President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

It's the new Hussein.

 

Interesting take ... would you say that is a relatively universal phenomenon? What would you say to someone alarmed by a new neighbor, Aquib, who grew up near Salma in Syria?

 

Don't forget: Trump -- Catholics suck

Donald Trump slams Pope Francis, predicts terror attack on Vatican

This is nothing if not an equal opportunity Administration.

 

Want a souvenir?

 

Why do you take references to Beauregard as pejorative? I seem to recall an esteemed poster of that name here, once upon a time.

 

It cuts both ways, I think. I don't doubt that he routinely called black people niggers when he was young. It's what he grew up around. That said, just as everyone who grew up around it did not burn crosses or join the KKK, not every Syrian is a terrorist. The problem is that you can't look at people and know their hearts.

There are a number of incidents in Session's past that support the idea that he holds racist views. OTOH, Donald Watkins, a black attorney and sometime power broker around B'ham went to Alabama Law with him and has posted to his Facebook his opinion that Sessions is not racist. (I follow him because he's an insider who has posted a lot of stuff re the Alabama Luv Guv that the legit journalists would not due to problems with the sourcing. Watkins went on and put out articles there months earlier and dared Bentley to sue. Indeed, he and another blogger did this, Bentley was angry and used law enforcement databases and assets to go after them, which led to some of the charges that the Grand Jury is looking at.)

Watkins:

Donald V. Watkins Jim Upchurch, my 46-year personal relationship with Jeff Sessions is documented in a May 10, 2016, Facebook article I posted titled, "Standing on the Side of What's Right".

In response to your specific comments today about Sessions and his relationship with the black community and Democrats, I want to set the record straight on how I assess the character and actions of men and women. I also want to use this occasion to remind my readers of a monumental piece of forgotten history.

First, I judge each person on the basis of his/her actions, not his/her political views. I do not equate political conservatism with racism. For 46 years, Jeff Sessions has treated me with dignity and respect. We have agreed on some political issues and respectfully disagreed on others.

Second, the objective evidence of Jeff's actions as a human being supports my view that he is NOT a racist. It was Jeff who first extended the hand of friendship to me in 1970. It was Jeff who took the lead role in nurturing and maintaining our friendship for the next 46 years.

It was Senator Jeff Sessions who rose in 1997 to protect longtime civil rights activist and Democratic Party operative Alexis Herman from then-Senator Ted Kennedy's vicious character assassination of Herman during her confirmation hearing as the 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor. Both major labor unions and many Congressional Republicans opposed Bill Clinton’s nomination of Herman, a Mobile native, because of her longtime Democratic Party and civil rights activism. Her role as director of public liaison at the White House also brought controversy – particularly her attendance at the now-infamous White House coffees. In short, Kennedy, the labor unions, and the Republican Party leaders wanted someone else for the job.

Jeff Sessions had nothing to gain politically from protecting Herman, who never helped him on any political issue and who was part of the coalition of civil rights groups that successfully opposed Jeff's 1986 nomination for a federal judgeship in Mobile. Jeff worked tirelessly to win Herman’s confirmation as Secretary of Labor.

After Herman was confirmed, she served with distinction as the first African-American woman in the position, from May 1, 1997 to January 20, 2001. Herman favorably impacted the lives of millions of American workers while serving as the Secretary of Labor.

While Jeff’s defense of Herman was not politically popular in many Alabama communities, it was the right thing to do.

At some point, we all must give credit where it is due. Jeff Sessions is a good and decent human being.



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Watkins knows him personally and I do not. I think the guy is an empty suit. I don't know of any particular legislative accomplishments he brings to the table. That's my opinion from the outside looking in, but Watkins' take makes me think. I can't help but think that his support for Herman was about sticking it to Kennedy and supporting an Alabaman for his own reasons. I don't know the ins and outs of the incident... but Watkins does.

 

Not best practice however

 

Re the name thing, we all know what the deal is. Obama haters used "Hussein" to paint a kneejerk picture of a Muslim and used it to attempt to define who he is. It worked pretty well for them. Now the other side is using the same tactic to evoke the Old South and associate that with Sessions. It's propaganda, no matter who does it. It's not like a man chooses his own name.

 

"But cell phones! Atlantic City!"

 

By the time you're an adult, if you don't like your first or middle names, you can change them. See Piyush Jindal.

 

This "Beauregard" stuff is giving me Richard Jeni flashbacks. "I'm Beauregard, this is my smelly son, Right Guard. That's grandma. Never pay her no mind. She's Disregard."