I'll admit, I never paid much attention to who the Attorney General was until yesterday, and I feel badly about that. As I was discussing the incoming news with my husband, I had to do a quick shift from referring to Yates as "he" to "she" as I read more details. Once I made this shift in my head and chastised myself for making that assumption, my favorite song from from circa fifteen year-old me started running though my head over and over again.
If memory serves me correctly, I actually owned two copies of Bikini Kill's Pussywhipped because I legit listened to one CD until it wore out. And without question, Rebel Girl was my favorite song. And without question, on Monday night Sally Yates became the queen of my world.
Yates had been acting as deputy Attorney General since she was confirmed by an 84-12 Senate vote in May of 2015 until she was asked to serve as acting Attorney General in January 2015 by the Trump administration, until Trump's nominee could be confirmed by the Senate.
However, on January 30th, she was abruptly fired for "refusing to protect a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States."
The official White House statement reads as follows:
So much wow. Many unstable. Sad.
First of all, aside from the this letter being pure theatrics (In theory, Yates only had a few more days to serve and she was notified of her termination by hand delivered letter), the grandiose, inflammatory language seems to be an indicator of less than good things to come. The use of "betrayed," "Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders," and "wrongly held up by Democratic senators for strictly political reasons" is the type of unnecessarily inflammatory language that makes me shudder at the thought of what American diplomacy has degenerated into. I guess after hearing "bad hombres" being bandied about like it's not a racial slur, I shouldn't be surprised. Horrified, yes. But surprised, no.
So, after Ms. Yates stood up and took one for the team, it's our turn to return the favor. The candidate for her permanent replacement, Jeff Sessions (who is so awful he will now be referred to as the "future attorney general who will not be named or FAGWWNBN for short.) was deemed too racially insensitive by a Republican majority Senate to serve as a federal judge in 1986.
No, that was not a typo. Thirty years ago, the FAGWWNBN was considered too racially insensitive to serve as a federal judge and he's currently one vote away from becoming the U.S. Attorney General. Now, you might be saying, "That was thirty years ago. Maybe his little grinchy heart grew three sizes in the meantime?" Well, despite the setbacks, FAGWWNBN did go on to be elected as an Alabama Senator. So, we can look back at his voting record and see that, although he's hasn't been embroiled in scandal like he was in the 80s, he's not exactly had a stellar record when it comes to protecting civil rights. Even though he's rolled back his stance on harsher penalties for crimes involving crack cocaine, in the meantime he's voted against reauthorizing the Violence against Women Act, and for a Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. It's hard not to see his softening stance on drug crimes as a political PR play to try and distance himself from the accusations of racism that have plagued him for the past thirty years, especially if you consider the entirety of his voting record in regards to civil rights.
Admittedly, stopping the confirmation of FAGWWNBN is a long shot, especially considering how the Republicans love changing the rules of the game when it suits them. However, the ACLU has a petition going on their website urging the Senate to take a comprehensive look at the FAGWWNBN's voting record to ensure that he will act in the best interest of the American people. Click here to sign.
Also, call your Senators and let them know that you do not approve of the appointment of the FAGWWNBN. Or, if you're like me, new to Twitter, and still marveling at the novelty, a barrage of #stopsessions directed at them can't hurt either.
