No defense

The Republican Party used to stand for a strong national defense.
North Carolina’s two Republican Senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, boast of their support for the state’s military personnel and veterans.

But neither Tillis nor Budd, nor any Republican Senator, has the backbone to stand up to Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama (pictured), a former football coach who’s blocking 301 military promotions because he wants to impose the right-wing’s social, cultural and religious order on the military.
Four command positions are unfilled at North Carolina’s Fort Liberty (no longer named for an incompetent Confederate general despised by his own men):

• Deputy Commander, U.S. Army Special Warfare Center and School
• Joint Special Operations Command, U.S. Special Operations Command
• Deputy Commander (Operations), 82nd Airborne Division
• Commander, U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command/Deputy Commander-Futures, U.S. Special Operations Command

“From Alabama to Asia, the scope of senior military officers frozen in place … is vast, including 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 Washington Post reported.

Peter Feaver, a national security official under President George W. Bush and now a professor of civil-military relations at Duke University, said the sweep and significance of the vacancies leave America in “rare and uncharted territory” and on shakier footing with allies and partners.

A number of “warfighting” positions are affected, especially in the Pacific,” he said. “This is a gift to China, and it’s a gift that keeps giving day in and day out.”
Tuberville, Tillis and Budd say they’re fighting “wokeness.”

No, they’re fostering weakness.

“See where Sen. Tommy Tuberville is blocking 301 military promotions” https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/08/12/military-promotions-blocked-tuberville/