Jeff Sessions kicks off whirlwind week of Cabinet hearings

[danarhea]

WASHINGTON — Today kicks off a blizzard of confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees, headlined by two picks who could spark cross-party clashes — attorney general hopeful Jeff Sessions, and secretary of state candidate Rex Tillerson later in the week.

I am listening to the Sessions confirmation hearings as I post this.

Based on what I have heard so far, I am OK with Sessions being Attorney General for the following reasons:

1) Yes, Sessions does have a racist past, but that was 40 years ago. But people change. My brothers and I were raised racists, but today I live in a black neighborhood, and one of my brothers is married to a black woman. Once more, people change. Sessions has prosecuted the KKK, and done other things to show me that he is not the same man he was 40 years ago. I am willing to give him a chance.

2) Sessions is a far right wing Conservative, but Trump was elected, and a president's appointments serve at his pleasure.

While I am strongly against Tillerson, for reasons given in another thread that I started, I don't see why Sessions shouldn't be confirmed. IMHO, he is capable, and his party did win the election, which means that Trump has the right to nominate the people he wants, and they should be confirmed by the Senate, barring any real legal or ethical issues. He may be against Roe v. Wade, and other laws of the land, but he said today that his job is not to make the law, but to enforce existing law, and that is what he would do. I will take his word on that. Until he commits an action which speaks otherwise, I am OK with his selection.

Jeff Sessions kicks off whirlwind week of Cabinet hearings | Boston Herald

 

[TheDemSocialist]

Jeff Sessions is a Klansman in a suit.

 

[chuckiechan]

I'm sure the MSM is winding up the smear machine. Cory Booker is going to testify against him. That is unheard of for a Senator to testify against another Senator, but Booker is a racist who hates reformed white racists.

Pass the popcorn.

When Sessions becomes AG, he can look into this:

Newark watershed corruption 'staggering' even to jaded observers

That is one just one tip of one iceburg.

FYI, Corey Booker was mayor of Newark.

 

[danarhea]

Jeff Sessions is a Klansman in a suit.

He was 40 years ago, but since then has prosecuted the Klan. I will take him at his word that he is a changed man..... Well, make that his word plus his actions since that time. What I won't do is take up a pitch fork and join a witch hunt.

 

[haymarket]

I am listening to the Sessions confirmation hearings as I post this.

Based on what I have heard so far, I am OK with Sessions being Attorney General for the following reasons:

1) Yes, Sessions does have a racist past, but that was 40 years ago. But people change. My brothers and I were raised racists, but today I live in a black neighborhood, and one of my brothers is married to a black woman. Once more, people change. Sessions has prosecuted the KKK, and done other things to show me that he is not the same man he was 40 years ago. I am willing to give him a chance.

2) Sessions is a far right wing Conservative, but Trump was elected, and a president's appointments serve at his pleasure.

While I am strongly against Tillerson, for reasons given in another thread that I started, I don't see why Sessions shouldn't be confirmed. IMHO, he is capable, and his party did win the election, which means that Trump has the right to nominate the people he wants, and they should be confirmed by the Senate, barring any real legal or ethical issues. He may be against Roe v. Wade, and other laws of the land, but he said today that his job is not to make the law, but to enforce existing law, and that is what he would do. I will take his word on that. Until he commits an action which speaks otherwise, I am OK with his selection.

Jeff Sessions kicks off whirlwind week of Cabinet hearings | Boston Herald

Has Sessions completed all the necessary paperwork disclosing all his needed information?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...b5164beba6b_story.html?utm_term=.42ffeab015cb

Attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions did not disclose his ownership of oil interests on land in Alabama as required by federal ethics rules, according to an examination of state records and independent ethics lawyers who reviewed the documents.

The Alabama records show that Sessions owns subsurface rights to oil and other minerals on more than 600 acres in his home state, some of which are adjacent to a federal wildlife preserve.

The holdings are small, producing revenue in the range of $4,700 annually. But the interests were not disclosed on forms sent by Sessions to the Office of Government Ethics, which reviews the assets of Cabinet nominees for potential conflicts of interest.

Democrats have accused Republicans of trying to rush through President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks before ethics checks can be completed, and they are seizing on the apparent lapse by Sessions, a Republican senator from Alabama, to bolster their argument. His confirmation hearing is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

“I am troubled by any omissions,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Judiciary Committee. “But this is particularly troubling because this ownership interest involves oil and gas holdings connected to a federal wildlife refuge.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions earns around $4,700 a year from mineral rights in Alabama. (Molly Riley/AP)

 

[Ikari]

I like how he had to denounce the KKK. Says something when that's an actual concern.

 

[danarhea]

I like how he had to denounce the KKK. Says something when that's an actual concern.

I have no problem with that. My brothers and I used to be racists too, but we changed over time. One brother is married to a black woman now. Do you think we are still racists?

 

[Ikari]

I have no problem with that. My brothers and I used to be racists too, but we changed over time. One brother is married to a black woman now. Do you think we are still racists?

I think that it takes quite an extraordinary experience for one whom is truly racist to change philosophy. I don't know you personally, so I cannot say if you are still racist or not. Maybe.

But there are many folk, many folk in the country who are capable for the job of whom you wouldn't have to ask them to condemn the KKK. My statement stands.

 

[NonoBadDog]

Jeff Sessions is a Klansman in a suit.

Senator Robert Byrd (D), Grand Dragon Klu Klux Klan. That is all.

 

[TheGoverness]

I like how he had to denounce the KKK. Says something when that's an actual concern.

He had no choice but to denounce them.

 

[Dittohead not!]

He was 40 years ago, but since then has prosecuted the Klan. I will take him at his word that he is a changed man..... Well, make that his word plus his actions since that time. What I won't do is take up a pitch fork and join a witch hunt.

If Trump can switch from liberal Democrat to conservative Republican, then his nominee can switch from bigot to non bigot.

But, has either of them really changed?

 

[danarhea]

Senator Robert Byrd (D), Grand Dragon Klu Klux Klan. That is all.

To be fair, he changed too. But the point is that I am convinced enough that Sessions is not the same man he was 40 years ago to be OK with his confirmation.

 

[danarhea]

If Trump can switch from liberal Democrat to conservative Republican, then his nominee can switch from bigot to non bigot.

But, has either of them really changed?

Time will tell.

 

[Praxas]

While I am strongly against Tillerson, for reasons given in another thread that I started, I don't see why Sessions shouldn't be confirmed. IMHO, he is capable, and his party did win the election, which means that Trump has the right to nominate the people he wants, and they should be confirmed by the Senate, barring any real legal or ethical issues. He may be against Roe v. Wade, and other laws of the land, but he said today that his job is not to make the law, but to enforce existing law, and that is what he would do. I will take his word on that. Until he commits an action which speaks otherwise, I am OK with his selection.

Maybe the Republicans should have thought about that BEFORE they ignored Obama's pick to the Supreme court and didn't bother to even have a confirmation hearing for him. sorry, but no. The Republicans have laid out the groundwork for obstruction, they deserve all the obstruction they can get, including Trump.

 

[NonoBadDog]

To be fair, he changed too. But the point is that I am convinced enough that Sessions is not the same man he was 40 years ago to be OK with his confirmation.

Sessions was instrumental in the swift execution of a Klansman in Alabama.

The bottom line: Sessions was instrumental in seeing a Klan murderer charged with the death penalty, and later worked as Alabama's attorney general to see that the death sentence was carried out swiftly, making Henry Francis Hays the first white man executed in Alabama for murdering a black person since 1913. Sessions spent the better part of two decades going after the Klan in Alabama, and that should be kept in mind when you assess the decades old charges that he is racist.

In Alabama, Jeff Sessions Desegregated Schools and Got the Death Penalty for KKK Murderer (Updated) | The Weekly Standard

He also helped get a 7 million dollar fine against the KKK. I think his opponents are blowing thigns out of proportion but it won't matter. They don't have the votes to stop it.

 

[shrubnose]

Senator Robert Byrd (D), Grand Dragon Klu Klux Klan. That is all.[

/QUOTE]



Byrd has been dead and buried since 2010.

 

[NonoBadDog]

Maybe the Republicans should have thought about that BEFORE they ignored Obama's pick to the Supreme court and didn't bother to even have a confirmation hearing for him. sorry, but no. The Republicans have laid out the groundwork for obstruction, they deserve all the obstruction they can get, including Trump.

There will be no obstruction. That's a pipe dream. The Democrats don't have the horse power to obstruct his appointment. Thanks Harry Reid.

 

[NonoBadDog]

Byrd has been dead and buried since 2010.

Doesn't change a thing.

 

[shrubnose]

If Trump can switch from liberal Democrat to conservative Republican, then his nominee can switch from bigot to non bigot.

But, has either of them really changed?

Maybe we'll find out in the next 4 years.

 

[Henrin]

Sigh. The accusation that made everything think Sessions is a racist was proven false decades ago. Frankly, that whole situation was a perfect example of slander.

 

[tres borrachos]

Maybe the Republicans should have thought about that BEFORE they ignored Obama's pick to the Supreme court and didn't bother to even have a confirmation hearing for him. sorry, but no. The Republicans have laid out the groundwork for obstruction, they deserve all the obstruction they can get, including Trump.

I'm a Republican, but I was pretty upset with them for their delay in hosting hearings for him.

 

[shrubnose]

Doesn't change a thing.

You can run the man down from now until the end of time and he'll never hear a word that you say.

IOW: you're wasting your time.

:lol:

I predict that you won't get a response from him.

 

[Hawkeye10]

Sessions is very good at this.

He will serve Trump well.

 

[Anthony60]

I am listening to the Sessions confirmation hearings as I post this.

...but he said today that his job is not to make the law, but to enforce existing law, and that is what he would do. I will take his word on that. Until he commits an action which speaks otherwise, I am OK with his selection.

Jeff Sessions kicks off whirlwind week of Cabinet hearings | Boston Herald

That's a refreshing change from the administration just announcing what laws they decide not to enforce or just changing the law as they see fit.

 

[AliHajiSheik]

You can run the man down from now until the end of time and he'll never hear a word that you say.

IOW: you're wasting your time.

:lol:

I predict that you won't get a response from him.

It is good that you are sticking with only safe predictions.