I knew this would happen.
I knew that if Donald Trump picked Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, Democrats, and what passes for mainstream media these days, would jump all over him as a stone cold racist – just as they jumped all over Steve Bannon as a racist and anti-Semite (and still do, despite those charges having been debunked over and over again).
As I pointed out in my blog yesterday, Sessions’ issues regarding race go back to several intemperate (stupid more than racist) comments he made decades ago. And, unless they scour the pavement, dig through the dregs, and find something else (which I doubt they can, since Sessions certainly has been in the public eye throughout this period), they’re not going to find much more. Maybe they’d even be forced to notice his vote to seat Eric Holder as Attorney General – hardly the action of a racist.
But I had no doubt that, since Jeff Sessions is a Donald Trump selection, the weight of their bias would come down on him like a ton of bricks.
Far more troubling to me is Mr. Sessions’ views regarding gay rights – which I need serious assurances he would not project to his performance as Attorney General for me to be comfortable with him. That, obviously, is another area where the tag-team of Democrats and mainstream media are on him…but, in that case, they have a valid point.
The bottom line is that Sessions is a controversial selection who, if he is confirmed, will be by a split, party-line vote – and who conceivably could be rejected by several Republicans jumping ship and joining Democrats in voting no.*
On the one hand, it can be argued “So what? Democrats and their media fart-catchers are going to hate everyone Trump puts up, so why worry about this at all?”. That, sad to say, is a perfectly valid point.
On the other, however, there are alternative selections – Rudy Giuliani immediately jumps out at me – with great credentials and without this kind of controversy, who would probably sail right through. So why not avoid the Sessions firestorm?
The answer to that one is that if Trump made that offer, the firestorm would still be there; all that would change is the name of the person being attacked. Again, every Trump selection is going to be raked over the coals. So, the logic goes, why worry about the inevitable.
One other possibility to consider: Senator Sessions was one of Donald Trump’s earliest supporters. Was one of the conditions of that support that he would be Attorney General in a Trump administration? If that is the way of things, forget everything I have written, because there will not be a competition for this position; it is set in stone.
We’ll see……
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UPDATE: As of this afternoon, Democrats would need an additional Republican flip to deny Jeff Sessions the Attorney General position. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has just announced he will vote for Senator Sessions.
I keep wondering what keeps Joe Manchin a Democrat. Any day he changes his party affiliation will not surprise me. Every day he keeps it where it is does.
It is a full court press to throw roadblocks and land mines in front of Trump’s administration.
Mike Pence was at a performance of ‘Hamilton’ last night. The audience AND the actors boo’ed him and lectured him for denying their inalienable rights. It sounded very rehearsed and organized.
The next 4 years do not look smooth for Trump’s first term.