If any Republican wants to go on record that they did this for petty reasons, then they can go right ahead.

I noticed all the "men." were able to voice their opinions. This hypocrisy has to stop.

melt down his email, his twitter account, fax fo anything to let him know how disgusting he is.

We are in a permanent state of rebellious noise

It won't stop until an election throws the usurpers from office

Last edited Wed Feb 8, 2017, 01:34 PM - Edit history (1)

SERIOUSLY!, I can't get it off my teeth - let alone swallow it - that we are going forth with this CHARADE of a government as it sinks it's canines ever deeper into us! This, while the FBI and CIA seemingly dither over whether or not the Russian oligarch had/has ANY influence on the newly minted dick-tater who idolizes him!!! I keep waiting for the Three Stooges theme music to break in for a finale.

He should have never been certified or sworn in because of his ties to Putin.

Thanks for fighting for our country, Sen Warren.

come the 2018 election if the Dems keep bringing it up. My big fear is, of course, the media. If they go tone deaf well...

(if the administrators need to remove this post I understand)

Just copied this from a friend wall:

Mitch may have stepped in it on this...here's a law prof's review of where that rule originated....protecting the dignity of slave state senators!

Perspective from a Cornell Law professor:

Let’s be clear on the precedent here: it’s the 1836-44 gag rule that forbade any consideration of abolition in the House.
Racist southern representatives were so frustrated by abolitionist petitions to Congress, that they adopted a series of rules: All abolitionist petitions would immediately be tabled, and any attempt to introduce them would be prohibited.

Former president John Quincy Adams, now back in Congress, was outraged and kept trying to push against the gag rule.
JQA asked whether a paper that “came from twenty persons declaring themselves to be slaves” fell “as coming under the rule of the House.”

Southern representatives introduced resolutions to censure JQA, and said that the petition should “be instantly burnt.”
"Resolved, That John Q. Adams, a member from the State of Massachusetts, by his attempt to introduce into this House a petition of slaves for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, committed and outrage on the rights and feelings of a large portion of the people of this Union, a flagrant contempt on the dignity of this House..."

It stands as an enduring and shameful reminder of how profoundly slavery warped and corrupted American democracy.
Southern Congressmen threatened to walk out en masse and quit the Union rather than submit to a discussion of abolition.
So the Republican Senate’s invocation of the Rule XIX gag rule against Elizabeth Warren is just a reflection of the original Gag Rule.

Then, as now, “dignity” and “respect” for the institution trumped open debate on actual issues of urgent importance. Once again, the rule is being used to keep black people’s words from being introduced in Congress.
This is one hell of a hill the Republicans picked for this fight. It’s hard to imagine one with worse historical echoes.
The chamber was almost empty; the outcome was predictable; all they had to do was sit back, take a deep breath, and let it go. But no.

It was so important not just to confirm Jeff Sessions but to prevent him from being insulted, that they had to go and invoke Rule XIX. Southern white men’s fragile dignity: it’s a thing. They don’t like being reminded of the disgraceful things they’ve done.
I hope to hell that more Democrats try to read Coretta Scott King’s letter aloud during the rest of the debate.
And if Sessions is confirmed, I hope they read it aloud to him every time he comes before them for a hearing. (He won’t be a Senator anymore then, so Rule XIX won’t be there to protect him and his already ruined reputation.)

So here’s what to do tomorrow. Call the offices of Republican senators who voted to prevent Warren from speaking, say you’re concerned they haven’t been able to hear Coretta Scott King’s views on Sessions, and read her letter aloud to them. Be nice, be polite, but don’t let them hang up on you until you finish.

This is political gold, properly used. Senate Republicans did something dumb and despicable that makes them look weak.
But the key is to keep the pressure on, and force them to keep owning the awful optics of “thou shalt not quote MLK’s widow.”
And the way to do that is to keep trying to quote her! That’s why an I’m Spartacus! the movement would be so effective here.
Either they have to keep on voting “No, Coretta Scott King is off limits,” or they let you speak and concede the point.

-- Professor James Grimmelmann

She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.

The rest is history.