The Sotomayor Hearings - Branding the Neo-Confederates

If you read the liberal blogosphere, you know about Senator Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions's history of dubious racial statements. If you're following on most of the mainstream media, you don't. You might even buy the Alabama Republican's not-so-subtle assertion that Sotomayor is a "racist" -- discriminating against whites -- while Sessions is above any considerations of color. This will change only if some Democratic Senator on the judicial committee (though probably not Al Franken) calls Session on his game, and calls him on his history.

Sessions, as you may know, was rejected for a federal court seat after calling the NAACP "un-American" because it "forced civil rights down the throats of people." He also called a white attorney a "disgrace to his race" for litigating voting rights cases on behalf of African Americans. And during a murder investigation of the Ku Klux Klan, he joked, as black former assistant US Attorney Thomas Figures testified in Sessions's original hearings, about how he had no problems with the Klan until he discovered they were pot smokers. He also warned Figures to "be careful what you say to white folks." It's ugly stuff, and consistent with his racially charged questioning of Judge Sotomayor: He said she should have voted with a fellow Puerto Rican judge whose opinions he endorsed, asking, "Is there any instance in which you'd let your prejudice impact your decisions?"

But the major media still hasn't covered Sessions's history. It's too loaded, jarring, and ugly. CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin did raise related issues, saying: "What's worth noting about what Jeff Sessions -- the line of questioning, was that being a white man, that's normal. Everybody else has biases and prejudices ... but the white man, they don't have any ethnicity, they don't have any gender, they're just like the normal folks."

But the worst of the history remains largely buried, and therefore invisible to most of the public. For that to change, some Democratic senator on the judicial committee must breach Senate decorum, and say bluntly and unequivocally that someone with Sessions's history can't say Sotomayor's relationship to her racial identity makes her less fit to be a Supreme Court Justice. They'll have to say that so strongly that the major media has to cover it, and therefore make it central to the hearings.

A Democratic senator must do this because it's the truth and it will resonate politically. The way Sessions, Rush Limbaugh and others are going after Sotomayor jibes with how the Republicans are now the party of older white Southerners -- barely reconstructed Confederates. In an electorate that's becoming younger and more racially diverse, that's not a winning brand. So while some in the heart of dear old Dixie may cheer Sessions on, my hunch is that most now coming of age feel at least somewhat embarrassed about his approach. So do most whites in the rest of the country, particularly younger ones. So do the Latinos who are proudly anticipating Sotomayor's ratification. And the Republicans have long since lost the African American vote, something black RNC chairman Michael Steele is unlikely to reverse with recent talk of winning them back with "fried chicken and potato salad." (What, no watermelon?)

Sotomayor can't raise this history. She must stay above the fray, since once she gets confirmed she'll be making her case to a jury of one: Justice Kennedy. Barring some unlikely conversion, Alito, Thomas, Scalia and Roberts are so bought into a hard-right authoritarian politics that, ties to hawkish neocons aside, they'd fit seamlessly into affirming the election in Ahmadinejad's Iran.

Suppose, however, one of the Democratic senators on the judicial committee raised this history bluntly and unequivocally. True, it would break senate congeniality, and the Republicans would protest. But the Democrats will never have Sessions's vote, and the more his race baiting becomes an issue, the better for the Democrats long-term -- and maybe for the Republicans too, if they're ever going to emerge from this kind of politics. To make that happen, at least one Democratic senator will need to step up.

Any takers?

Paul Rogat Loeb is the author of The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, named the #3 political book of 2004 by the History Channel and the American Book Association. His previous books include Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time. See www.paulloeb.org To receive his articles directly email [e-mail] with the subject line: subscribe paulloeb-articles

Comments

[Ladyrantsalot]

If Democrats raise this, they will be accused by the very same mainstream media of being unduly "partisan." No, it is the responsibility of the media to report these things, but they do not. The Republican party moved to the far right during the past 30 years and the mainstream media aided and abetted them, and they don't even know it.

[Papa D]

Sen. Sessions said: "Is there any instance in which you'd let your prejudice impact your decisions?"

I laughed when I heard him say that, I couldn't believe that a US senator would stoop to such a cheap loaded question. I expected Judge Sotomayor to laugh and say "Mr. Sessions, just to clarify that question, please answer yes or no. Have you stopped beating your wife?"

I don't agree, Paul, that Mr. Sessions instills fear in anyone. I think that his lack of intellect and lack of competence were exposed for all to see. He made a fool of himself!

Also, the "Wise Latina" outrage that these Republicans are trying to create isn't sticking with anyone. A reasonable person would agree that there are some situations in which a Wise Latina could make a better decision. And as you said, Jefferey Toobin pointed out that the very premise of the "Wise Latina" criticism implies that white males are perfect and couldn't be racist. Although these Republican senators don't get it, I think that the general public does get it and these bigots are an endangered species.

[onepotatotwopotato]

Unfortunately, Judge Sotomayor's judicial record and testimony clearly demonstrate a hostile view of the Second Amendment and the fundamental right of self-defense guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.

It is only by ignoring history that any judge can say that the Second Amendment is not a fundamental right and does not apply to the states. The one part of the Bill of Rights that Congress clearly intended to apply to all Americans in passing the Fourteenth Amendment was the Second Amendment. History and congressional debate are clear on this point.

Yet Judge Sotomayor seems to believe that the Second Amendment is limited only to the residents of federal enclaves such as Washington, D.C. and does not protect all Americans living in every corner of this nation. In her Maloney opinion and during the confirmation hearings, she deliberately misread Supreme Court precedent to support her incorrect view.

In last year's historic Heller decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment guarantees the individual's right to own firearms and recognizes the inherent right of self-defense. In addition, the Court required lower courts to apply the Twentieth Century cases it has used to incorporate a majority of the Bill of Rights to the States. Yet in her Maloney opinion, Judge Sotomayor dismissed that requirement, mistakenly relying instead on Nineteenth Century jurisprudence to hold that the Second Amendment does not apply to the States.

[BocaMom]

This is such a bias story!!! What is with this Southern bashing. I am so sick and tired of it.

Clinton is a Southerner. Gore is a Southerner. Carter is a Southerner. Are they all stupid???

Certainly, you can slam people from other states?

After all, President Reagan was a Californian. Both Bush Presidents were originally from the Northeast. Cheney is from Wyoming. Rush Limbaugh is from the midwest.

This Confederate, redneck stuff is just another form of racism.

[Paul Loeb - Huffpost Blogger]

To be clear, I'm not blanketly bashing everyone who lives in the South. All regions have their share of heroes and scoundrels, and the South has had plenty of heroes. What I am suggesting is that the South's political culture was profoundly deformed by slavery and the hundred years of segregation that followed it, institutions upheld by almost all of the most respectable people in those states. It's troubling to me when some of its current political leaders, like Sessions, play into this ugly racial tradition.

[camntx]

Paul, you should study your history on the Confederacy, Slavery & Racism. Here is just a small enlightenment:

1) The Civil War was an unlawful act of the North~read the US Constitution, it is a federation of sovereign States, when that federation no longer serves the State, that State has the right to withdraw from the federation.

2) the Emmancipation Proclamation freed slaves only in the South~Northern slaves were not freed until sometime later.

3) there were black slave owners in the South before the Civil War

4) there were people of color, black & Indian, who fought for the Confederacy. There are Son's of the Confederacy with black members who are very proud of their ancestors participation in the War of Northern Aggression.

5) most people in the South never owned Slaves, but were defending the Constitution that their own forefathers fought & died for.

6) the invasion of the South was not to free slaves, the North needed the resources and assets from South.

Racism is a nationwide problem, not regional.

Something that I see you didn't go into in your little article: it was Democrats who blocked the appointment of Miguel Estrada ~ a Hispanic nominee: "The Democrats hotly contested this; however, internal memos to Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin mention liberal interest groups' desire to keep Estrada off the court because his Latino heritage made him "especially dangerous" as a potential future Supreme Court nominee".

So when you start throwing out generalities, make sure you have

[Jackcravell]

Sessions own words are what paint him as a "Confederate" for the purposes of Loeb's blog. It is the mindset that he is addressing.

I take from your screen name that you are (or were) a South Floridian. I know from living there for many years how desperately the powers that be in Florida would like to forget its rascist past. But don't take offense. Rascism occurred in the North as well as the South...it just wasn't institutionalized as it was in the South. Y'all prided yourselves on that.

Nor are Southerners stupid...how you arrived at that from Loeb's blog is maybe more telling of your "Southern" perception and not his.

BTY- Reagen was born in Illinois. Rush was born in Cape Girardeau Missouri (which lies further south than Richmond Virginia.) Of course, now he hangs in the Beaches.

[PKatherine]

Yeah this needs to be reported!!!!

[Leftwingbloggin]

Rachel Maddow was the only place i seen anyone go into detail about Mr. Sessions past

[Leftwingbloggin]

Jefferson Beauregard Session III , the name even sounds like an old confederate civil war General.

[robXdion]

Meanwhile, the man in your avatar actually had much in common with Sessions' way of thinking towards minorities.

[robXdion]

The mainstream media will not report on this because it is run primarily by whites who are embarrassed by white rac!sm and they'll attempt to cover it up or dance around it. So the attitude of white males not having a race or any associated biases also extends to white males and females in the media. They'll have a panel of 3-7 whites of either gender discussing blacks or latinos. Or TV and Hollywood producers will have a show with all whites and just one black, asian, or latino token. More than one minority is seen as a "hostile takeover" because white Americans get upset at any deviation from presenting a white world, as if THAT'S a neutral and safe portrayal. And like ESerafina42 stated, this won't be touched. Especially since there aren't any black senators on the judiciary panel. And how did that happen? Reference back 4 sentences. Sessions isn't alone in his basic attitudes. He's just not as crafty in hiding it.

[t9chi]

So True

[Artos]

The fact that Whites in the media aren't touching it is probably for a host of reasons but prime among them is the fact that the MSM is owned by Rich People, many of whom are white. These people are in the main Conservatives, may or may not sympathize with Sessions point of view, and won't attack one of their own even were he or she and embarrassment to them. Being at least half "White" and opposed to those like Sessions, I don't need the media to tell me what I already know. The fact is that I have said for some time that the Republican Party was taken over by Southerners, some who were once probably Democrats before they realized that the party of Money gave them a better opportunity to Recreate the U.S.A. into the C.S.A.. it seemed like an ideal opportunity to them and would possibly have worked except for the fact that not all Whites "Cotton" to that kind of thinking. Me included.

[IDIOTA]

I just read Sarah Wildman's article, "Closed Sessions", and Sessions is disgusting. He lacks the charm of the Chief Justice who, nonetheless, seems to share Session's views regarding the voter and civil rights legislation passed in the Sixties.

[IDIOTA]

An excellent post -- your Iran comparison is apt, particularly because there, as in the South, there are young people who reject the ideology of the old guard. Sessions is not very persuasive to anyone who is not already persuaded by the same bilge. He's not very bright, so whoever is really listening to him hears nothing worthwhile.

[t9chi]

Is he going to be re elected?

[Paul Loeb - Huffpost Blogger]

If Robert Byrd was asking racially loaded questions of a nominee I'd say it's a fair comparison. But he isn't and hasn't, a t least not in many years. I don't like his ties to the Klan when he was young, nor his joining the filibusters of the civil rights bills. But he's long renounced that, and hasn't acted in that ugly tradition ever since. Session has, and that's the difference.

[jalowe1957]

(To the tune of "Send in the Clowns," from the musical, "A Little Night Music")

Isn't it rich?
Do they compare?
Sonya is holding her ground,
They're all hot air.
Send in the clowns.

Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can't move.
Where are the clowns?
They are the clowns.

Just when they'd stopped opening doors,
Finally knowing the one your wanted was yours,
Making your entrance again with your usual flair,
Sure of their lines,
(Yet) no one is there.

Don't you love farce?
My fault I fear.
I thought that they'd want what they'd want.
Sorry, my dear.
But where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns.
Don't bother, they're here.

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer?
Losing their timing this late
In their careers?
And where are the clowns?
They are the clowns.
And as always, this year.

[IDIOTA]

I love Sarah Vaughan's version of this (on her PBS documentary), and I enjoyed your take on the song. It IS rich, isn't it, what these clowns are trying to do. But they're sad clowns mostly, some evil.

[CantStopUsNow]

I won't hold my breathe. They're really all just one big happy family.

[MyNameIsJames]

Thank you Paul for saying it in a blog!

The real problem is that the Democratic Senators are afraid to call out Sessions and his racial history DURING the hearings. A Democratic Senator should openly question Sessions motivation and point out that he (SESSIONS) is the least qualified Senator on the panel to question others about racial issues. Now THAT would be the bombshell heard around the world. Its time to embarass and belittle people like Sessions publicly!

[Michael1234]

Funny how the Democrats like to forget about Sen.Robert Byrd. He was a member of the KKK. Maybe you should look in your own closet before you try and clean up someone elses.Rober

[DDK]

At least Senator Byrd has apparently grown a conscience, renounced and denounced the Klan, and champions some progressive ideas and legislation. Not so with Jeff Sessions, who continues, as evidenced this week, to "not get it." Much like yourself.

[olderwhitelady]

In what universe does the racism of a democrat zero out the racism of Jeff Sessions?
Denounce racism where ever you find it.
Only those who view the world through "politics", winning elections, my party first would take this position.
Only those who really want to see an end to the gross, almost unwatchable, questioning by a life-long racist and all he stands for would "risk" calling this out for what it is.

Democrats????? Dianne Feinstein??? Your seat is safe. What are you waiting for?

[ESerafina42]

Sorry - it probably won't happen (one of the other senators calling him out, that is) - probably because of their much-vaunted "collegiality," where even if the other guy is a villain of the deepest dye he's still "my esteemed colleague."

[Paul Loeb - Huffpost Blogger]

Alas, that is so often the barrier to truth

[The Meek]

I really want to puke when I hear congress people refer to each other as "my esteemed colleague."

All of them really do think they are better than us, the poor dumb peasants. Without the working class they would starve. Somewhere deep down they know it, that is why they constantly have to reinforce their ego's.

[Senzasord]

I concur wholeheartedly. The Senate with all of its arcane rules where one person can put a hold on a nomination or a bill, and the hint of a fillibuster can sidetrack the nations legislative business is the most anti democratic institution in government. The behave as though they are a House of Lords. The Constitution places We the People at the top of the pyramid and they are elected to do our bidding. Some of these Senators need a not too gentle reminder of that fact.

[Artos]

We should have a Congress that is more like that of say Japan, Taiwan or South Korea where Politicians will get into out and out Brawls. Or be forced to commit Sepuku to save face. Why can't we have that, then at least we would see some honesty in Politics and perhaps even rid ourselves of the dishonest ones.

[take10]

Senator Whitehouse has come as close as anyone. He may be on the verge of telling it all!

[Michaela1976]

I don't think Senator Whitehouse has any more time for questioning. But somebody should write an Op Ed in the NY Times or something !

Why does the mainstream media not report this?

[Anastasia]

That is the question.

[BlueFloyd]

i know...it's disgraceful that it goes unreported