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| Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images |
Drag performances took place on board the USS Ronald Reagan under the command of a Navy captain whose promotion to rear admiral is currently being blocked by Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
Capt. Michael Donnelly served as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier the USS Ronald Reagan from April 2016 to September 2018. During that time period, Yeoman 2rd Class Joshua Kelley was performing as a drag queen at Morale, Welfare, and Recreation department-sanctioned events on the carrier under the drag name “Harpy Daniels.”
As commander of the USS Ronald Reagan, Donnelly would have been aware of, and responsible for, that activity, according to William Thibeau, director of The American Military Project at The Claremont Institute.
Donnelly declined to comment for this article through the U.S. Navy.
“Every military officer takes command of units large and small with the understanding they are responsible for everything that does and does not happen under their command,” Thibeau explained. “It’s the basic truth of military leadership, whether you command an infantry company or an aircraft carrier.”
“The USS Ronald Reagan drag shows of 2017 and 2018 were not random acts of entertainment for sailors, but were sanctioned Navy programs under the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) department of the ship,” he noted. “As commander of the ship, Captain Donnelly would have been ultimately responsible for this program.”
Thibeau also noted that large media outlets, such as NBC and the Military Times, had covered the drag shows during Donnelly’s tour—significant press attention that “would have been a standard reporting requirement directly to Captain Donnelly at the time.” --->READ MORE HERE
In protest of the Pentagon’s abortion policy, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has reportedly blocked at least 184 military promotions. Tuberville says he warned defense officials he would put holds on their nominees in advance.
“They were warned in advance, but they did it anyway,” Tuberville said in an interview with NewsNation host Dan Abrams.
Tuberville, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is concerned with the Department of Defense providing leave to service members traveling to different states for reproductive health care, including abortions, as well as helping with expenses.
According to reports, the Department of Defense does not pay for abortions unless the life of the mother is endangered or when rape or incest is a factor. The Pentagon says 91 abortions of those kind were conducted at military medical treatment facilities between 2016 and 2021.
“What’s happened is since Roe v. Wade went back to states like it should have, they’re trying to use taxpayer dollars any way they can to fund travel and time off for service members to get abortions without any restrictions. We’ve had an abortion policy, but they just went around Congress, and said ‘We’re going to do this on our own,’” Tuberville said.
He continued: “That’s not how you do things in Washington, D.C. It’s not how they’re going to do things with me, with the ability to put a block and put holds on their nominees. I told them that beforehand, if you do this, I’m going to block them.”
President Joe Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin previously said there will be “powerful effects” on military readiness if Tuberville continues blocking Pentagon nominees. --->READ MORE HERE
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