Senator Sessions disqualifies himself

Dear Friends,

None of President-elect Trump's cabinet nominees is qualified and each should be rejected on the basis of reasons specific to each nominee.  I want to have several clear and defensible facts to demonstrate why each nominee is not qualified.  I am starting with Senator Sessions as his hearings are scheduled to start Tuesday.

While his hearings to become a federal judge are replete with examples of his racism, I would prefer to use as my facts more recent statements and positions.  There was a great article in The New York Times yesterday (here) entitled: "Jeff Sessions, in his own words" by Matt Apuzzo.  The entire article is a short introduction to a quote of Senator Sessions and then the quote.  They do in fact speak for themselves, but to help me remember I will comment on each.  However, if you are short on time, just read the article and skip the rest of this blog, except for the end where I encourage you to contact your Senators to stop his confirmation.

It is clear that Senator Sessions would give the police much more leeway to use force.  The Justice Department under President Obama has tried hard to use the power it has to be certain that there are consequences to individual policemen and women as well to police departments who use unwarranted force.  If pressure from the Justice Department is removed, we can expect to see more police violence with no accountability.

Senator Sessions loves the Patriot Act, surveillance and warrantless searches.  He believes them all to be constitutional.  He will not act as a block against unconstitutional invasions of our privacy.  In fact, he will give the President-elect cover to do so.

While President Obama has been trying to undo some of the negative effects of mandatory minimum sentences, Senator Sessions has pushed for more incarceration.  He will take us backwards.

Senator Sessions is not just against "illegals", he is against all immigrants.  He does not want our country to have too many people who were not born here.  He has blocked bipartisan immigration reform.  He will deport people more aggressively than President Obama.  Sanctuary cities will be more critical than ever to combat his xenophobia.

Waterboarding is torture under International Law and treaties that we have signed.  The United States has prosecuted people for waterboarding our troops.  Yet Senator Sessions not only believes it is legal, he believes that it works.  Both those positions have been completely debunked.  The natural consequence of his position is that waterboarding can be used by the police domestically.  What kind of Attorney General would ever believe that?

His statement on gay marriage is off the charts wrong and stupid.  "It is not disputable that adopting a same-sex marriage culture undermines and weakens marriage."  This statement could only be made by an idiot or a liar, either way it disqualifies him from being Attorney General.

Senator Sessions has an A+ rating from the NRA.  There is no need to say more.

Senator Sessions opposes the legalization of marijuana.  That by itself does not disqualify him from being Attorney General but his lack of flexibility on this issue could very well destroy the laissez-faire attitude of the Department of Justice towards states that implement their own laws about marijuana use.  His position reflects his overall lack of understanding that times change, and that the Attorney General must use his prosecutorial powers with good judgment and discretion.

If Senator Sessions is confirmed, the United States will have an Attorney General who disagrees with decades of Supreme Court decisions about the separation of church and state.  His statement that the Constitution permits a state to establish a religion is not even in the realm of possibilities considered by any normal interpretation of the Constitution.  How could we rely on him to defend the Constitution's separation of church and state?

When Senator Sessions supports keeping the prison at Guantanamo Bay open, he is supporting ongoing detention without charges or trials and the denial of basic civil and human rights to people who are sent there.  We should never have an Attorney General who supports such unconstitutional positions.

Senator Sessions denies the science of climate change.  The Attorney General should not have an opinion that contradicts facts.  That is not how our justice system works.

Senator Sessions does not agree that flag burning is free speech, but the Supreme Court has said it is.  Therefore, as Attorney General he is obligated to follow that determination.  He wants a Constitutional Amendment saying that flag burning is not free speech.  The question is how will he enforce the law until that amendment gets passed which is not likely to happen.

You will note that none of the above quotes was openly racist nor does my discussion imply that Senator Sessions is racist.  We know from his many prior statements and actions that he racist.  Of course, that alone should disqualify him.

Please call your Senators and give them some concrete reasons why you believe Senator Sessions should not be confirmed.

Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal