Last night, during the Senate debate over the confirmation of Senator Jeff Sessions, (for attorney general), Senate Democrats took their vitriolic disdain to a new level when Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren began reading text that basically called Sessions a racist:
"Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Elizabeth Warren received a stunning monition Tuesday evening from her fellow senators after she quoted from a letter that accused Attorney General-designate Sen. Jeff Sessions (R.-Ala.) of racism during his tenure as a federal prosecutor.
Warren may have thought she could skirt the rules if she quoted someone else speaking about Sessions, but instead she was forced to end her remarks because of her breach of Senate protocol.
First, she quoted Sen. Edward Kennedy Sr., from 1986 when the Massachusetts Democrat led the opposition to Sessions joining the federal bench: “Mr. Sessions is a throwback to a shameful era, which I know both black and White Americans thought was in our past. It is inconceivable to me that a person of this attitude is qualified to be a U.S. Attorney, let alone a U.S. federal judge, he is I believe a disgrace to the Justice Department and he should withdraw his nomination and resign his position.” link
At this point, the presiding officer, Sen. Steven Daines (R.-Mont.), warned Warren that her comments were a violation of Senate Rule XIX, and with the help of a Senate aid, explained to Warren where she was running amok:
“The rule applies to impugning conduct or motive through any form or voice to a sitting senator–form or voice includes quotes, articles or other materials.”
When told she could proceed, Warren began reading from documents written in a 1986 letter by Coretta Scott King:
Warren also included lines from the cover letter: “Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters. For this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship.”
At this point Daines objected again, that she was impugning the character of a fellow Senator. Not long after, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took the floor to complete the admonishment:
"McConnell told Daines, “The senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama as warned by the chair. Senator Warren, quote-said, ‘Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens.’ I call the Senate to order under the provisions of Rule XIX.”
After several procedural votes, Warren was ruled out of order, and then told she could not continue. In other words, she was done for the night.
"After quorum call, the Senate voted 49-to-43 to sustain the ruling of the chair and then 50-to-43 that Warren could not continue in her floor speech."
But, that wasn't the end of this story. In not accepting the results of the Senate's decision, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the floor in defense of Warren by accusing Republicans of silencing a fellow colleague, while insisting the articles Warren was reading be submitted into the record. That "request" was objected to, leaving the article out of the record, which further infuriated the Democrats.
Schumer and the Democrats have been deliberately "slow-walking" every Trump appointment to his cabinet, (which totaled five, when Education Nominee Betsy DeVos was confirmed earlier in the day on a vote that required Vice President Pence's vote to break a 50-50 tie.)
Liberal Pundits took to the twitter airwaves to declare Warren #Persisted, bragging about the Massachusetts Senator's vile and undistinguished actions on the floor.
Both Marco Rubio and Orin Hatch then took to the floor to remind Senate Democrats that while they understood tensions were running high, (because the Democrats had just suffered a devastating election), but there was/is a level of decorum expected from their fellow colleagues. Hatch took several minutes addressing the body, saying that he'd never heard---in all his years in the Senate---this level of animosity directed at Senator Sessions or any other Senator, calling Warren's actions a “constant diatribe”:
“I listened to her for quite a while and she didn’t have a good thing to say about a fellow senator here, and I frankly don’t think that’s right. If we don’t respect each other, we’re going down a very steep path to oblivion.”
Hatch also said "All of us need to take stock and need to start thinking about the people on the other side of the aisle and need to start thinking about how we might bring each other together", yet it seemed to have fallen of deaf ears on the other side.
"We have become a society incapable of having debates anymore" said Rubio, while claiming chairs aren't getting thrown yet, but this body is "flirting with it".
Moments later, as the confirmation debate continued, Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse started right back in with a diatribe of his own spewing the typical Democrat talking points, accusing Sessions disparaging immigrant groups and prominent civil rights organizations.
In a defiance of decorum or civility, the Democrats, (and by extension, the Democrat Party), has certainly not gotten over the fact that their Presidential candidate lost this election, or that the people spoke loudly at the polls that they'd have had far enough of the liberal progressive direction.
While the Liberal Pundits do not concur, or even face this reality with any level of civility, President Trump, this current Senate and the House, will provide the much needed change our electorate has demanded.
Snowflakes, (and the vile likes of Elizabeth Warren), need not apply.
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