Paul Kane writes:

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) sees the military in a dramatic leftward lurch that has hurt recruiting and combat readiness.

The third-year senator believes Pentagon leaders are forcing troops to read liberal books. That they are helping provide abortion services. And, in new remarks the past few days, that they are inappropriately driving “white nationalists” out of the service.

“They’re politicizing the military so much, they’re ruining our military,” Tuberville told reporters on Thursday, noting that the Army missed its 2022 recruiting goal by 25 percent. “Something’s going wrong in our military.”

These positions have placed Tuberville — whose military background consists of using war metaphors to inspire his teams during three decades coaching college football — in the spotlight as the leading conservative antagonist to the Defense Department.

It’s a particularly unusual twist because Republicans have for decades wrapped themselves in the patriotic mantle of supporting the military.

Republicans have spent months privately complaining about Tuberville. It was perfectly fine to play to the TV bookers at Fox News with complaints about a “woke” Pentagon culture, which most GOP lawmakers consider, at best, a narrow problem. But Tuberville has gone too far in actually picking a fight with the most trusted public institution in America, creating a one-man blockade of nearly 200 promotions among top Pentagon brass to critical military positions. [Continue reading…]