Video: Sessions blasts Kagan nomination, rebuffs Schumer
posted at 12:55 pm on July 21, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
This speech yesterday at the Judiciary Committee hearing before passing Elena Kagan’s Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate is not notable so much for the attack on judicial activism by Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) as for his response to Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). After Sessions talks about the apparently old-fashioned virtue of judicial neutrality, Schumer interrupts Sessions to challenge him on the recent Citizens United decision. Schumer says that some of his colleagues didn’t find that a “neutral” outcome, and Sessions politely but firmly puts Schumer in his place:
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BIG SHOW BIZ hearing grandstanding……and then when the cameras are off Sessions and Schumer pat one another on the back.
This type of fakery in Congress is what is so repulsive to the American people.
it’s all just a game and it’s really just the RULING CLASS approving of one of their own.
Do people not understand that this is all just a mute point because they have given the DOTUS near dictatorial power with these HEALTHCARE AND FINANCIAL REG bills, and more to come?
GOD HELP US ALL.
PappyD61 on July 21, 2010 at 1:00 PM
I’ve seen more passion in a Pepsi vs Coke debate.
Socmodfiscon on July 21, 2010 at 1:07 PM
good job by sessions….
yet, how many will grahamnesty pull over to vote aye for kagan…
cmsinaz on July 21, 2010 at 1:08 PM
Torpedo Kagan,
or, allow her to carry out Obama’s Engineering
Social Justice for decades to come!!!!
canopfor on July 21, 2010 at 1:09 PM
Oh,Senator Graham is at the top of my,
Senator Great Grand Purge List!!
canopfor on July 21, 2010 at 1:10 PM
I’m beginning to wonder….just how many so called Republicans want to help fulfill this socialist/communist agenda, while trying to keep up the facade that they’re conservatives?
capejasmine on July 21, 2010 at 1:14 PM
I’d say most of the ones who are in office.
They know a good deal (for them) when they see it.
Daggett on July 21, 2010 at 1:17 PM
Nice- a smart, thoughtful explanation by Sessions.
LASue on July 21, 2010 at 1:18 PM
That’s how lawyers live. That’s the problem. They’re oftentimes more worried about their working relationship than about the people they represent. I’m proud of Sessions, though. At least I know where he stands publicly, and his record reflects that, no matter what relationships he tries to maintain with scum suckers like Schumer.
AubieJon on July 21, 2010 at 1:18 PM
When do the show trials begin ?
Before or after the ‘conservative’ republicans help pass cap and tax ?
DeweyWins on July 21, 2010 at 1:19 PM
More than you would be comfortable knowing about. The whole lot needs to be purged. Everyone. It is the only way to be sure. Burn D.C. to the ground and start over in barren dusty field in the center of the country.
PakviRoti on July 21, 2010 at 1:19 PM
IF…….IF……They really cared about the Constitution and the future of the Republic they would grow some gonads and stop this pussy-footing around with these Progressive radicals (in moderate media covering).
So if they aren’t opposing it…..then….hello ROCKET SCIENCE….THE GOP IS FOR THIS TYPE OF PROGRESSIVE CONTROL…..just a slower version of it.
THEY HAVE TO GET KAGAN ON THE COURT before the Supreme Court rules on the Constitutionality of the OBAMACARE debacle. NOW all the pressure will be on ANTHONY KENNEDY.
PappyD61 on July 21, 2010 at 1:22 PM
If we are to have judges that make decisions based on empathy ,politics and fairness of outcome instead of being based on law then why do we even need to be a lawyer to be a judge.
Anybody can listen to the facts and then give an opinion without any legal training whatsoever if that is the standard we now use.
Guys like Schumer think that the Constitution is something that gets in his way and he clearly would prefer a judge who would ignore it if it helps his cause.
That is not law.
NeoKong on July 21, 2010 at 1:23 PM
Sessions said what needed to be said. He may lack the drama and charisma that many thrive on, but where exactly has that gotten us?
texabama on July 21, 2010 at 1:24 PM
Jeff Sessions has it right. And he’s making the argument calmly, rationally. That’s how you win people to your cause.
hawksruleva on July 21, 2010 at 1:25 PM
THEY MUST GET KAGAN on the Court ASAP so she can support the OBAMACARE case on the final vote.
Justice ANTHONY KENNEDY is now the key to stopping OBAMACARE.
PappyD61 on July 21, 2010 at 1:25 PM
Just got my first pop-up ad. That is it. Turning on add blocker for this site.
Blarg the Destroyer on July 21, 2010 at 1:30 PM
Switch to Firefox, and use the AdBlock Plus add-in.
Ward Cleaver on July 21, 2010 at 1:35 PM
IIRC, there was a movement in the early ’70s (?) to move the nation’s capitol to the geographic center of the contiguous United States, which is in Kansas. Naturally, it never went anywhere, but wouldn’t it be nice? That would shake up the entrenched political interests like nothing else.
Mary in LA on July 21, 2010 at 1:37 PM
It’s really quite sad to realize that Lindsay Graham has more common ground with Chuck Schumer than he has with Jeff Sessions. There shouldn’t be any question among Republicans as to whether judicial activism from the Supreme Court is tolerable. The “elections-have-consequences” cop-out is an abdication of Congressional responsibility… and should be left to weasels like Schumer.
Murf76 on July 21, 2010 at 1:37 PM
But Lindsay Graham just adores Kagan.
coldwarrior on July 21, 2010 at 1:38 PM
The simple question would be, “Is this the best we can do?” Is this person the one who will get a life time appointment?”
Even chuck shumer knows the answer to that question.
The question is…is she the best we can hope for?
tomas on July 21, 2010 at 1:41 PM
Mr President;
We KNOW who you are…
We KNOW what you stand for…
The jig is UP!!
Elena Kagan is but a spot on our horizon…
You and everyone like you will be gone from our sight.
America WILL stand against you, all for one and one for all…
We WILL become self sufficient…
We WILL drill…
We will be productive…
You and those like you CANNOT hold us back any more Mr President.
We will gather and protest until YOU and those like you will just become a bad memory, a nightmare we survived!!
YOu and those like you CANNOT stop us.
We are AMERICANS!!
Try and divide us, and we grow together…
We are UNITED as ONE against YOU and and all others like you and your policies of destruction.
We will not take it any more!!
Your time is short Mr President…work with us or be against us…those are your options…
You and those like you SERVE US!!
We DO NOT SERVE YOU!!
We are united, we are the people of these UNITED STATES!!
We are proud strong hard working and we will not submit to being ruled by YOUR govt.
YOU WILL HEAR US Mr President.
RoxanneH on July 21, 2010 at 1:48 PM
Chuckie Smuckie still thinks flash bangs are non-lethal….
Caper29 on July 21, 2010 at 1:53 PM
Bravo, Senator Sessions–a well-rounded (and gentlemanly) statement.
bandarlog on July 21, 2010 at 2:03 PM
Kind of weak.
Count to 10 on July 21, 2010 at 2:07 PM
Heh, I believe these two could double date and there would still be two males and two females…
brtex on July 21, 2010 at 2:11 PM
I am convinced that the obama and the dems want to destroy America.
ConservativePartyNow on July 21, 2010 at 2:16 PM
Wish the camera hadn’t been zoomed in so much. The thighs were interesting
Dingbat63 on July 21, 2010 at 2:18 PM
video not allowed at work. Any text for me to read?
Butters on July 21, 2010 at 2:38 PM
Yep… and everything else that’s coming their way. Vote for Kagan, kiss the Union good-bye.
itsacookbook on July 21, 2010 at 2:55 PM
Her qualifications and judicial temperament do not matter. She is a democrat and they run things. The dems could nominate
Incittatus (or Lassie for the less classically aware) and the horse would be confirmed.
JIMV on July 21, 2010 at 2:57 PM
He should have added the simple statement: Do we want unelected judges to create law for us, or do we want our elected representatives to do that? Every 2-bit dictator wants courts to create and influence the interpretation of the law to fit their political views. Unfortunately, we’ve elected a lot of potential 2-bit dictators.
ClanDerson on July 21, 2010 at 3:03 PM
I guess it comes down too every man/woman for yourself … we will make our laws as we go … the playground is open ..
wheels on July 21, 2010 at 3:17 PM
Forget Schumer! I wanna know, who is the hottie sitting behind Sessions?
microfiction on July 21, 2010 at 3:33 PM
Anyone want to ponder a Sessions 2012 ticket?
And I am serious. Sometimes, the best leaders are the one’s who don’t want to do it.
Where has Sessions let conservatives down?
BobMbx on July 21, 2010 at 4:03 PM
If you watch carefully, you’ll notice her ring finger is bare.
You never know unless you try…..
BobMbx on July 21, 2010 at 4:05 PM
THEY HAVE TO GET KAGAN ON THE COURT before the Supreme Court rules on the Constitutionality of the OBAMACARE debacle. NOW all the pressure will be on ANTHONY KENNEDY.
PappyD61 on July 21, 2010 at 1:22 PM
PappyD61:Bingo:)
canopfor on July 21, 2010 at 4:18 PM
Wouldn’t this make an interesting twist for Grisham’s novel, The Pelican Brief?
microfiction on July 21, 2010 at 5:36 PM
I as well just received my first pop-up on this site.
Warning to the proprietors. Stop the pop-ups before I block every bit of advertisement on this site. Or stop giving you traffic and recommending the site to friends.
On Topic: Sen. Sessions is absolutely correct that allowing personal feelings and preferences to influence your decisions in law will destroy the institution of law.
If the people at large begin to feel that the law itself is capricious, they stop following any law. This leads to a bleak and terrible landscape.
NavyspyII on July 21, 2010 at 5:50 PM
Sen. Sessions is a solid conservative, true to both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution.
onlineanalyst on July 21, 2010 at 8:54 PM
Who is the chick in the maroon? She’s hot…if she unbuttoned one more button, she’d be smoking hot.
That said, Sessions was awesome!
Tim Burton on July 21, 2010 at 8:59 PM
It’s moot. I know it’s nit-picking but it’s used waaay too much and detracts from an otherwise lucid argument.
Big John on July 21, 2010 at 8:59 PM
Sessions is good but how am I expected to pay attention with that woman sitting behind him?
peacenprosperity on July 21, 2010 at 9:23 PM
I find it amazing that Kagan has admitted that she willfully and purposely altered a report by the American Academy of OB/GYNS on partial birth abortion while a Clinton White House lawyer to support the Administration’s view on this horrid procedure is going to be confirmed and sit, for life, on the highest court in the land.
Democrats, you have no shame and the wailing and cries from the millions of aborted babies is only background noise to your consciousness. Heaven have mercy on you. How do you defenders of abortion and especially those who defend the indefensible, partial birth abortion, look in the mirror and think that a moral,compassionate human being is being reflected back?
devolvingtowardsidiocracy on July 21, 2010 at 10:07 PM
Mr President;
We KNOW who you are…
We KNOW what you stand for…
The jig is UP!!
Elena Kagan is but a spot on our horizon…
You and everyone like you will be gone from our sight.
America WILL stand against you, all for one and one for all…
We WILL become self sufficient…
We WILL drill…
We will be productive…
You and those like you CANNOT hold us back any more Mr President.
We will gather and protest until YOU and those like you will just become a bad memory, a nightmare we survived!!
YOu and those like you CANNOT stop us.
We are AMERICANS!!
Try and divide us, and we grow together…
We are UNITED as ONE against YOU and and all others like you and your policies of destruction.
We will not take it any more!!
Your time is short Mr President…work with us or be against us…those are your options…
You and those like you SERVE US!!
We DO NOT SERVE YOU!!
We are united, we are the people of these UNITED STATES!!
We are proud strong hard working and we will not submit to being ruled by YOUR govt.
YOU WILL HEAR US Mr President.
RoxanneH on July 21, 2010 at 1:48 PM
I couldn’t have said it better, wish I could have said it as well. The are millions more of us than them. Pray that the elections go the “right” way, otherwise, it’s just a matter of time until the inevitable. Be prepared.
Dr Bob on July 21, 2010 at 10:21 PM
So Schumer rudely interrupts Sessions and Sessions “politely but firmly puts Schumer in his place.” I’ve had it with “polite but firm.” I want to see these maxist liberal pinko commies getting their butts chewed out….screw this “polite but firm”.
olesparkie on July 22, 2010 at 9:08 AM