.

God, my memory of them from when I was a kid is such that this would be a scandal in 2004. Do you think they were always like this? I don't.

You mean “why would Hunter’s laptop do this?”

From an NPR article:

Why don't the Senate leaders stop him?

The current Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has made it clear he considers Tuberville's blockade an abuse and an outrage. The GOP's McConnell has also said he does not support the "blanket hold" on military nominations. Both have acknowledged the pleas coming from the Pentagon and from the ranks, and they have done what they could to encourage Tuberville to stand down.

But the leaders cannot simply bulldoze the senator from Alabama. Their power is restrained by Senate rules and traditions and by the sentiments of their respective caucuses.

If the issue here were an ordinary piece of legislation, the leaders would seek a unanimous consent agreement that would bring that matter to the floor. Individual senators may object to that with a notice that they seek "extended debate" on that legislation. This is an implicit threat to filibuster, and the majority leader routinely files a cloture petition and holds a vote.

If cloture fails, the legislation does not go to the floor. If three-fifths of the Senate supports cloture, the legislation can be brought to the floor with time limits on debate.

Presidential nominations have been largely exempt from this since 2013 when a Democratic Senate majority decided only nominations to the Supreme Court would be subject to filibusters. In 2017, a Republican majority decided to extend that exemption to include Supreme Court nominations.

Nonetheless, Tuberville's maneuver has the effect of freezing confirmations for the current backlog presidential nominations because they are submitted in batches for group consideration and approval. The batching procedure itself requires unanimous consent, allowing even one senator to stand in the way.

The Senate majority leader could bring the nominations to the floor one by one for consideration by regular procedure, but that would require two to three days for each. Had the Senate tried to individually process even the first 150 promotions Tuberville blocked back in February, it could have done little else in the months since – and it would still be far behind on confirmations. That is scarcely practical when the military alone submits hundreds a year and the larger executive branch far more.

Moreover, just as the Pentagon bristles at having a single senator dictate its personnel policy, so the Senate leaders are loath to have individual senators deciding when and if the Senate can proceed with normal business using its usual procedures – such as the batching of nominations.

Don't forget the Saudis

No, it's just the absolute demons y'all elect lol

I doubt most military people care. Those positions are being filled by acting commanders until people are promoted to fill them permanently, in most cases by the people nominated to fill them. They aren't just vacant.

Retired military here, and I just can't get too worked up over someone filling that position is getting 2-star pay instead of 3-star pay, or Colonel pay instead of 1-star pay.

Every time I say something "extreme" I am bombarded by people who think taking the high road is the answer while the GOP would literally sell them into slavery or beat them to death with baseball bats for fun.

The Dems honestly feel like controlled opposition

Hopefully he's kept waiting and then voted out himself.

Because someone is undermining the ability of the Biden administration to do things, and when it is reported most people will juat blame Biden instead of paying attention to the actual problem.

Not doing anything benefits the Republicans.

He hates the people they hate. That’s more important to them than supporting the military, which they claim to do.

I mean, the ones with more than 2 brain cells to rub together.

He's from Alabama if that answers your question. Congress is on summer recess, he's been back in Alabama at various events, and the reports I've seen is that he's had a hero's welcome.

In Alabama the only shot a Dem has of winning in a Senate seat is of the Republican is a literal pedophile, and even then just barely as we've seen. A Republican Senator's only real risk is a primary from the right. This kind of bullshit plays well with the Republican base. So here we are.

Dems need to force this issue, either hold a vote to change the rule allowing quick passage of promotions, or start having 20 hour a day sessions 7 days a week to vote on each promotion individually. All this complaining about Tubberville and the harm he's causing the military only plays into his hand of allowing him to cast himself as the lone warrior against the godless woke whatever the fuck.

Fuck were you right , Tuberville is such a corrupt piece of trash, he's easily the George Santos of football coaches.