OK, so WHY did Lindsay Graham ask what Kagan was doing on Christmas Day?

He interrupted her answer to say he wasn't referring the the Christmas Day bomber, he "just wanted to know" what she did on Christmas Day...

He knows she's Jewish. What is the purpose of asking such a question in a formal hearing? What value does the question bring to these hearings?

My guess is that he wanted to further separate her from the "rest" of the people, to continue the "upper west side, Princeton, Harvard Law School" labelling even further...but wasting the people's time on such a question borders on insane...

Why isn't this question being asked anywhere?

Like the rest of the republicans.
Either they are out and out racists and corporatists, or they condone their party line of being such.

Oh, get up and enjoy the day... what do you do, Senator?

But jollies aside, why isn't anybody asking this question? Maybe we're just plain embarrassed that he would ask her that question in the first place?

'Jewish'. I loved her response...:D

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/106271-kagan-cracks-joke-about-jews-on-christmas-at-hearing

snip//

"Like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant," Kagan quipped.

What else?

Tradition! Movie and Chinese on Christmas.

But I suspect that it's because she's from the upper-east side of New York. (Or is it upper-west. I forget where the jews live.)

Uhh, Jews live all over New York City, all over New York state and, in fact all over the country.

or evil meaning. He has a rather informal way of talking for a senator. You could equally well ask why he said "suck". Just because. Not everything has a special significance.

So kagan could lighten things up. Long time paying attention and one catches on to people's individual styles.

He probably had nothing of substance left to ask so he was winging it.

about the Christmas Day bomber.

Some serious poutrage going on here. Frankly, I thought the entire Graham/Kagan exchange was well played on both sides.

South Carolina is a notoriously bigoted state that has marginalizes Jews.
I was born and raised there. I knew many politicians there and have friends and relatives there.
I have never personally witnessed more derogatory statements against Jews than I have there.
Bigotry is everywhere but in South Carolina it is a deep stain in the fabric of life.
The problem is that the people that are bigoted see it as acceptable. I no longer live there partly because of this.
I have confronted the people in my life that are this way. It is not pleasant. I feel good that I do not stand by and let
this ignorance stand.

Though I was born in NC and live here currently, most of my family hails from SC, and I spent most of my childhood there. Although South Carolina is changing, change is coming more slowly there than most places. There exists in South Carolina, as in other places in the Deep South, a hard core of white racists, who may not even be a majority within the white community anymore, but who are nonetheless powerful. They are aided by the traditional social and economic elite of South Carolina, the most reactionary and useless people you'd ever want to meet. It is they who are, in so many ways, responsible for South Carolina's backwardness.

here on these threads for what we KNOW was a standard ploy.

jesus christ people, listen to the exchange, and if you don't pick up the friendly joking, realize that you have a disorder that doesn't allow you to recognize humor.

for most of the planet, and the image of the republicons on bended knee groveling out a freakin apology to BP has left honorable people with a STUPENDOUSLY SOUR sensation in the soul. Consequently, if a smidgen of actual levity does appear, it's damn likely to be overlooked...

He was deflecting all the tension in the room.

It was kind of meant as a parody on all the questioning, I feel.

Graham can be rightfully criticized for many things, but not for this.

I think the exchange was quick witted and funny (for a Senate hearing).

It was all scripted...

Yeah, that makes sense...

no, it wasn't scripted.

a question about the Christmas Day Bomber...the timing was wonderful!

I'm sure it had nothing whatsoever to do with all that stuff about the Upper West Side of Noo Yawk that the pubs were going on about earlier...

republicans always play on racial and religious differences, but they always know they can't just come out and say, "hey, you're black!" or "look, a jew!" they can't do anything so overt.

so they find "innocent" ways to bring out the point without making it look like they're trying. talking about her being from manhattan's upper west side is part of it, or in another context, implying a "hollywood" connection is code for "jewish".

this "friendly joke" was a golden opportunity for a republican shit to bring out the point while just making a friendly joke.

from his point of view, kagan fell into the trap by acknowledging that she's jewish. she made the standard joke about it, and got good laughs, but that only earns points with the non-bigots. the republican base now sees her as having horns on her head and a jesus-denier.



politically, she would have been better served to have responded, "i spent it with my family, of course"

this was totally off-the-cuff, two people finding humor in words that could be taken two ways.

he said, "christmas day bomber. where were you at on christmas day."

that's a notably convenient way of phrasing it.

he said both "where were you at" instead of "what are your views on" or "do you support the decision in"
AND "christmas day" instead of "the christmas day bomber case" or just "that incident" (having already said "christmas day bomber".

both parts of his own chosen phrasing were necessary to make it into a joke. when kagan responded straight to the actual legal question, graham interrupted her to ask it again, this time more clearly with the other meaning,

"no, i was just asking where you were on christmas day."

he TOTALLY set himself up for this. this was not a give-and-take and not off-the cuff.


and for good measure, after she delivered the predictable joke, graham added, "well, that's what christmas and hannukah are all about." kagan hadn't mentioned hannukah at all, so again graham is doing something to inject her judaism into the procedings.


absolutely no doubt. certainly, if this were a private sector interview, kagan would have an open-and-shut discrimination case. of course, such rules don't apply to congress....

a candidate's Jewish faith?

They get there race-baiting, hate-filled, borderline violence-provoking sound bites on teevee that the MEdia happily covers for them for free. They then put the videos out there to raise money from their race-baiting, hate-filled, violence-provoking constituents.

It wasn't meant for us, and if we get peeved, so much the better.

I don't like Kagan, but my disgust for the thugs and the MEdia is so much bigger.

But I see the Repukes being somewhat restrained on her. I think they know that if a nominee goes through a grueling process, they take it out on the other side once they get on the Court. That's my theory with Thomas, anyway.

I think Goober Graham was just trying to be playful, it let Kagan have a light moment that she knew would be played on national television.

Am I the only one who heard the beginning of the question had to do with the Christmas Day Bomber?

Am I making that up??

I can't believe this is being passed around DU as if it is an issue.

I'd bet most of the peckerwoods in SC had a good inside joke laugh over it.

It is a fucking issue, or are you that insensitive?

... that is insensitive.



It was good humored joking, and no reasonable rational person would think it "jew baiting".

Kagan certainly got the joke. Which, btw, was kinda funny and fairly well played by both parties.

asked "Where are you on Christmas Day".
3. She then started to reply, assuming his question had to do with the legalities involved in that case.
4. IMO, he realized his initial question was awkwardly phrased and then inserted the somewhat self-deprecating question "I just asked you where you were on Christmas Day", and it turned into a humorous scene because of her great answer. He even said "Great answer".
I'll have to give him that, even though he is a slimeball. It's possible that he may have been trying to make her look different to please a racist/jewish hating base, but I'll go with the above after watching it again.

if you cant get your outrage by real things we just make up something to be outraged about
then you can sling names and act condescending to your fellow dems

just to lighten the mood. It gets a BIG laugh all the time!!!

on Thurgood Marshall and wanted to set a better "tone."

Yes, that's it...

GOPs consistent use of this 'not one of us' tactic in SC.

but when it comes to Jews, well, I guess that's different...it was just a bit of "fun." The fact that Kagan got off a good rejoinder doesn't obscure the fact that Graham's question was either 1) slyly anti-semitic or 2) just nonsensical.

Imagine if this had been a job interview and the interviewer asks (for no apparent reason) where the interviewee was on Christmas Day!

:shrug:

Refusing to support Democratic candidates makes it likely there will be more Grahams, Sessions, Boehners, racists, bigots, and tea baggers filling the halls of congress with hate. Republicans have always won elections by creating an "us" and a "them." this is a classic example of dog whistle politics, reminding the crackers back home that Kagan is not one of "us" - she's one of "them." For Lindsay Graham it's "mission accomplished." the question is, what are we willing to fight for, and fight against.

Are our Democratic leaders perfect? Far from it. Are they light years better than the fascist, racist, sexist, homophobic republicans waiting in the wings to take back the congress? Not yes, but hell yes.

Hey, it's no fun being a middle-aged single guy like Lindsay waking up on Christmas Day, of all days, to a big, empty house, all alone, no one to talk to or open presents with, have a nice breakfast, then go to Christmas services.


Oh, and the POS was pointing out to his constituency that Ms. Kagan is a Jooooooooo.

Or do they have any of those in South Carolina? :evilgrin:

On the other and, Kagan's response was superb and classy. I like her.

My son in law makes funny jokes (that have an edge to them) about the insensitive shit that he and other Jews hear from gentiles. He's pretty funny, but you can tell it's a bit tinged with irony. He and my daughter, who is not Jewish, are raising the kids in Jewish traditions. I must say that I am much more aware of anti-semitism because of it. The thought of anything happening to my granddaughters is enough of a reason to be aware...