Democrats Request More Time To Review Jeff Sessions’s Responses Before Rolling Over

By many accounts, Jeff Sessions did a fantastic job at his confirmation hearing for his appointment to Attorney General. I’m not sure what the Democrats were hoping would happen. Sessions was not going to show up to give Senate testimony wearing a hood and fitted sheet. I don’t know why Democrats consistently expect racists to be uncivilized.

Sessions has been a senator for a long time, so he knows how to answer questions posed by the Senate, especially when those questions are so unsophisticated. Richard Blumenthal (D-Sandy Hook) asked if Sessions would accept an award from the Klu Klux Klan. What the hell did you think Sessions was going to say? “Accept, brother, I’m the one giving them out… oh wait, I forgot you could see my face!”

Sessions said “no.” Really great “gotcha” questions, ya donkeys.

Those hoping to stop Sessions might have hoped that the written follow-up questions would be more hard-hitting and more likely to produce the kind of public gaffe Democrats are apparently waiting for so they can pounce on the nominee. I’m just the messenger, obviously I think Sessions’s actual record is more than enough of a reason to oppose him with every tool, fair or unfair, available. But Senate Democrats need to catch him using the N-word to his momma, or tackling a woman outside an abortion clinic, or something “shocking” that Trump supporters will just explain away anyway.

Today, Senator Dianne Feinstein led a request from Democrats to delay the Sessions vote. She told The Hill that she thought Democrats needed more time to go over the 190 pages of Sessions’s responses, and to review his nomination in the wake of the Women’s March this past weekend.

That’s a nice gesture, and the Democrats got the headline they wanted (“Democrats Delay Vote On Sessions Nomination”), but come on. You didn’t need 500,000 people milling about D.C. to make you think, “Hmm… maybe we shouldn’t put an anti-woman prick in charge of the Justice Department.” And while Sessions did submit 190 pages to the Judiciary Committee on Sunday, it’s not like there’s anything groundbreaking in his responses.

Again, Sessions knows what he’s doing. Buzzfeed reported on the highlights from Sessions’s responses, and… well, take a look. For instance, here’s his response to a “yes or no” question about Roe v. Wade:

Here is Jeff Sessions’s actual voting record on abortion issues. He has a stunning 0% rating from NARAL. When he says “I will not pre-judge the issue,” he is lying. If Democrats are waiting for him to say something more outrageous than what his public record indicates, they’re going to be waiting a long time.

Sessions is going to get confirmed. All of Trump’s Cabinet picks are going to get confirmed. Even the “education” nominee who is worried about grizzly bears in schools.

And Democrats are going to roll over and go along with it. Senate Democrats have no idea how to fight this battle. They still think they’re playing a game of Washington politics, where getting headlines like “delayed vote” are worth something. They’re still fighting conventionally. Then have not realized that the point of a guerrilla war is not to win, but to frustrate and bleed the enemy for every inch of ground he occupies.

Democrats delay vote on Sessions nomination [The Hill]
Jeff Sessions Answers More Questions About Voting Rights, Abortion, And Russia [Buzzfeed]

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Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at [email protected]. He will resist.