OPINION:
Like tired old racists clinging to their discredited past and divisive politics, Democrats wheezed exhaustively on their racial dogwhistles Tuesday in their increasingly futile bid to derail Sen. Jeff Sessions’ nomination to become the next attorney general.
The disgraceful charade proved nothing except that Democrats have learned absolutely zilch since suffering a devastating rejection by voters in November’s election, in which they shamelessly and relentlessly tried segregating the country along the lines of race, religion and sex.
It was their Lost Cause. “Forget, hell!”
The colors of their rainbow flag do not run. They keep each color segregated. Each colored line is one “separate but equal” voting bloc within the Democratic Party. Each pure and undiluted color its own special interest group.
Banking heavily on innuendo and hearsay, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee tried smearing the Alabama Republican as some kind of racist. The accusations themselves are so preposterous that they are not even worth repeating in order to debunk.
“During the course of this boisterous political campaign, did you ever chant, ’Lock her up’?” one senator demanded, in reference to failed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat, kept asking Mr. Sessions if a person can be charged with assault for grabbing a woman “by her genitals” without her consent. He wouldn’t let it go. It was really creepy.
Any hope that Democrats might be up for some kind of serious, adult examination of Mr. Sessions’ career were dashed even before the hearing started.
In the audience, among all the rude and loud-mouthed protesters, sat Khizr Khan.
Mr. Khan is the “Gold Star” dad who pawned the gold star his son earned in Iraq for a few minutes of cheap fame at the Democratic National Convention. Democrats value Mr. Khan not because his son gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of country, but because he is a Muslim and of Pakistani descent.
Like I said, these people cannot see this world except through the prism of race, religion and sex.
Every single Democrat on the committee, in some way or another, attacked Mr. Sessions from the standpoint of race or religion or sex, accusing him of not embracing physical diversity as lustily as they would like.
Which is pretty amazing considering the Senate Judiciary Committee is 90 percent white, more than 90 percent male and 100 percent ancient. We should start a campaign demanding that some of these guys voluntarily give up their seat on the committee to a minority. According to some of their own definitions, they must be racist!
Mr. Leahy, the Vermont Democrat whose constituents are 96.8 percent white, complained that Mr. Sessions doesn’t care about violence against women.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat whose state is 81 percent white, commended Mr. Sessions for repudiating the Ku Klux Klan and then proceeded to ask carefully crafted questions aimed at adorning the former federal prosecutor in a white robe and pointy hat.
In his simple, languid testimony, Mr. Sessions responded to everything with patience and politeness.
“Congress makes the law, not the executive branch,” he said smiling. “I will enforce the law.”
It was as if he were teaching basics of law and government to a classroom of children. Which he basically was.
• Charles Hurt can be reached at charleshurt@live.com; follow him on Twitter via @charleshurt.
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