"I believe that every person nominated by the President of the United States for a high level position such as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights should be given fair and thoughtful consideration as senators discharge their responsibility of 'advise and consent'. I respect that our system of law ensures the right of all citizens to legal representation no matter how heinous the crime. At the same time, it is important that we ensure that Pennsylvanians and citizens across the country have full confidence in their public representatives - both elected and appointed. The vicious murder of Officer Faulkner in the line of duty and the events that followed in the 30 years since his death have left open wounds for Maureen Faulkner and her family as well as the City of Philadelphia. After carefully considering this nomination and having met with both Mr. Adegbile as well as the Fraternal Order of Police, I will not vote to confirm the nominee."
Instead of "fair and thoughtful consideration," Casey voted for a filibuster. Instead of respect for our system, this lawyer and Democrat voted for random application of the law, sometimes dictated by dishonest hate-brokers.
Casey was the first Democrat to collapse completely in the face of the emotional illogic of anti-constitutionalists. Casey, 54, a child of white privilege and a career politician, was first elected to the Senate in 2006. Even though he's not up for re-election this year (not till 2018), he could not find the strength to stand for principle against a baying mob.
Public reaction was even harsher on philly.com, where "Attytood" was able to distinguish between his own feeling about Abu-Jamal ("the guy murdered a cop in cold blood") and the value of the Constitution: "Faced with the choice of voting for a good man or responding to the bullying tactics of the Fraternal Order of Police, Casey wilted. I don't know why that's a surprise. Spinelessness has been a trademark of Casey's career". What does Bob Casey stand for? Cowards tend to congregate, and so Casey's chickenry encouraged six other feckless wonders -- [Senators] Pryor, Walsh, Manchin, Heitkamp, Donnelly, and Coons (say it ain't so, Chris) -- to join in"."
Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, 51, another son of white privilege and career politician, is running for a third term in the Senate. After two easy races in 2002 and 2008, he's now considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in 2014. His record has no well-known highlights. He has voted to keep prisoners in Guantanamo, to set up extra-constitutional military commissions, and to block background checks for gun purchases. Pryor issued no statement explaining his vote against his party's president's nominee and if he made any public comment, it remains obscure.
Sen. John Walsh of Montana, 54, was appointed to the Senate on March 9, 2014, having already announced his plan to run for the seat in the 2014 election. He's not a career politician, but as a retired National Guard general, he's presumably drawing both a pension and a salary from the government. Walsh's campaign website slogan is "Montana courage," but the site has no information about his vote against Adegbile, or much of anything else requiring courage. A Montana newspaper reported that: "Walsh said through a spokeswoman that he voted against Adegbile because the controversy over his appointment would "follow him to the Justice Department and distract from the important work of defending civil and voting rights.' " A few days later, Walsh was criticizing his opponent in the Montana Senate race of having "a cruel ideology, a cowardly ideology."
Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, 67 and a former governor, was first elected in 2010 (a special election) and won a full term in 2012 with 60% of the vote. He is devoted to the coal interests of his state, supports the Keystone XL pipeline, and was named second most bi-partisan senator in 2011 by Congressional Quarterly. After voting against Adegbile, according to the Washington Post, the usually chatty Manchin was tight-lipped with reporters, saying only, "I made a conscientious decision after talking to the wife of the victim, I made a conscientious decision, I made a conscientious decision" repeatedly. Manchin's campaign website offers an "editoial" written by the campaign claiming Manchin was "Right to Follow Conscience." The "editorial does not mention the Constitution.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, 59, an attorney and former state attorney general, was first elected to the Senate in 2012. A search for "Adegbile" on her official webpage turns up nothing. In an email statement, Heitkamp explained her anti-constitutional vote with suitably craven illogic in support of the demagoguery that intimidated her, affirming the right of police state tactics to trump due process:
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
