—
1. The “substance of the matter” is not an obscure rule. The substance of the matter is allowing SPEECH. The substance of the matter is the complete silencing of comments on the floor of our Congress on the actions and record of an appointee for Attorney General.
2. This is like a priest coming in for a job interview and someone getting up to say that he has a history of abusing small boys and the Church saying “Hey now, we don’t want to impugn our fellow clergymen, so sit down and shut up.”
3. And these gag-rules, by the way, have their roots in racism. They were used by uncomfortable Southerners who didn’t want to be “impugned” by Abolitionists in Congress.
4. And here’s another by the way. The history of racism and misogyny in this country relies on using “obscure rules.” Ask one of your minority friends about it and see what you learn.
5. Or let’s look at it another way. Let’s take away race and gender. Here is what I hear McConnell, the GOP, and anyone that supports this saying: “I disagree with that speech, so that person doesn’t deserve to speak it.” Doesn’t seem consistent with First Amendment or American values.
You may be right that Jeff Sessions didn’t architect or announce or support policies that discriminated against black people. Or maybe Coretta Scott King and the legion of critics on the other side is right. But both sides of that issue certainly deserve to be HEARD in a Congressional debate on his appointment. That is democracy. Or is your brand of patriotism different?
Supporting this is supporting the opposite of Democracy.
—
—
Photo credit: Getty Images
