Jeff Sessions Annoyed By Crying Child

2 years ago

0 Comments Say Something »

Text Size

Editor in Chief

This week's award for consistency in public life goes to Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who was openly disdainful of a crying 12-year-old during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week on the Uniting American Families Act, which would give equal citizenship rights to the foreign-born same-sex partners of American citizens. Sessions opposes the bill.

The committee was hearing from Shirley Tan, a Filipino woman who had fled her country after being physically attacked by a man who had killed her mother and sister. Tan and her American partner of 23 years are raising 12-year-old twin sons here, but she was almost deported in April, and has been granted only a temporary reprieve.

As Tan began to speak, one of her sons, who was seated behind her, burst into tears, and Judiciary Chairman Pat Leahy stopped the hearing to inquire whether the child was alright, and whether he might not prefer to sit in a private room. But according to the New Republic, the show of emotion only annoyed Sessions, who "leaned towards one of his aides and sighed, 'Enough with the histrionics.' "

Sessions routinely enlivens the hearings he takes part in by refusing to hide his temper or temper his impatience; no one can say he's not authentic. The committee he now sits on voted down his appointment by Ronald Reagan to a federal judgeship in 1986, chiefly on allegations that he had made racially insensitive comments, including a joke that he was OK with the Klu Klux Klan before learning that some of its members smoked pot.

Sessions also gave the weekly radio address for his party this morning – and expressed concerns about President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor: "I am troubled by President Obama's use of the 'empathy standard' when selecting federal judges...I fear that this "empathy standard' is another step down the path to a cynical, relativistic, results-oriented world.'' So, enough already with the empathy? Given his reputation and record, Sessions was not the best messenger for his party on this one.

More articles from Melinda Henneberger »

Our New Approach to Comments

In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers – a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss – we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive additions to the conversation will not be published, period, to make room for a discussion among those with ideas to kick around. Please read our Help and Feedback section for more info.