden chose her, because 8 years down the line (or 4, considering Biden’s age) she’d be a fantastic fucking presidential candidate.
debbie
@MomSense:
All the more reason to despise Cotton.
mrmoshpotato
One of my Senators (who I’ll be voting for again in 2022 if she runs) making us proud.
MomSense
@debbie:
I’ve despised him from the moment I first heard about him. I’ll never forgive his fucking stunt with his letter to Iran trying to undermine B Obama.
I’m a donkey on the edge, Debbie!
Yutsano
I had no idea she has a slight Thai accent. It’s wonderful to hear. And she’s ripping the Republicans a new one. I still think she has eligibility issues but she’s a great Senator.
@debbie: You want to watch Adam go off? Mention Tom Cotton. He has words about that man…
gwangung
@mrmoshpotato: Actually, as a Washington resident, I REALLY want to vote for her.
JMG
This shows how a single Senator can use the body’s ridiculous and antiquated rules to do some good if they are willing. Esper won’t do it, of course, and Mitch can overrule it on the floor, but that means Collins et. al. have to stand with him to their political detriment.
Martin
I did not know the Senate could do that. Good job Sen Duckworth.
mrmoshpotato
@gwangung: She was born in Thailand, so I don’t think she’s eligible to be VP. (At least from what Joe Biden told Trevor Noah when Noah jokingly asked to be considered. I haven’t groked the Constitution lately.)
gwangung
@mrmoshpotato: Father’s an American citizen (serviceman), so I’m supporting the troops….
Martin
FedEx (sponsor of the stadium) asks the owner of the Redskins to change the team name.
So, we’re probably going to have another 2 weeks of that shit again.
mrmoshpotato
@gwangung: You could vote for her in 2022 if you move to Illinois. ?
JMG
@mrmoshpotato: She was born of US parents, one in the military, so she is eligible.
germy
Open thread? Here’s a weird story:
A few days ago it was reported someone threw an explosive into a correctional officer’s house.
Now it turns out, the correctional officer filed a false report. Nobody threw an explosive into his house. It was a firecracker set off either by the officer or a member of his family. But he gave police the name of a woman who had disagreed with him about politics on the “Next Door” website:
wnyt.com/albany-new-york-news/fireworks-ryan-lawson-deanne-grimaldi-/5780115/?cat=1011
dmsilev
@mrmoshpotato: Her father was a US citizen, so under not-insane interpretations of the law, she’s eligible to run for President or Veep.
Jay Noble
I think Trump & the GOP are more afraid another title she bears – Mom.
Alison Rose
@mrmoshpotato: According to this Reddit thread (which, I mean, grain of salt and all that) she would be eligible because her father was a US citizen and she was born overseas due to him being in the army. She’s in the same category in that sense (and no other) as Ted Cruz, it seems?
(Sorry to add to the pile-on, should have refreshed :P )
JoyceH
Let’s not forget Vindman’s brother, who had nothing to do with the impeachment allegations but got frog-marched out of the White House as well.
Martin
@gwangung: I think under the current rules she would be, but it’s not clear under the rules as the time she became a citizen. Dad was a US citizen working for the UN and she came to the US before the age of 18. It might depend on whether she was ever a citizen of Indonesia or Thailand or the other places she lived.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
I remember some Trump sycophant vet gave his Purple Heart to Trump back in 2016. Of course, he accepted it. I wonder whatever happened to that Purple Heart? I’ve used the Great Google and come up with zilch
Roger Moore
@Yutsano:
She doesn’t have any real eligibility problems. Her father was an American citizen, and that makes her a native born citizen.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@germy:
That’s similar to “SWATing”, where you call the cops on somebody and the SWAT team swoops in on them.
That woman is right. This was absolutely meant to silence and harass people Lawson disagreed with. Have no idea why that NBC affiliate felt the need to put “Soccer Mom” in the title
germy
A few days ago, before Maxwell was arrested, some people on twitter noticed things:
germy
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Nothing good comes of going on “Next Door” and sharing one’s opinions with fascists. If they don’t like what you’re saying, they’ll go after you every time.
satby
@Roger Moore: She’s eligible, and a member of the DAR. Duckworths have served in the military in this country since its founding.
The Moar You Know
I’ve not had an opinion on who Biden should choose as his VP. I do now. I think she would be excellent. That’s thinking outside the box and fucking the GOP with their own bullshit rules, and we (as a party) need a lot more of that.
sdhays
@Martin: I’m surprised that a member of the minority has this power in this Senate. I suspect it’s one of those courtesy “powers” that McConnell has revoked over and over again when it became inconvenient
ETA: Even so, McConnell can see that there’s a very decent chance that Republicans don’t control the chamber next year, and it’s not worth going “nuclear” over this since it doesn’t get him anything.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@germy:
Yup. I would think Facebook also has the same problems
pluky
@gwangung: not just “a serviceman”. Scion of a lineage of service that goes back to the American Revolution.
mrmoshpotato
@JMG:
@dmsilev:
@Alison Rose: Point taken! :)
We’ll just have to see who Biden picks (or you could reply to a spam email poll). ?
Villago Delenda Est
LTC (retired) and Senator Duckworth kicks ass and takes names…particularly that of the traitor-in-chief, draft dodging coward Donald Trump.
Villago Delenda Est
@pluky: Compare this to the grandson of a man who fled Bavaria to avoid military service and set up shop as a pimp.
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: You know, being a corporal in a Bavarian regiment is a viable route to world power.
Gvg
@germy: funny, I haven’t seen anything like that on my Next door. It’s mostly lost pets and opinions on home repair companies. Also, a lot of complaints about Cox cable. There are a few iffy things like suspicious cars that could be anything which get called out by others. There are really a lot of missing pets, including turtles-more than one, more than once. I hadn’t realized there were that many tortoise owners. People don’t want to hear politics because they know it causes fights, so that kind of gets pushed out, here.
Roger Moore
@sdhays:
She can’t formally block the bill. What she can do is to deny unanimous consent to move it to a vote. Basically, there are too many bills for the Senate to give them all a full debate. Instead, most minor stuff is moved by requesting unanimous consent, i.e. by saying that they’ll go straight to a vote unless someone objects.
By denying unanimous consent, Duckworth is saying that she sees this as an important matter that demands a full debate. Since a full debate can take a few days, that’s a significant investment of time, and McConnell is unlikely to be willing to do it for something he considers to be minor. If it’s minor enough to do without it, he would just table it and move on to the next bill. But this is still important enough that he will really want it to pass, so he will have to knuckle under and give her what she wants, spend the time on a full debate, or try to attach it to some must-pass legislation.
Mary G
She’s just as eligible to be president as John McCain was.
Roger Moore
@Villago Delenda Est:
Trump would lose an ass kicking contest to this particular double amputee.
Jinchi
At 36, Trevor Noah just barely passes the minimum age requirement, but he misses the eligibility mark on a few points.
As daughter of an American citizen, the 52 year old Duckworth has been a citizen since birth and has lived in the United States since 1984. So she clears all the hurdles, other than the “birther” objections that have no basis in law.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Oh, excellent.
Kent
I think she is in the same situation as John McCain who was born in Panama when his father was serving in the Panama Canal Zone.
Kent
What I don’t understand is why someone like her doesn’t bring the Senate to a fucking halt with every single unanimous consent motion to slow down the rush to put in conservative judges before the 2021. That is what McConnell would do (and did with Garland).
SFAW
@Omnes Omnibus:
If only my 70-years-gone grandfather had known.
Well, except that he wasn’t one of those candy-ass Bavarians, he was Prussian. And he was an Unteroffizier, so I guess that disqualifies him
ETA: No, he wasn’t a Nazi; he left the Heimat in 1910 or so.
SFAW
@Kent:
I think George Romney was born in Mexico. Similar “controversy” during the 1968 R primaries.
MelissaM
THAT’S (one of my) SENATOR(s)!! Honestly when I voted for her, I wasn’t sure she would be able to do the duties – would she be a light weight, etc. But she’s proven herself to me. I’m so happy with her, and of course with Durbin.
SFAW
@MelissaM:
He’s a racist who says hurtful things, you know. Or so Tim Scott tells me. Because racist Durbin racistly called Scott’s police “reform” bill/proposal a “token proposal.” Which is almost the same as calling Scott a “token.” Or something. Scott never exactly explained what was so hurtful or racist about what Durbin said. But I believe his “outrage” is real, not faked oh no.
Jay
Y’all realize you are never leaving Sars -Covid 19.
While the ROW moves on,
Because of Trumpists and anti-vaxxers, ( 40%) , y’all aint never achieving “herd”’ immunity.
If it’ even possible.
Corona Virus Nation, Forever.