Big wheels keep on turnin'

To the editor:

Senator Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Alabama) refusal to agree that “white nationalism” is a racist term is not different from someone saying that the “N-word” is not necessarily a racist word. It defies rational thinking, but it is not surprising in the Trump-era denial of truth, science and clear communication. Tuberville calls white nationalists “Americans.” 

I wonder what William F. Buckley (“Firing Line”) and Edwin Newman (“Strictly Speaking”) would say about the radical right wing’s disfiguration of the English language for political purposes. We know what George Orwell (“1984”) and Aldous Huxley (“Brave New World”) would have to say about the autocrat-loving fanatics on the right.  

Tuberville is not only a threat to the English language, he is an imminent threat to our military here and around the world. As a lone senator who talks like he would like to see an all-white military, he has personally prevented the promotions of about 250 high level military supervisors. If he keeps it up, it is predicted he will prevent over 600 military promotions by the end of the year, including the nominee for the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., to succeed Army Gen. Mark A. Milley.  

What started Tuberville on his attack on the military was the Pentagon policy ensuring abortion access to military service members, and he says he will never relent until the Pentagon drops the policy. That will never happen, so our military will be weakened until Republicans in the Senate force their traitorous, misogynist member to give up his attack on women and the military.  

The nation is gradually moving to the left, and Republicans had better get out of the way or get run over. Their dirty tricks and guru-worship of Donald Trump won’t succeed. Hopefully the cultural civil war will remain political, but the liberals will not be defeated.  

Michael Gorman