Video: Sessions on Sotomayor
posted at 4:55 pm on June 2, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Jeff Sessions recently got promoted to ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, after Arlen Specter crossed the aisle and became the world’s oldest rookie after 28 years in the Senate. Sessions got brutally handled by the same committee when nominated for a position on the federal bench, which served as a warm-up to the character assassination of Robert Bork the next year. If anyone would have a chip on his shoulder when it comes to confirming a Democratic appointment, it would be Sessions. After meeting with Sonia Sotomayor, though, Sessions tried hard not to tip his hand either way (via Greg Hengler):
Sessions would prefer to wait until the hearing starts to get down to brass tacks, apparently. He had an opportunity today to grill Barack Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, but to hear him tell it, Sotomayor’s more controversial statements didn’t directly enter into the conversation. Instead, they had a pleasant chat about philosophy, with Sessions — a former prosecutor himself, as is Sotomayor — undoubtedly looking for weaknesses for a later cross-examination.
The most interesting development in this clip comes towards the end, when reporters ask Sessions when the hearings will start. Sessions suggests September, long after Patrick Leahy’s statement today that he wants them almost immediately because a confirmation hearing is the only place Sotomayor can defend herself against the criticisms coming her way. That’s absurd, of course; Sotomayor can and will be interviewed endlessly between now and the hearings, with a much higher profile than most if not all of her critics. Does Sessions want to put off the Sotomayor hearings so that he can shine a brighter light on Obama’s plans on health care and cap-and-trade? I sense some horsetrading in the background after this.
Blowback
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they don’t have the backbone…..wish they did but they don’t!
SDarchitect on June 2, 2009 at 4:58 PM
Throw is all back in their face Jeff. Read the laundry list of slanderous lies that the democrats have thrown at every republican nominee to the courts. Shove it back in their face. Play for keeps.
daesleeper on June 2, 2009 at 5:02 PM
Jeff Sessions is a nice guy… do they always have to play nice though?
toenail on June 2, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Hmmm … Sessions may have a trick up his sleeve. He’s getting bombarded with “get tough” emails from constituents and “getting tough” has got to be his first instinct on this one.
But I’ve learned to never underestimate the flexibility of a politician’s verterbrae.
We shall see.
HondaV65 on June 2, 2009 at 5:35 PM
They are waiting for the New Haven/Ricci decision. The dims would love to get her confirmed before the Supreme Court makes their ruling.
Jdripper on June 2, 2009 at 5:37 PM
I wonder if Hustler magazine will offer $1 million to anyone with embarrassing photos or information on Sotomayor, in order to emphasize the importance of the hearings.
/sarc
Right_of_Attila on June 2, 2009 at 5:39 PM
I don’t think it’s wise for the Republicans to treat Judge Sotomayor as liberals have treated conservative jurists.
I like the idea of waiting until September, waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on the New Haven case, and doing good research on all her rulings, statements, associations. Then, make Sotomayor and the Democrats defend her reasoning versus the Supreme Court reasoning in their reversals of her. Make Sotomayor and the Democrats explain her racist, elitist and leftist statements and associations. All on national television. It will be a good learning opportunity for all who watch about exactly what sort of justice liberals want for our country.
Keep the pressure on, but don’t make threats or jump up and down screaming. Perhaps support for Sotomayor will erode, or perhaps she will implode under questioning.
Also, I still think that any alternative to Sotomayor will be worse.
Loxodonta on June 2, 2009 at 5:52 PM
If his performance during the Ashcroft confirmation hearings is any indication, Sessions will do well.
tgharris on June 2, 2009 at 6:01 PM
Media: “Is it the Republicans fault that she a racist and how damaging is it to the Republican party to have people tell the truth.”
tjexcite on June 2, 2009 at 6:05 PM
Don’t worry about Jeff Sessions. He is a nice guy but he can do what needs to be done with a Southern smile.
d1carter on June 2, 2009 at 6:08 PM
Sessions is one of our best…no worries…he’ll do as much as he can…and I agree they want the New Haven decision out first.
DCJeff on June 2, 2009 at 6:14 PM
I totally agree. I’m assuming she’ll be confirmed and we can focus (for now) on Korea, Iran, etc.
zeebeach on June 2, 2009 at 6:31 PM
He is, but even he is waffling these days. That shows how bad a shape we are in when it comes to Republican politicians. They are running scared.
echosyst on June 2, 2009 at 6:44 PM
“I haven’t studied her record enough.”
WTH do these guys have time for up there on the Hill?
Never mind…don’t really want to know I suppose.
Dr. ZhivBlago on June 2, 2009 at 7:09 PM
Wise words as usual, tusked one.
mikeyboss on June 2, 2009 at 7:43 PM
I put a lot of trust in Jeff Sessions. I think he’s a true conviction politician, i.e., a knowledgeable and intelligent conservative in the Senate. You can count them on one hand – Sessions, Demint, Coburn, the other Oklahoma senator whose name I’ve forgotten, the other senator from Arizona. (Definitely not my two senators – Hutchison and Cornyn.) I think he will give her a thorough questioning when she comes up for confirmation, but he’s got his eye on the health care issue.
chris999 on June 2, 2009 at 10:30 PM
Leahy wants to steamroller So/So Sotomayor. Since he needs at least one dem to vote her out of committee, Sessions needs to keep a tight grip on the other Repubs to make sure that they get a lengthy hearing schedule. I think Graham’s on board with that and there aren’t too many flaggers on the Committee to give the dems a pass. Of course how many of them will hold up when the press starts calling them racist for unseemly ‘delaying’ the sure and swift and inevitable confirmation of So/So Sotomayor remains to be seen.
eaglewingz08 on June 2, 2009 at 10:52 PM
There is no ‘ctrl’ button on Jeff Sessions’s computer. Jeff Sessions is always in control.
fossten on June 2, 2009 at 11:01 PM
Yes, I too put my trust Senator Sessions (as much as I trust any Senator). I am relieved that he is on this committee and look forward to his questions for the judge. It is a shame that even though I am from Texas I cannot count on my Senators to be those Senators I can trust. I have given up on Kay Bailey and I don’t hold out very much hope for Cornyn. I e-mailed him and called his office when he blasted Rush over the “racist” remark concerning the judge.— I guess I will never recover from the conversations I had with their offices during the amnesty debacle.
texasaggie on June 2, 2009 at 11:15 PM
This was posted on another board I frequent. Fella who wrote it is a cabbie in the DC area. Food for thought.
WARNING!!! WARNING!!!
Guys, I just had an Ubamanista in the cab today and he was yakking on his cell, not knowing that he had one of the other side behind the wheel. Didn’t recognize him but what he was saying ranked him in about the mid-level of the Obama (not DemonRat but Obama’s PERSONAL org) (). The discussion is insructive as to why we all need to watch these rats closely.
The guy was telling his opposite number that “with all this attention focused on Sotomayor, we can do the groundwork to get cap-and trade and the global warming stuff to a vote without too much hassle from the Republicans, because they’re too busy barking up that tree”
That’s their game. Firebomb the house down the street so they can rob the bank around the corner. Fighting these jerks is like playing Wack-A-Mole, except the moles have been replaced by hydras. Eternal vigilance, as it is said……..
Just as aside, it also seems Obama , as part of the GM/Chrysler re-organization, wants to give a major share in both companies to the IAW. So that the workers will own the means of production, as Karl Marx once said. And people laughed at me last year when I said Obama was a goddamned Communist. Well, he so IS.
riverrat10k on June 3, 2009 at 12:59 PM