Jeff Sessions oblivious to the irony of calling Sotomayor 'prejudiced'
By David Neiwert Monday Jul 13, 2009 3:30pm
Sen. Jeff Sessions' opening salvo against Sonia Sotomayor today was a classic right-wing exercise in obliviousness:
I feel we've reached a fork in the road, I think, and there are stark differences. I want to be clear. I will not vote for, and no senator should vote for, an individual nominated by any president who is not fully committed to fairness and impartiality toward every person who appears before them.
And I will not vote for, and no senator should vote for, an individual nominated by any president who believes it is acceptable for a judge to allow their personal background, gender, prejudices or sympathies to sway their decision in favor of or against parties before the court.
In my view such a philosophy is disqualified. Such an approach to judging means that the umpire calling the game is not neutral, but instead feels empowered to favor one team over another. Call it empathy, call it prejudice, or call it sympathy, but whatever it is, it's not law. In truth it's more akin to politics, and politics has no place in the courtroom.
... That is, of course, the logical flaw in the empathy standard. Empathy for one party is always prejudice against another.
Aside from the dubious logic behind that last assertion -- it is, in fact, a highly revealing formulation -- the proof is always in the pudding, isn't it? One can speak high-flown phrases about color-blindness, but the test is how one actually conducts themselves both in the courtroom and in private.
And on that count, Jeff Sessions is probably one of the last people to be flinging about accusations of prejudice. The irony is, well, rich.
As a U.S. Attorney in Alabama, Sessions' most notable effort was prosecuting three civil rights workers, including a former aide to Martin Luther King Jr., on trumped up charges of voter fraud.
Also during his illustrious career in Alabama, Sessions called the NAACP "un-American" because it, among other groups, "forced civil rights down the throats of people." A former career Justice Department official who worked with Sessions recalled an instance when he referred to a white attorney as a "disgrace to his race" for litigating voting rights cases on behalf of African Americans. Sessions later acknowledged having made many of the controversial remarks attributed to him, but claimed to have been joking.
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This from a senator who hails from historically one of the most backward and bigoted states in the nation. He needs to look in his own backyard.
not only that but his comments--
"I will not vote for......
an individual nominated by any president who is not fully committed to fairness and impartiality toward every person who appears before them......."and he will not vote for,......"it is acceptable for a judge to allow their personal background, gender, prejudices or sympathies to sway their decision in favor of or against parties before the court."
where was this devotion to fairness when he voted for
roberts and alita? in the gutter as with all gop decisions?
you do what you think best.
And doing so will doom your rethug party to minority status for the next 6 years.
You, my friend, are a bigot of the highest water, a crappy person and will flame out faster that an afterburner on oxy clean.
Go faw 'way, Boy!
no ideas and a racist past..consider the source...Call him on this BS. 1.800.828.0498!
I wouldn't bother sweating the details,there will be much bigger fish to fry
Isn't this the guy who called a white civil rights attorney a traitor to his own race?
Right you are, good old boy, Jefferson Beauregard,RedNeck.
Jeff Sessions = Senator Beaurgard Claghorn, he’s part of the mint juleps and magnolias crowd. He believes the South never lost the Civil War, it was called on account of darkness!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frYo_aP8yiQ
And a crappy lawyer to boot. "That is, of course, the logical flaw in the empathy standard. Empathy for one party is always prejudice against another." No, the only logical flaw is his reasoning.
you're right. that's his lie right there. i wonder if he knows it... somebody needs to ask him.
that in less than 50 years, our nations highest court will be deciding cases based on software that will inflict empathy while employing prejudice.
May Sessions go hang himself, so to speak, by the merits of his of deeds, and the words from his own mouth!
"...but claimed to have been joking."
Oh, I get it - it's OK to spout racist statements if you're only "joking."
What an asshole.
The Ann Coulter defense.
Ooooh! Let me try it:
I hope someone kidnaps Dick Cheney and takes him to Iraq, where he is brutally tortured and killed.
Just joking!!
at a "guest" of a talk show while the curious Ann is unable to disengage from appearing as the realist.
Unreal.
do to Beauregard what Pat was going to do to Levi
Levi would manage to get free and make buchanan cry in the process.
folks have been saying for years everytime they get called on their racist comments. "Oh shit, now don't go whole hog thar Kate, I was just a-jokin'"
As a white person having for years to make clear I don't find racism particularly interesting, amusing, funny or a legitimate way to see the world, rule the world or fill up the blank spaces in one's head, I've heard it up to here with the "I was only joking." meme.
Sessions lecturing on discrimination was funny enough, but, am I the only one who cracked up over the Grassley lecture? It seemed that everything he didn't want on the court was what we are getting from the Roberts group.
Harharhar.
So was the KKK, the slavers and all the poor white trash who've helped them both over the years.
Hypocrite: Sessions voted FOR Clarence Thomas.
...before he finished mouthing his first syllable.
Prejudice against white people = racism.
Prejudice against people of color = will of God.
Neutral umpire = white male (or Clarence Thomas)
So basically "being prejudiced" to the white bigot faction of this country means "not allowing white people to get away with their own prejudices."
Funny how this creepy slime had no problem voting for the hard core right wingers like Roberts and Aleto that the Buscovite junta nominated. What about their "prejudices and sympathies?" Oh that's right, they were good little fair minded dupes of the Politboro. Sure, Jeff.
What a lying, hypocritical GOP pig. Keep on squaling your vile swill, pal---on your way to political oblivion.
probably validates himself by the fact that if his nominees make me look away from ongoing injustices over a marked period of time, that it was the right decision to pursue.
...in a tag team match against Jeff Sessions and Pat Buchanan?
with dueling pistolas
...a flying body press off the top rope. Or go all Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson on 'em.
Better yet, do you remember the recent Mountain Dew ad with Abe Lincoln being asked to respond to his debate opponents? He ripped his shirt off, threw one off the stage and hit the other with a chair to the wild cheering of the spectators.
but I just realized he's not worth me expending words but I do have to expend something and I dedicate it to him. To make it more appealing to him I will cover it in white paper and flush it towards Mobile Bay. BBL
busy to see any part of today's hearing session. I probably wouldn't be able to contain myself listening to that vomitous asshole whine about how "prejudiced" she is. Just despicable.
The Alito's confirmation hearings who repeated several times his background and ethnicity plays a role on his decision making. I normally refrain myself from name calling, but Sessions is an asshole. Douche, douche, douche. If anyone has a more polite way of putting it and mean it, please edit my post.
By the way, being a hispanic I couldn't care less about her race. Nothing makes me more ashamed than Juan Gonzales, the runner up asshole douche.
calling Sessions a vomitous asshole! :P
Empathy for one party is always prejudice against another.
Therefore, when you empathize with corporations you are prejudiced against, well, humans. Isn’t that right, Jeffy?
right.
"It onla 'pears at a way. Let me splain....."
It would have been very nice to see a shot of Sotomayor laughing at him.
the runt got some licks in, now he can go back to being a nobody
oh the irony and hypocrisy...so much it's hard to watch
what these quacks will never admit is that they LOVE their right-wing activist judges, it's Sotomayor's moderation they can't stand
ANYTHING to the left of their pin-headed belief system is just too goddamn liberal
Guess what percentage of Latinos have a favorable impression of the GOP?
Seven percent.
That means 93% DO NOT.
But you probably don't give a shit do you, you lame ass cracker? Just so long as your old white boys are happy huh?
You and your party are an insult and disgrace to American politics.
why does anyone even bother?! But- good ol' boys need a little time to die out- Patience, my friend....Patience, m' Luv
Maybe our children's generation will respect us more for having to put up with these crap ass Archie Bunkers like Sessions.
had some explanations for his racism. He never finished high school, was poorly educated and informed, didn't earn a lot, had few marketable skills, and lived in fear of layoffs. These well paid, so-called conservative "intellectuals" have no excuses for their petty racism and self-loathing bile.
Archie's big mouth and intentional ignorance and racism. Hope that boy is proud of his cracker status.
Just had to say that. Carry on folks! :)
redneck Klansman like this racist fruitbar Sessions prefer designer fitted sheets?
"... That is, of course, the logical flaw in the empathy standard. Empathy for one party is always prejudice against another."
Except when it comes to your corporate masters, right Jeff?
This cracker looks wound up tighter than a golf ball.
He looks like a Squirrel on crack.
Just noticed Sessions has droopy hound dog ears, lol, in breeding I guess
Must be that man on dog thing again
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