Before #EARNITAct markup, a @SenateJudiciary Culture Wars kerfuffle
January: @MarshaBlackburn asked a black appellate nominee (Andre Mathis) about his "rap sheet" (actually 3 decade-old traffic tickets)
Today, @SenAlexPadilla complained about this... 🧵ballsandstrikes.org/nominations/an…
January: @MarshaBlackburn asked a black appellate nominee (Andre Mathis) about his "rap sheet" (actually 3 decade-old traffic tickets)
Today, @SenAlexPadilla complained about this... 🧵ballsandstrikes.org/nominations/an…
Blackburn was pissed that Biden nominated Mathis to an appeals court in Tennessee over the "blue slip" objections of both TN Republican Senators
Trump bypassed 17 Dem blue slips
So Blackburn focused on Mathis's "rap sheet," implying that getting 3 tickets made him a criminal
Trump bypassed 17 Dem blue slips
So Blackburn focused on Mathis's "rap sheet," implying that getting 3 tickets made him a criminal
"RAP" means "Record of Arrests and Prosecutions"
a "RAP sheet" is a list of criminal charges
It's NOT getting three traffic tickets a decade ago
a "RAP sheet" is a list of criminal charges
It's NOT getting three traffic tickets a decade ago
Blackburn's "rap sheet" comment wasn't a slip of the tongue. She repeated the talking point on Fox News
The NAACP chairman was rightly outraged
https://twitter.com/DerrickNAACP/status/1481431585358594057
Today, @SenAlexPadilla suggested that this was part of a larger pattern of Republicans not treating POC nominees fairly
Durbin warned: one nominee faced tough questions, and another Committee member tweeted about it, and that nominee then faced harassment
Unclear who he meant
Durbin warned: one nominee faced tough questions, and another Committee member tweeted about it, and that nominee then faced harassment
Unclear who he meant
.@SenMikeLee angrily responded that such "unfair" suggestions of racism were "the very sort of comment that would incite people to anger and acts of retaliation and violence"
yikes
yikes
.@HawleyMO called implications of racism "a common tactic in campaigns and the media" and "highly destructive of any efforts at bipartisanship and consensus-building"
I can't assess @SenAlexPadilla's claim that minority nominees have been treated differently overall, but the "rap sheet" comment was ugly
And it's sad that 🐘s leapt at the chance to protest any suggestion of racial bias, suggesting that claims of racism were the real problem
And it's sad that 🐘s leapt at the chance to protest any suggestion of racial bias, suggesting that claims of racism were the real problem
Draw your own conclusions, but note: the @SenateJudiciary Committee has plenty of time for this kind of Culture War fight but not, apparently, to bother holding hearings over bills that would break encryption, enable Parler or Infowars to sue Google for rejecting its app, etc etc
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