Please please please understand that while it might have been Lindsey Graham talking this time, this is the same mindset of many southern Republicans and even some southern "conservative" Democrats. He was just stupid enough to actually articulate it for the world to hear.
Professor Melissa Harris-Lacewell has a post up over at the Nation about the hearings for Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, and the racist and sexist treatment she received from GOP Senators on the committee. The whole post is excellent but there was one thing that she hit on that I hadn't thought about but which struck a chord with me...
Like Eckford, Sotomayor has been praised for her dignity, her stillness, and the evenness of her voice as she responded to hostile mischaracterizations. She managed to laugh off sexist jokes. She didn't flinch when she was repeatedly interrupted. Senator Lindsey Graham warned that her confirmation could only be derailed if she had "a complete meltdown." The rules of the game were set: the Senators could mischaracterize her record, accuse her of racial bias, and mispronounce her name but she could not respond in kind. She could not be hurt or offended or angry. She had to remain a pillar of rationality and neutrality and control.
Now at the time when Graham made that pronoucement about a "complete meltdown" many media outlets painted it as him hinting at voting for her, or that he ws being a realist. But when I heard it I heard something different but I just couldn't put my finger on it. But I think Professor Lacewell knocks it out of the park with this one. The comment was meant to put her in a box lest she do ANYTHING that could be interpreted in any way as a "meltdown". That meant no angry retorts and no showing of emotion or passion. And in many ways it mean she had to "shuck and jive" in order to make it through the process unscathed. Don't misunderstand me, I am a major proponent of you doing what you have to do to get the job done. So I don't have anything bad at all to say about Judge Sotomayor handling herself accordingly. But I wonder just how many women of all colors watched these proceedings and decided to never to support a party that could be so openly sexist as well as racist as they were in questioning her.
Obviously I will not week for the GOP's electoral difficulties arising out of their treatment of Judge Sotomayor. But its just so curious to me how clueless and mindless these old white men continue to be to the world changing around them.
Update: I just wanted to post this TYT YouTube clip of John Roberts and Sam Alito avoiding answering questions during their confirmation to compare and contrast. Check out how Roberts gets a little heated a couple of times. I doubt anyone said he "melted down" back then but you can bet your ass that had Judge Sotomayor had done the same thing that would be all we were hearing about.
Lindsey Graham admits what we on the left always knew, Bush and Cheney were cowards.
It is remarkable to me that Lindsey Graham says here unequivically that what President Bush and Vice President Cheney did with respect to torture and GITMO was not something borne out of rational thought. When he says these things were done out of fear that necessarily means that what they did was irrational. And he obviously knows what was done was wrong but tries to excuse it because Bush et al were afraid. Well I would love to see a murder suspect try to use that defense in court.
"Your honor I only killed that guy because I was scared someone else was going to kill me."
I am sure that would turn out fine.
But I once again raise the point Richard Clarke made the other day. If these people were operating out of fear, then why didn't they consult with people who weren't afraid about what kind of interrogations we should be engaging in and how we should be treating our detainees? We now know that at least one person, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, disagreed with some of these choices made out of fear and let them know he disagreed. Yet they allowed fear to overrule the courage of sticking to our values. And in the end they put the country at risk and for that they should be held accountable.
Meet The Press was a fucking joke this morning other than Senator Chuck Schumer, but Schumer's part was pretty damn good I must say. Of particular note was the information he put forth on earmarks. He not only set the record straight about his own quote on the subject, he also informed the public as to the steps that have already been done to reform the earmark process. In the last two weeks this is the FIRST time I have ever heard anyone enumerate these points.
Yet another hypocritical Republican caught on tape. This time its Lindsey Graham pummelling President Obama's stimulus bill that will soon be signed into law. But then at about 4:10 of the video a curious thing happens. Wolf Blitzer asks Senator Fun Boy if he thinks his state of South Carolina should accept money from the bill. And what do you think this fiscal conservative who thinks the bill is "stinks" said in response?
If there is anybody out their reading this blog who knows how to do youtube videos, it would be great if you could make a compilation of all the Republican Congressmen and Governers bashing the stimulus bill then back tracking once they are asked if they will refuse the money. I mean if they REALLY fear the size of the bill shouldn't they do their part by refusing the money so the price of the package goes down?
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