Sean Spicer just now: I can only hope that if Coretta Scott King was still with us, that she would support Senator Sessions's nomination.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) February 8, 2017
Used to be, an elderly racist like Jefferson Beauregard Sessions would be required to festoon his confirmation hearing with platitudes about ‘youthful indiscretions’ and ‘having learned better since then’. But this gang can’t even permit themselves such rags of hypocrisy, because the official GOP line is that racism is good and honorable — so much so, even discussing racism is an offense against honor. You know what happened, last time that was true for Congressmen?
Let’s be clear on the precedent here: it’s the 1836-44 gag rule that forbade any consideration of abolition in the House. 1/
— James Grimmelmann (@grimmelm) February 8, 2017
All abolitionist petitions would immediately be tabled, and any attempt to introduce them would be prohibited.
— James Grimmelmann (@grimmelm) February 8, 2017
Former president John Quincy Adams, now back in Congress, was outraged, and kept trying to push against the gag rule. 4/
— James Grimmelmann (@grimmelm) February 8, 2017
Southern representatives introduced resolutions to censure JQA, and said that the petition should “be instantly burnt.” 7/
— James Grimmelmann (@grimmelm) February 8, 2017
Southern Congressmen threatened to walk out en masse and quit the Union rather than submit to a _discussion_ of abolition. 11/
— James Grimmelmann (@grimmelm) February 8, 2017
Then, as now, “dignity” and “respect” for the institution trumped open debate on actual issues of urgent importance. 13/
— James Grimmelmann (@grimmelm) February 8, 2017
As I noted last night, tensions escalated over the gag rule to the point where a South Carolina senator attempted to murder a Massachusetts senator on the floor of the Senate chamber. I doubt the current GOP Senators have anyone with that level of conviction in their ranks, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the security teams weren’t being a little extra alert right now.
Wednesday Evening Open Thread: The Trump Cabal, On Beyond ShamelessPost + Comments (95)