[Peace] Compared to Saudi Fan Flournoy, Tammy Duckworth Would Be a Great Biden SecDef

[Robert Naiman]

Compared to Saudi Fan Flournoy, Tammy Duckworth Would Be a Great Biden
SecDef

Recently I have found myself re-thinking my views of Illinois Democratic
Senator, decorated combat veteran, veterans’ health advocate, and Dick
Durbin protege Tammy Duckworth. Ever since I found out that Tammy Duckworth
might be our best hope for stopping Saudi arms deal advocate Michele
Flournoy from becoming Biden’s Secretary of Defense.

Like many peace activists in Illinois, I was often disappointed by Tammy
Duckworth. She was no Dick Durbin. And Dick Durbin was often disappointing,
so being like Dick Durbin didn’t seem like that high a bar.

But if Tammy Duckworth is the alternative to Saudi arms deal advocate
Michele Flournoy as Biden’s Secretary of Defense, then as Larry Summers
would say, “I read the data differently now.” Or as the British economist
John Maynard Keynes famously said when someone accused him of
flip-flopping: “When I am given new information, I change my opinion. What,
sir, do you do?”

Let’s examine some things from the other side of the ledger.

First of all, unlike Massachusetts and Vermont but like Connecticut and
Maine, Illinois has a Democratic governor. So there’s no objection based on
partisan balance of the Senate. The governor of Illinois will appoint a
Democrat in her place without obstacle. And they will be re-elected.
Illinois is blue.

Second, let’s suppose that it’s a progressive Democratic goal to elevate
more African-American women to the Senate. And suppose that we start with
the idea that a typical move is to elevate people from the House. There’s
Robin Kelly. There’s Lauren Underwood. Either could be elevated to the
Senate by the governor of Illinois, whose Lieutenant Governor, Juliana
Stratton, is African-American.

The argument you see in the press all the time for Michele Flournoy as
SecDef is that she’d be “the first woman Secretary of Defense.” But so
would Tammy Duckworth. So that’s a wash. But then on top of that, we could
have another African-American Democratic woman in the Senate. Plus, Tammy
Duckworth is Asian-American, a woman of color. So from an identity politics
point of view, Tammy Duckworth is winning over Michele Flournoy, all the
way around.

Plus on top of that, Tammy Duckworth voted every time with Sanders, Lee,
and Murphy against unconstitutional U.S. participation in the biblically
catastrophic Saudi war in Yemen. Whereas Michele Flournoy advocated for
Saudi arms deals.

Plus on top of that, as a combat veteran serving as Secretary of Defense,
Tammy Duckworth will be well-positioned to push back on demands for more
wars all the time.

Plus on top of that, in addition to being a decorated combat veteran, Tammy
Duckworth is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. So there’s no
question about her Seriousness credentials.

A key talking point for Biden in the primary was that he was Obama’s VP.
Obama got to be POTUS because he defeated Hillary in the 2008 primary.

Which candidate for SecDef better represents the views of Democrats who
supported Obama over Hillary in the 2008 primary, Tammy Duckworth or
Michele Flournoy?
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