Jeff Sessions Annoyed By Crying Child At Hearing

The New Republic:

Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committe held the first-ever hearing on the Uniting American Families Act, which would equalize the status of foreign-born same-sex partners of American citizens. Heterosexual Americans can earn citizenship for their foreign partners by marrying them. Gays, obviously, cannot do that, effectively making a gay American and his or her foreign spouse legal strangers. [...]

For most people, the sight of a 12-year-old boy in tears at the prospect of his mother being deported halfway around the world would invoke some sympathy. Unmoved, however, was Alabama Republican Jeff Sessions, ranking minority member of the Committee and the only Republican to bother to attend the hearing. At the sight of the weeping boy, according to a Senate staffer who was at the hearing, Sessions leaned towards one of his aides and sighed, "Enough with the histrionics." Sessions's press secretary did not return a call seeking comment.

Read the whole story: The New Republic

Comments

[superstition]

12:16 AM on 07/03/2009

Obama deputy campaign manager abandons DOMA & DADT as priorities
http://www.americablog.com/2009/07/obama-deputy-campaign-manager-abandons.html

"After two weeks of the Obama White House reeling over the gay backlash caused by the anti-gay DOMA brief, which compared gay marriage to incest and pedophilia, we now have...

First, that the burden for doing anything pro-gay in the remaining three and a half years of the Obama administration is now shifted to Congress. Obama has no role whatsoever, and no power to influence anything, even though he's still the leader of the free world.

Second, the three big gay rights priorities that Congress should be focusing on do not even include what have organically become the community's top two priorities: repealing DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell. They're not even mentioned in the Obama deputy's essay."

[EducatedObserver]

02:21 AM on 06/05/2009

One fully sympathises with the plight of the mother and crying child. However, one also understands Mr Sessions' reaction.

Lest we forget, the principal function of Senate Committee hearings is helping to craft the laws of the land. This is not a Hollywood script, but real life, and the senators are presumably not fundamentally concerned with playing for the cameras.

In the final reckoning I for one am far more concerned about the wisdom and rigour of intellectual thought during these hearings, rather than discovering how cuddly a senator might be.

[mergina]

01:50 AM on 06/05/2009

But Jeff, aren't you PRO LIFE?

[rascalish]

12:57 AM on 06/05/2009

If you can make it through the video without choking up, you got no soul.
I'm skeptical of the Sessions aide comment thing. Face it, back door news.....difficult to corroborate.
But the fact that families are enduring this discrimination is disgusting.
Sen. Lehy (sp?) was sensitive to the situation and I commend him for that.
Also, thanks to Sen. Jackie Speer and Sen. Feinstein for their hard work in bringing this issue forward. And helping a truly courageous woman and her partner. How can you not be swayed?

[MRb1000]

12:37 AM on 06/05/2009

There is no joy in listening to a healthy crying baby. Grumpy old men. Yeah the republican party!

[walk0nwalls]

12:00 AM on 06/05/2009

Well aware it's SOP to bash Republicans in the comments section but cmon people, cut him some slack. Kids be annoying sometimes.

[SD Indy]

01:12 AM on 06/05/2009

The kid was 12-years-old! His mother is being threatened with deportation which would strip him of her presence. I will NOT cut ANYONE slack that finds this inequity as being just.

[walk0nwalls]

12:05 PM on 06/05/2009

Oh, I didn't read the thing. Thought it was a baby.

My bad

[nowarpleez]

11:57 PM on 06/04/2009

Love the fetus, hate the child.

[MsLiz]

11:03 PM on 06/04/2009

This story is two months old, but Sessions is still a D bag.

[Rockwell]

10:29 PM on 06/04/2009

But I thought the cries of suffering children was music to Republican ears. . .

[Katzencats]

09:55 PM on 06/04/2009

Remember when "Mr. Family Values" himself, Newt Gingrich, wanted to remove the children of "welfare mothers" from their homes & put in orphanages? Ever since they came up with that pathetic catch phrase I've noted that it all depends on whose family is being discussed. If the family isn't white & well off, they aren't valued.

This story is a case in point.

[Dbos]

08:38 PM on 06/04/2009

Was it glenbrick

[PlaceboStudman]

08:22 PM on 06/04/2009

Just think, in about 25 years, that kid will be helping to run this country, and Sessions will probably be depending on him for health care,

Or better yet, Sessions will simply be ashes to ashes, dust to dust

[Changeling08]

08:20 PM on 06/04/2009

Jeff Sessions should have seen John Boehner sobbing today. He was sobbing over the unveiling of a statue! http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/crying-john-boehner-cries-again-unveili

[OverIt]

07:44 PM on 06/04/2009

The man is consistent. For those who haven't noticed yet, THAT is what a lack of empathy looks like.

[ladyearth]

07:34 PM on 06/04/2009

Yep. There's the Republican "family values" in action for ya.