What did Jeff say?

From The FISA debate: (4.00 / 1)

Mon Dec 17, 2007

 

"Some people in this chamber love the Constitution more than the love the safety of this nation.  We should all send President Bush a letter thanking him for protecting us."

Not exactly "Give me Liberty or give me death."

 

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by: chap @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 14:02:53 PM CDT

Some people (4.00 / 1)

Yeah, I might be one of those people.  Because without the Constitution there is no America.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 14:07:06 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

What???? (4.00 / 1)

How Dare you Love the constitution!

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by: chap @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 14:14:35 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Then there is this (4.00 / 1)

Senate Democrats tracked down a career Justice Department employee named J. Gerald Hebert, who testified, albeit reluctantly, that in a conversation between the two men Sessions had labeled the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU ) "un-American" and "Communist-inspired." Hebert said Sessions had claimed these groups "forced civil rights down the throats of people." In his confirmation hearings, Sessions sealed his own fate by saying such groups could be construed as "un-American" when "they involve themselves in promoting un-American positions" in foreign policy. Hebert testified that the young lawyer tended to "pop off" on such topics regularly, noting that Sessions had called a white civil rights lawyer a "disgrace to his race" for litigating voting rights cases. Sessions acknowledged making many of the statements attributed to him but claimed that most of the time he had been joking, saying he was sometimes "loose with [his] tongue." He further admitted to calling the Voting Rights Act of 1965 a "piece of intrusive legislation," a phrase he stood behind even in his confirmation hearings.... Another damaging witness--a black former assistant U.S. Attorney in Alabama named Thomas Figures--testified that, during a 1981 murder investigation involving the Ku Klux Klan, Sessions was heard by several colleagues commenting that he "used to think they [the Klan] were OK" until he found out some of them were "pot smokers." Sessions claimed the comment was clearly said in jest. Figures didn't see it that way. Sessions, he said, had called him "boy" and, after overhearing him chastise a secretary, warned him to "be careful what you say to white folks." Figures echoed Hebert's claims, saying he too had heard Sessions call various civil rights organizations, including the National Council of Churches and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, "un-American." Sessions denied the accusations but again admitted to frequently joking in an off-color sort of way. In his defense, he said he was not a racist, pointing out that his children went to integrated schools and that he had shared a hotel room with a black attorney several times.

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by: chap @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 14:10:19 PM CDT

Jefferson Buregaurd Sessions The Face of Republican Justice (0.00 / 0)

I posted this from the Booman Tribune in countrycat's open thread yesterday

Jeff Sessions?  Seriously?

He was too racist to serve as a federal judge but now the Republicans want to put him in charge of vetting federal judges? Seriously? Maybe not, but only because he is so stupid.

Today Boomans says

Jeff Sessions?  Oh yes they did!

Jeff Sessions was once rejected as a federal district judge by the Senate Judiciary Committee because they felt he was racially insensitive. In other words, Sessions was too much of a racist to serve on a federal bench. Now he will sit in judgment of all federal nominees for the bench. His thick Alabama accent will only add to the charm and nostalgia of the spectacle, and that doesn't even touch on Sessions' incredibly mediocre mind and the idiotic types of questions he will be asking. This is a nightmare for the Republican Party.

As my friend fake consultant says, this is the gift that keeps on giving. 

 

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 14:30:08 PM CDT

Opps! Spelled Beauregaurd wrong! (0.00 / 0)

Don't tell piggieheart.

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 14:32:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

From Media Matters Action Network (4.00 / 2)

"Since the founding of the Republic, we have understood that there was a two-thirds supermajority for ratification and advice and consent on treaties and a majority vote for judges. That is what we have done. That is what we have always done. But there was a conscious decision on behalf of the leadership, unfortunately, of the Democratic Party in the last Congress to systematically filibuster some of the best nominees ever submitted to the Senate. It has been very painful." [Senate Floor Speech, 5/23/05]

(emphasis original) 

 There's also a quote from Shelby on that page supporting a simple majority for nominees. 

http://mediamattersaction.org/items/200905010001

 

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by: lildebbie77 @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 14:31:01 PM CDT

Thank you lildebbie77! (0.00 / 0)

That's exactly the sort of statement I figured Jeffie had made.  And he probably said a lot more in that vein which needs to come back and haunt him if he starts holding up Obama nominees because they aren't conservative enough for him.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 17:24:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

That was after just a quick search. (4.00 / 1)

I'm sure there's lots more out there - that came back on the first page of a Google search. He said that on the floor of the Senate, so I'm sure he said more in front of microphones at some point. The question is - can we find some progressives to remind him of that when and where it counts? Somehow, I doubt the MSM will be all over that - especially in Alabama.

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by: lildebbie77 @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 17:52:09 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Exactly! (0.00 / 0)

I was hoping some of the folks here would help the media do a good job by digging out an old Sessions quote or two.  So far you're one of the few bloggers enterprising enough to play the game.  Too bad, because if you spoon-feed stuff to the reporters (overworked as they are these days) they're a lot more likely to write about it.

Work harder and work smarter!

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by: mooncat @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 22:45:56 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Oh, these Republicans - (0.00 / 0)

Loose with thier tongues, and wide with thier stances...my oh my!

"The War in Iraq is not the disease. The War in Iraq is a symptom. Arrogance is the disease" - Bill Richardson

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by: herding old cats @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 22:22:33 PM CDT

ROFLMAO! (0.00 / 0)

Good one herding old cats! Thanks I needed that. We must laugh to keep from crying.

The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.~Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D. MA)

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by: Redeye @ Mon May 04, 2009 at 22:30:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]