Thursday was
stupid Loretta Lynch nomination hearing day, when Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley brought in a cast of tea party characters who have real and imagined beefs with current Attorney General Eric Holder. The total absurdity of the hearing was encapsulated in the statement of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). At the
1 hour, 50 minute mark he begins.
No witness present today opposes Ms. Lynch as the nominee to be Attorney General. Ms. Attkinson is here as a litigant against the United States with her lawyer sitting beside her. Her testimony never mentions the nominee. […] Mr. Barlow supports the nominee enthusiastically. Reverend Newsome supports the nominee enthusiastically. Ms. Fedarcyk, to use her phrase, wholeheartedly endorses the nominee. Professor Legomsky is here mostly to talk about immigration and his testimony does not make clear whether he does or does not support the nominee.[…] Mr. Turley says that his interest today is not to discuss Ms. Lynch as much as the department she wishes to lead. […] Sheriff Clarke is here and wishes the nominee well, but he goes on in his testimony to say that he wishes to spend some time critiquing Eric Holder's tenure. Prof. Rosenkranz takes no position on the nominee but comment on the tenure of Eric Holder. […] And Ms. Engelbrecht is an advocate for voter identification laws who would like Ms. Lynch to agree that voter identification law are not efforts to suppress voting, but took no specific position on the nominee.
Then he really digs in, reminding the hearing that George Washington once set himself 110 rules of civility and decent behavior, with number 89 being: "Speak not evil of the absent for it is unjust."
"There is no opportunity here for Attorney General Holder to answer these various charges that have been made. I think that is fundamentally unjust, and I think it is frankly beneath the dignity of this committee, at a time when we have a very significant and solemn charge before us to determine the fitness of a specific individual to be Attorney General of the United States, to launch a series of unanswerable attacks. […]
I regret that this hearing and this solemn occasion has been co-opted to that extent, and turned into what appears to be a sound bite factory for Fox News and conspiracy theorists everywhere."
That's just about all you need to know about the second day of hearings on this nomination.