• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About me
  • Contact

Joel Solkoff

High-tech housing for the poor, disabled and elderly

Chinese (Simplified)EnglishFrenchGermanHebrewItalianPolishPortugueseRussianSpanish
  • Disability and Elderly Issues
  • Food
  • Architects for Change
  • Joel Solkoff’s Resume
  • Joel’s Books
You are here: Home / My biased perspective / Senator Jeff Sessions is not fit to be Attorney General

Senator Jeff Sessions is not fit to be Attorney General

February 2, 2017 by joel Leave a Comment

Epics traditionally begin in the middle [1]. Confirmation of Senator Jeff Beauregard Sessions to be Attorney General of the United States is no exception. I am strongly opposed to the confirmation of Senator Sessions. What follows are my reasons.

This epic has been changing quickly. Time and date matter regarding the ultimate outcome. I am writing on Thursday, February 2, 2017 from the Borough of State College, Pennsylvania.

++++

Jeff Sessions approved by Judiciary Committee after another bitter hearing

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 10, 2017, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  (Photo by Alex Brandon, AP)

++++

Article by: Matt Zapotosky. The Washington Post, Published February 1, 2017

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted 11-9 to advance the nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., as attorney general. He is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate by the end of the week.

Republicans, who need only a majority vote to approve him, control 52 of the Senate’s 100 seats, and Democrats have thus far failed to convince anyone on the other side of the aisle to oppose Sessions.

The committee vote, which passed along party lines, comes at a tumultuous time for the Department of Justice. On Monday, President Donald Trump fired Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, an Obama administration holdover, after she refused to defend his controversial immigration order.

Senate Democrats lambasted the move as improper and said it called into question whether Sessions would enforce laws with which the president took issue. Republicans, meanwhile, asserted that Yates was the one to have acted wrongly in refusing to defend an order that the Justice Department‘s own Office of Legal Counsel had deemed lawful.

The dispute led to a bitter Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, and the panel ultimately decided it would wait a day to vote on Sessions’ nomination. On Wednesday, Democrats again launched bitter attacks against Sessions before the vote.

The process, along with fights over other Cabinet nominees, has frustrated Trump, who took to Twitter on Tuesday to decry Democrats.

“When will the Democrats give us our Attorney General and rest of Cabinet!” he wrote. “They should be ashamed of themselves! No wonder D.C. doesn’t work!”

Until Sessions can be confirmed, the Justice Department is being led by Dana Boente, the U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia who was chosen to lead in Yates place. Boente, a longtime Justice Department lawyer nominated by President Barack Obama for his U.S. attorney’s job, rescinded Yates’ directive not to defend Trump’s immigration order.

Trump on Tuesday also announced three other picks for Justice Department leadership. Provided they are confirmed, Rod Rosenstein, the U.S. attorney from Maryland, will serve as the deputy attorney general, the No. 2 post in the department, and Rachel Brand, a member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, will serve as the associate attorney general, the No. 3 post. The White House said Trump intends to nominate Steven Engel, a lawyer at the Dechert firm, as an assistant attorney general with reports suggesting he will run the Office of Legal Counsel.

–30–

Copyright notice. The article above appeared in The Chicago Tribune which reproduced it after appearing in The Washington Post. As with the photograph from the AP this is protected information. My understanding is that I have the right to publish it here as a component to this lengthy ongoing essay. Please, copyright holders, feel free to get in touch with me.

++++

You can’t tell the players without a score card.

The first set of players is the composition of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Yes, the Committee has sent Senator Sessions’ nomination to the floor with the recommendation that he be confirmed. Although this is a done deal, it is helpful for an understanding of the issues involved to know about the Committee members. Several members as well as those testifying against confirmation receive my wholehearted approval. First among equals is the excellent job Senator Al Franken of Minnesota has done.

Let us begin with Senator Franken on Senator Sessions claim to personally handle civil rights cases in defence of the Voting Rights Act. Let the testimony speak for itself. Play by play will follow orienting you. Promise.

++++

Senator Franken here is presenting one of several reasons why Senator Sessions should not be confirmed. I regret The Exalted Nation of Truth which posted this testimony excerpt did so with the “Sen. Franken destroys Sen. Sessions…” banner you see.  My regret is not so great I need to search through YouTube to find a neutral clip.

This excerpt is an excellent example of in media res in action. Sen. Franken is testifying in reply to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Se. Cruz, in defending the charge Sen. Franken made that Sen. Sessions misled the Committee, made a statement attacking Sen. Franken’s character.

Here Sen. Franken is trying to set the matter straight. While doing so, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas objected to Sen. Franken’s remarks. Sen. Cornyn’s objection concerned senate protocol–a leit motif that runs the drama and which I will address by and by. The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa looks like he is squirming because he is. As Chairman Sen. Grassley decides who speaks for so long and when a senator objects–as Sen. Cornyn did repeatedly–whether to comply with the objection (i.e. tell Sen. Franken to shut up) or not.

Color coverage of Judiciary Committee and details of the players will be provided. First, there is context. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan nominated Jeff Sessions (not then a senator) to be a federal judge. The Senate Judiciary Committee killed the nomination because Committee members accepted the testimony of witnesses who said that Sessions had made remarks that could be construed as racist and because of actions that Sessions allegedly took. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachussets led the opposition, [In the interest of full disclosure, in the summer and fall of 1976 I worked for Senator Kennedy.

Here is a clip from NBC describing the opposition to Sessions nomination in 1986.

++++

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: My biased perspective Tagged With: Al Franken of Minnesota, AP, Dana Boente, Jeff Sessions not fit to be Attorney General, Matt Zapotosky. The Washington Post, Photo by Alex Brandon, Sally Yates, Senate Judiciary Committee, The Washington Post

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Current

Disability bathroom design

September 3, 2020 By joel

Covid 19 has accelerated the need for a new utilitarian architecture: Architecture for the vulnerable ( like me)

August 19, 2020 By joel

Covid-19 Architects: “We Who Are About to Die Salute You”

August 6, 2020 By joel

Covid 19 impasse: Why architects need to know how a member of the US Congress must be expelled by the end of the month and how that relates to building emergency housing at a time when its absence is deadly and dangerous

July 23, 2020 By joel

John Wayne don't run away

Rain: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

July 5, 2020 By joel

Theo van Gogh’s The Interview

June 27, 2020 By joel

Recent

  • Ani Ma’Amin: This is what I believe
  • March March from The Chicks: My Personal Anthem
  • 建筑师注意:美国新冠状病毒死亡人数将会激增;你们必须为穷人建造住房
  • I am now a card carrying member of the National Organization for Women
  • God is not on President Trump’s Side; God is on my side
  • The late great James Baldwin on racism in America
  • COVID-19 Updated Information
  • Sensuous Françoise Hardy, Sixties icon, is now 76 years old
  • Mandarin Chinese numbers 1 to 10
  • FOOD: When leading means following the crowd
  • US Representative in Congress Val Demings, Democrat, Florida must be our next Vice President. Must be.
  • Alizée
  • Zimbabwe Last Month: People are dying
  • Make sure the Calgery Stampede is up and running on July first, 2020
  • My Hebrew teacher Mama was born in Louisville Kentucky with the name on her birth certificate:”Muriel Magdalena Pellicia”
  • Cher extremely alive
  • French rock goddess is a protégée of Isadora Duncan
  • Attention Architects: US COVID-19 Deaths Will Skyrocket; You Must Build Housing for the Poor
  • Passover Message to my Fellow Congregants Ohev Sholom, Williamsport PA
  • Perhaps the World Ends Here by The Poet Laureate of the United States
  • My drop dead enthusiastic review of The Meritocracy Trap

Links

Blogroll
  • 1. PHOENIX REHAB1. PHOENIX REHAB With the help of the gifted Alicia Spence, I begin to walk.

  • 2. SMART SPACES FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING2. SMART SPACES FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING "The demographics of baby boomer aging over the next decade foreshadow great economic, political and cultural changes that could overwhelm many developed countries," said Richard Behr, founding director of the Center.

  • 3. IMMERSIVE CONSTRUCTION (ICon) LAB3. IMMERSIVE CONSTRUCTION (ICon) LAB My home in virtual reality, the ICon lab shows 3D and 4D (the fourth dimension is Time) models on 3 eight-foot hight screens; when the lights go off, put on the 3-D glasses.

  • 4. AMIGO MOBILITY4. AMIGO MOBILITY CEO Al Thieme created the first Power Operated Vehicle (POV) scooter. Most manufacturers separate their battery chargers from the scooter. You can plug an Amigo right into an electric socket .

  • 5. T & B MEDICAL5. T & B MEDICAL "Travis and Barb Barr, the 'T' and 'B' behind T & B Medical, Inc. have one goal in mind...to attend to every client's individual" mobility and durable equipment needs. I am a continual customer and recommend T&B highly--HIGHLY.

  • 6. INVACARE6. INVACARE Invacare is the world's leading manufacturer of wheelchairs, bariatric equipment, disability scooters, respiratory products and other homecare products.

  • ACCESSIBILITY FROM APPLEACCESSIBILITY FROM APPLE For the disability community, computer technology creates the ability to engage in computer design of aging-in-place housing.

  • CAREGIVER VILLAGECAREGIVER VILLAGE Using a virtual reality world, Caregiver Village improve the lives of family caregivers. Second Life, eat your heart out.

  • EMAIL MEEMAIL ME I once had a boss who loved focus groups. One afternoon at a shopping mall, readers of my newsletter told me EXACTLY what they thought, not knowing I was behind the one-way mirror. Please do the same.

  • HME NEWSHME NEWS HME News is the monthly business newspaper for 17,000 home medical equipment providers.

  • McKEESPORTMcKEESPORT "The decrease in the population since the 1940s is attributable to the general economic malaise that descended upon the region when the steelmaking industry moved elsewhere. The major employer WAS the National Tube Works, a manufacturer of steel pipes.

  • MONONGAHELA RIVERMONONGAHELA RIVER George Washington crossed the Monongahela into McKeesport to bring rum to the his friend, Queen Alliquippa, a Seneca Indian ruler. This was during the French and Indian Wars, Remember them?

  • NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND

  • PENNSYLVANIA ASSOCIATION OF REHABILITATION FACILITIES (PARF)PENNSYLVANIA ASSOCIATION OF REHABILITATION FACILITIES (PARF) PARF represents the Commonwealth's premier facilities serving individuals with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. Traditionally, the highlight of the disability community is the annual conference at the Nittany Lion Inn at the Penn State campus

  • YOUGHIOGHENY RIVERYOUGHIOGHENY RIVER McKeesport is where the Youghiogheny and Monongahela Rivers meet. Fresh fish like the Walleye are back at the Youghiogheny, now that factories that created jobs are no longer polluting the river.

Previous Posts

Tags

Addison Court Amelia Altalena Solkoff Amelia Solkoff Amigo Mobility Architectural Engineering assistive technology blind Blueroof Technologies cancer Central Pennsylvania Centre County design featured-grid Helen Keller HME News Isadore Solkoff Joanna Joanna Solkoff Joel Solkoff John Bertoty John Messner kidney cancer McKeesport Medicaid Medicare Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Miriam Pell Schmerler Miss Sullivan New York City North Carolina PA Penn State Pennsylvania power chairs President Obama Robert Walters Sarah Schmerler scooter Sonali Kumar Spain State College United States University Park Virtual reality Wikipedia

Footer

Recent

  • 1971 birthday letter to my father
  • If by Rudyard Kipling
  • Grandfather (that’s me) relocating to NYC to save my life at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • Why I relate ending hunger in US America to writing about my cancer survival for The New York Times
  • My love hate relationship with The New York Times 2018
  • Radio hate monger of the 1930s Father Coughlin returns to Fox News
  • A fine romance with no kisses
  • The US Needs a New Capitol City: Covid Agenda Item
  • The US Election & Housing for the Vulnerable
  • We who are about to die…or architecture

Subscribe

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 50 other subscribers

Cart

Copyright © 2021 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.