Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General

[BmorePat87]

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-taps-alabama-sen-jeff-sessions-be-attorney-general-n685796

Sessions was the first Senator to endorse Trump. He is big supporter of Trump's immigration proposals and advised him on the issue throughout the campaign.

Before serving as a Senator in 1997, he was the Attorney General of Alabama. He was once nominated by Reagan to be a federal judge, but a GOP senate never confirmed the appointment after racist allegations came out surrounding him.

Quote:black former deputy, Thomas Figures, accused him of making racially insensitive statements. Figures said that Sessions had once warned him to be careful about what he said to "white folks."

Figures, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in Alabama, also testified that during a 1981 murder investigation tied to the Ku Klux Klan, Sessions commented that he "used to think they [the KKK] were OK" until he found out some were "pot smokers." Sessions claimed he had been joking.

Session brings experience to the role and a passion and loyalty for Trump's policies, but, like Bannon, he also brings racist baggage with him. He is also known for his opposition to gay rights. His nomination suggests Guilianni will most likely be a candidate for Secretary of State (though Romney's name is being floated for that).

[*michaelsean*]

I think I'd much rather be a senator. I don't think you have to do all that much, and you are treated like royalty.

[GMDino]

(11-18-2016, 11:14 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-taps-alabama-sen-jeff-sessions-be-attorney-general-n685796

Sessions was the first Senator to endorse Trump. He is big supporter of Trump's immigration proposals and advised him on the issue throughout the campaign.

Before serving as a Senator in 1997, he was the Attorney General of Alabama. He was once nominated by Reagan to be a federal judge, but a GOP senate never confirmed the appointment after racist allegations came out surrounding him.


Session brings experience to the role and a passion and loyalty for Trump's policies, but, like Bannon, he also brings racist baggage with him. He is also known for his opposition to gay rights. His nomination suggests Guilianni will most likely be a candidate for Secretary of State (though Romney's name is being floated for that).

"Give him a chance." © 2016

[*bfine32*]

I whole-heartedly disagree with his stance on the issues.......





Nothing wrong with smoking pot.

[Belsnickel]

(11-18-2016, 11:26 AM)michaelsean Wrote: I think I'd much rather be a senator. I don't think you have to do all that much, and you are treated like royalty.

Actually, Senators are workhorses. I'll put it this way, there are the same number of committees in the House and Senate, yet the Senate has less than one-fourth the members that the House does. The reduced number also means that each Senator wields more authority than a Representative. It's a very interesting dynamic on the Hill.

All of that being said, Senator v. AG? I would say that AG is a heavier burden to carry.

[samhain]

I didn't think he could pick a worse AG for marijuana legalization than Chris Christie. This Trump fella is full of surprises. Probably a good time to sell if you're betting on a financial windfall in that industry.

Maybe his campaign slogan shoulda been "Making Mexican Cartels great Again!".

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

I like the Michael Flynn selection a helluva lot better than Sessions for AG.

[Belsnickel]

(11-18-2016, 06:17 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: I like the Michael Flynn selection a helluva lot better than Sessions for AG.

I am inclined to agree. I have a hard time accepting an AG that supposedly called a white civil rights lawyer a traitor to his race. Or maybe it was a disgrace to his race. Either way, that's problematic if true.

[Mike M (the other one)]

I think Sessions is a great pick. Stickler for details and law. He will definitely be backing the Blue.

His KKK thing was an absolute joke. the other part, well everyone bumps there head now and then, and if that's all you can find, then we are fine here.

[treee]

It makes me sick.

[*bfine32*]

(11-18-2016, 06:48 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: I am inclined to agree. I have a hard time accepting an AG that supposedly called a white civil rights lawyer a traitor to his race. Or maybe it was a disgrace to his race. Either way, that's problematic if true.

And some have a hard time accepting an AG that had a secret meeting with the husband of a Presidential candidate the day before the FBI releases findings of a investigation of that candidate. 

[Belsnickel]

(11-19-2016, 01:22 AM)bfine32 Wrote: And some have a hard time accepting an AG that had a secret meeting with the husband of a Presidential candidate the day before the FBI releases findings of a investigation of that candidate. 

As well they should. What is your point? Are you trying to say that we should overlook the seemingly anti-civil rights positions of someone that will be overseeing a federal department with an entire division devoted to civil rights because his predecessor did shady things as well? I mean, if that isn't what you are saying then there is really no point to bringing it up.

[GMDino]

(11-19-2016, 01:22 AM)bfine32 Wrote: And some have a hard time accepting an AG that had a secret meeting with the husband of a Presidential candidate the day before the FBI releases findings of a investigation of that candidate. 

Is it a secret meeting if everyone saw it and knows about it?

I'd think it would have been worse if it HAD been secret and came out later.

Nonetheless the sins of one do not excuse the actions of another.

[GMDino]

Quote:Trump’s pick for attorney general: ‘Good people don’t smoke marijuana’


President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) to be attorney general of the United States, The Washington Post and other news outlets reported Friday. Sessions is a vocal opponent of marijuana legalization whose elevation to attorney general could deal a blow to state-level marijuana legalization efforts across the country.


At a Senate drug hearing in April, Sessions said that “we need grown-ups in charge in Washington to say marijuana is not the kind of thing that ought to be legalized, it ought not to be minimized, that it’s in fact a very real danger.” He voiced concern over statistics showing more drivers were testing positive for THC, the active component in marijuana, in certain states.


[Senators held a hearing to remind you that ‘good people don’t smoke marijuana’ (yes, really)]


Sessions further argued that a lack of leadership from President Obama had been one of the drivers of the trend toward marijuana legalization in recent years. “I think one of [Obama's] great failures, it's obvious to me, is his lax treatment in comments on marijuana,” Sessions said at the hearing. “It reverses 20 years almost of hostility to drugs that began really when Nancy Reagan started ‘Just Say No.’ ”


He added that lawmakers and leaders in government needed to foster “knowledge that this drug is dangerous, you cannot play with it, it is not funny, it’s not something to laugh about . . . and to send that message with clarity that good people don’t smoke marijuana.”


Opponents of legalization say the Sessions nomination could be a game-changer in legalization debates around the country. Sessions “is by far the single most outspoken opponent of marijuana legalization in the U.S. Senate,” Kevin Sabet, of the anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said in an email. “If I were betting on the prospects for marijuana legalization, I’d be shorting.”


[What the future of marijuana legalization could look like under President Trump]


Advocates for legalization are, conversely, sounding the alarm. “Jeff Sessions is a drug war dinosaur, which is the last thing the nation needs now,” Ethan Nadelmann, of the Drug Policy Alliance, said in a statement. “Those who counted on Donald Trump’s reassurance that marijuana reforms ‘should be a state issue’ will be sorely disappointed.”


Sessions’s anti-pot positions have been consistent throughout his career. As far back as 1986, he joked that he thought the Ku Klux Klan “was okay until I found out they smoked pot,” according to the New York Times.


At the Senate hearing in April, Sessions spoke approvingly of the “progress” made on drug use, starting with the harsh anti-drug policies of the 1980s. “I can't tell you how concerning it is for me emotionally and personally to see the possibility that we would reverse the progress that we’ve made and let it slip away from us,” he said. “Lives will be impacted, families will be broken up, children will be damaged.”



He added, “I believe the Department of Justice needs to be clearer” on marijuana legalization.


Whether an Attorney General Sessions would bring such clarity to the office is an open question at this point. President-elect Trump has said that he believes marijuana legalization should be an issue left to the states.


Under Obama, the Justice Department explicitly adopted a hands-off approach to marijuana enforcement in states that have legalized the drug, allowing those laws to proceed without interference provided that a number of enforcement priorities, including keeping pot out of the hands of minors, were met. The announcement of that stance in 2013 played a key role in allowing Colorado and Washington to move forward with their marijuana markets.


“A lot of people forget that [recreational marijuana markets in] Colorado and Washington were pretty much on hold until the governors there received guidance from the Department of Justice,” John Hudak, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said this month.


Even simply reversing that guidance could have a chilling effect in states like Maine and Massachusetts that recently approved legalization. Without a tacit green light from the federal government, governors in those states may be hesitant to move forward with legalization policies that remain at odds with federal laws on the books for more than 40 years.


“I’m still hopeful the new administration will realize that any crackdown against broadly popular laws in a growing number of states would create huge political problems they don’t need and will use lots of political capital they’d be better off spending on issues the new president cares a lot more about,” said
Tom Angell of the pro-legalization group Marijuana Majority.


Angell pointed out that recent polls show roughly 60 percent of Americans approve of legalization and that strong majorities of voters across all parties say the federal government should not interfere with state-level marijuana laws.


Asked about the senator’s approach to marijuana issues as attorney general, Sessions’s office responded that it had no information at this moment.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/18/trumps-pick-for-attorney-general-good-people-dont-smoke-marijuana/

[Benton]

(11-20-2016, 06:23 PM)GMDino Wrote: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/18/trumps-pick-for-attorney-general-good-people-dont-smoke-marijuana/

A friend of mine went across the state campaigning for Trump (which is kind of funny because she was doing it while on the dime for a governor who has been busy firing Democrats for doing that). She's very big into the legalization effort and spends a lot of her time/resources trying to make bluegrass the second kind of grass Kentucky is known for.

I messaged her yesterday about what she thought about Sessions. Her answer was "betrayed."

Will be interesting to see how some of these appointments play out with the different groups Trump was bringing together, and if people will continue to support him if their priority issues get kicked aside.

[GMDino]

(11-20-2016, 06:38 PM)Benton Wrote: A friend of mine went across the state campaigning for Trump (which is kind of funny because she was doing it while on the dime for a governor who has been busy firing Democrats for doing that). She's very big into the legalization effort and spends a lot of her time/resources trying to make bluegrass the second kind of grass Kentucky is known for.

I messaged her yesterday about what she thought about Sessions. Her answer was "betrayed."

Will be interesting to see how some of these appointments play out with the different groups Trump was bringing together, and if people will continue to support him if their priority issues get kicked aside.

Lots of buyers remorse on the right right now.

I spent Friday night with two college classmates...both very Republican. One more fiscally, the other socially and fiscally.

It was the nicest political conversation the three of us ever had.  I'm over the election and will wait to watch what happens.  They now realize the while they hated Clinton that Trump is a joke.

[Fan_in_Kettering]

Jeff Sessions helped desegregate Alabama schools and successfully prosecuted white a triple-K murderer of a black child. The murderer was successfully deep fried in Alabama's death house. Don't ever pull the race card against Jeff Sessions.

[GMDino]

(11-20-2016, 07:20 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: Jeff Sessions helped desegregate Alabama schools and successfully prosecuted white a triple-K murderer of a black child.  The murderer was successfully deep fried in Alabama's death house.  Don't ever pull the race card against Jeff Sessions.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090515133825/http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/no_20090507_5499.php

Quote:Q: There were questions about your feelings about civil rights back in the '80s. Was that controversy overblown?

Sessions: Oh, I mean, I supported the [Justice Department's] Civil Rights Division on every case they brought in the Southern District of Alabama. They said I blocked one investigation, and then right before the hearing, they had to find out that my predecessor blocked some case or objected to some case -- which he probably had a right to object to -- but I never had. And it was that kind of thing.
We prosecuted a voting rights case that I believe was well-founded, which became a national issue. It was a case in which the defendants -- we had five African-Americans -- first, it was dealing with two African-American groups in a county that was majority African-American. And the evidence came out that, for example, one family of five sealed up their absentee ballots -- they had voted for their cousin -- but it wasn't the slate of the guy who picked up the ballots, and they said he changed, scratched out the name and put the X by the guy he wanted.

Q: You were 38 when you were nominated. You still remember that kind of detail?

Sessions: Well, I remember that case because I had to eat it. [chuckles]
Q: A lot of the controversy was around statements that you had made.
Sessions: I know. And who was present? There were two lawyers from the Civil Rights Division, and one of them was Barry Kowalski, who was the most prominent prosecutor of major civil rights cases in America -- maybe in the history of America -- and he testified at the [confirmation] hearing that it meant nothing and that I would be a good judge. But it didn't make much difference at the time. It didn't make any difference. They made up their mind.
Q: Can you characterize your position on civil rights?
Sessions: I am absolutely a firm supporter of equal rights for every American. I always have been and I always will be. That is a cornerstone of law. Nobody should be discriminated against. Now, we had discrimination in the South. There was no doubt about it. So that's what the civil rights movement was all about.

Now, when I was out there, I signed 10 pleadings attacking segregation or the remnants of segregation, where we as part of the Department of Justice, we sought desegregation remedies -- the takeover of school systems, redrawing lines -- all those things that I was allowed to participate in supporting.
So, I really -- it was not a pleasant experience. But one of the things that I learned from that was that a nominee can be unfairly abused. I mean, you're up there and they throw out somebody on the committee or otherwise make some charge and you don't have a very good opportunity to rebut it.

http://www.salon.com/2016/11/19/two-peas-in-a-racist-pod-jeff-sessions-alarming-history-of-opposing-civil-rights_partner/

Quote:Another damaging witness — a black former assistant U.S. Attorney in Alabama named Thomas Figures — testified that, during a 1981 murder investigation involving the Ku Klux Klan, Sessions was heard by several colleagues commenting that he “used to think they [the Klan] were OK” until he found out some of them were “pot smokers.” Sessions claimed the comment was clearly said in jest. Figures didn’t see it that way. Sessions, he said, had called him “boy” and, after overhearing him chastise a secretary, warned him to “be careful what you say to white folks.” Figures echoed Hebert’s claims, saying he too had heard Sessions call various civil rights organizations, including the National Council of Churches and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, “un-American.” Sessions denied the accusations but again admitted to frequently joking in an off-color sort of way. 

So he says he did he signed some pleadings about discrimination in the 80's?  That's not quite the same as "desegregating Alabama schools" And he was only joking about the KKK (during a murder case).  Clearly we can never question where he stand on race.  

[JustWinBaby]

(11-18-2016, 11:43 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Actually, Senators are workhorses. I'll put it this way, there are the same number of committees in the House and Senate, yet the Senate has less than one-fourth the members that the House does.

Yeah, but they only spend like 1/3 of the time campaigning

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

Pompeo for CIA director is almost as bad as Sessions for AG.