A liberal group representing US military veterans took aim at Tommy Tuberville, the Alabama Republican senator holding up officer promotions in a protest over abortion, but also at party leaders who have not forced him to stand down, calling them “traitors” and warning: “Tight lips could sink ships.”
Presented in the style of a second world war propaganda film, a short ad from Vote Vets bemoans “an un-American assault on our military” by a “so-called American senator singlehandedly stop[ping] hundreds of military leaders from taking command”.
Tuberville, a former college football coach, was elected in 2020. He is now protesting Pentagon policy that allows service members to travel for abortion care if it is restricted where they are based, a possibility since the US supreme court removed the federal right to abortion last year.
As a result of Tuberville’s block on Senate-confirmed promotions, more than 300 senior roles are being filled in an acting capacity. Military officials have bemoaned the effects of Tuberville’s blocks on officers’ families and finances.
Even the position of chair of the joint chief of staff stands to be affected, when the current occupant, Gen Mark Milley, steps down at the end of this month.
Noting that leadership of the army, navy, air force and marines has already been affected, the Vote Vets ad shows images of leaders of Iran, Russia and North Korea.
“Dangerous dictators look on with glee as Tuberville does their work for them, hurting American military readiness,” says the narrator.
Switching to footage of Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the US Senate, the narrator says Tuberville’s “American comrades are traitors in their silence. Their tight lips could sink ships.”
“Loose lips sink ships” was a phrase coined during the second world war, under the guidance of the US Office of War Information and meant to warn citizens about careless talk that might boost the US’s enemies.
The Vote Vets ad concludes by telling McConnell to “stop the block on military promotions”.
Last week, Tuberville told 1819 News, an Alabama-based news site: “I’m voting for the people of Alabama, and I’m going to stand up for what I believe is right when it comes to the right to life and a lot of the things that go along with it.”
The senator has said he will end his protest if the Senate votes on Pentagon abortion policy. He has also said Democrats who control the Senate can confirm the held-up promotions one by one.
As that would be enormously time consuming, the Senate’s Democratic majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has said it will not happen.
Tuberville has rejected criticism based on his own lack of service, saying he is the son of a father who served.
On Monday, he wished a “happy 76th birthday to the US air force” and thanked the “brave men and women who keep our skies and country safe”.
One user shot back: “How about letting them get promoted!! That would be a nice birthday gift!!”
