In 1986, an ambitious young United States Attorney named Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III was denied a seat on the federal bench because of his own deep-seated hostility to the very notion of civil rights. As a federal prosecutor, Sessions conducted a tenuous criminal investigation into voting rights advocates that registered African-Americans to vote -- an investigation that culminated in an unsuccessful prosecution against a former aide to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He once quipped that he "used to think [the KKK] were OK" until he found out some of them were "pot smokers;" and he routinely referred to an African-American attorney who worked for him as "boy" -- even once warning that attorney to "be careful what you say to white folks" after Sessions overheard him chastising a white secretary.
Moreover, Sessions remains unrepentant for these incidents, although he did reluctantly concede at his confirmation hearing that it "probably was wrong" when he attacked the NAACP as an "un-American" and "Communist-inspired" organizations that "forced civil rights down the throats of people." Watch:
Twenty-three years later, Sessions is the highest ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee; and he is the architect of a right-wing campaign which claims that Sotomayor's past service on the board of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF) makes her unsuitable for the bench. Last week, Sessions claimed that this mainstream civil rights organization took "extreme" positions in litigation. This week, Sessions clarified this remark in an interview with Fox News, explaining that he is concerned that PRLDEF "brought several race discrimination lawsuits for minorities."
Sessions' assault on Sotomayor and PRLDEF has largely been met with skepticism -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, for example, commented that "[o]nly in Washington could someone's many years of volunteer service to a highly regarded nonprofit organization that has done so much good for so many be twisted into a negative" -- and its puzzling that conservatives permitted Sessions to be the public face of their opposition to the first Latina nominated to the Supreme Court. Sessions' anti-PRLDEF campaign is not only baseless; it is reminiscent of his decades-old comments about the NAACP that kept him off the federal bench years ago.
Indeed, given Sessions' long history of baseless assaults on civil rights and civil rights organizations, one has to wonder whether conservatives chose him as their leading voice on Sotomayor because they fundamentally agree with his lifelong stance on race. Once thing is clear, however, America has changed a lot since 1986, but Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III remains exactly the same.
Him, Grassley, Kyle, mcCain, etc., all old white haired men trapped in the 1960's..they see that the country does not care about what they think it should care about. They will go down in flames sticking to a WASP ideology and still concentrating on Race, gay marriage, etc.
The whole party needs to be blown up and these hypocrits that are in office need to be a part of that explosion. Go get a gig with Rove and Co over on Fox News.
To live through such a despised status in life by those who have the "Rule" over us and still excell and show our greatness to a world who will not print it or refuse to acknowlege it in many cases does not deminish our capacity to lay the tracks of greatness for the oncoming generation it creates and urgency to continue with great importance.
What they who are Repubican and or racist ment for evil to my generation and others God turned it around for good and breathed into it divine favor and "Now" the evidence of our greatness is being celebrated in our President Barack Obama.
Case in point. obama made sure to write a condolence letter to michael jackson's family and while michael did make a contribution to society he was a drug addict and therefore not a role mode. And while Farrah Fawcett wasn't as famous (infamous) as jackson, was she any less deserving of some kind of mention, if for no other reason than she fought admirably against a disease (cancer) that obama claims to want our society to find a cure for? Michael chose to squander his life. Farrah fought to the end to preserve hers.
Does obama only care about blacks now? If that is the case come out and say so. We the people do have a right to know the real true intent of our leaders. If you aren't for ALL the people then we don't need you.
Second, Farrah Fawcett was a B or more accurately a C-list actress, who spent one year on Charlie's Angels and then had a few bad movies. Michael Jackson (who I am NOT a fan of) sold 750 million albums worldwide and is famous worldwide for his concert performances. In addition, being a freak show further makes him interesting to news organizations.
It's that simple. Farrah Fawcett is a blurb. Michael Jackson, whatever you think of him, had a long career and proven staying power as a celeb.
We'd have Gitmo closed, no debate....
We'd have 2 wars over, no debate.....
We'd have Bush/Cheney before The Hague on war criminal charges, no debate...
Obama is hardly left wing-he's a perfect example of a centrist Democrat, someone just a hair less beholden to corporate interests than a Repub candidate
Looking at their body of work since January 20, 2009 can only be viewed as self-destructive.
In less than 6 months, the Republican Party has achieved a majoritive pervasive perception as a party of “No”, been ill-advisedly coaxed into a position, which has them defending torture, and now, the alienation of women, and as a whole, the Hispanic community (male and female).
I know a few dozen kids here in Philly that would tell you yes while still looking for a safe place to go swimming...