MSNBC:
As it turns out, retired two-star Marine Gen. Arnold Punaro talked to Politico about this last week. After calling the far-right senator “a coward” who “doesn’t understand our military,” the retired general, who also worked as longtime staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee, explained that Tuberville’s unprecedented holds really are “having an impact.”
“A good example of what’s happening in the Marine Corps is you have Eric Smith, who’s the assistant commandant — that’s still his billet because he didn’t get confirmed. He’s doing the equivalent of two full-time four-star jobs right now. It’d be like asking the Auburn quarterback to play offensive tackle and quarterback at the same time. … I don’t think people really understand how detrimental this really is on a day-to-day basis.”
Punaro is hardly the only military voice raising these concerns. CNN recently noted that Redstone Arsenal, an army base in the Republican’s home state of Alabama, is also waiting for Tuberville to let senators confirm its pending leader.
