I am going to be en route to the Lone Star State manana at the crack of dawn, so I had a ton of errands to run today. I did, however, get a chance to catch some choice moments in the Sotomayor hearings that I’d like to share with the class.
Imagine this 'stache, but with an accompanying goatee.
Peter Kirsanow definitely wins the award for the most in-charge facial hair at the hearings.
He is a commissioner at the US Commission for Civil Rights and he was part of the panel that addressed and took question during the hearings today. This panel also included two firefighters from the Ricci case, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, several lobbyists and other people who knew Sotomayor previously in her career.
Kirsanow should holla at me for the golden mustache. Facial hair grooming is dying amongst the men of my generation. I implore my peers to get themselves some flair. This hipster, quasi-mountain man BS y’all have been peddling is played out, for real.
The award for lamest opening goes to Linda Chavez of the Center for Equal Opportunity.
“I testify today not as a wise Latina woman but an American who believes that skin color and national origin should not determine who gets a job, a promotion or a public contract or who gets into college or receives a fellowship.” link
I think that, for the most part, Chavez did a fantastic job expressing her points and beliefs, but this opener made me groan. Chavez can get with me if she’s interested in the Cheap Line award I’ve got for her.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had an interesting exchange with Chavez, who is vehemently opposed to Sotomayor being confirmed. Chavez was using the GOP’s arguments, but doing a much better job at not sounding like a six-year-old parroting, and sometimes butchering, Uncle Rush’s talking points. When Chavez talked about the wise Latina comment, she echoed Graham’s assertion that he could never have said something like that and gotten away with it. He fired back with, “As the white guy who said that…” and proceeded to kinda sorta defend Sotomayor.
But, Graham even managed to fail at sounding empathetic. He told Ben Vargas, one of the men who sued the City of New Haven in the Ricci case, that he should understand the inclination toward the policy that kept him from a promotion he earned because a generation ago, his last name would have precluded him from being in contention to be a firefighter at all.
So, let me get this straight. Vargas should be understanding because he would have been screwed a generation ago, and now that he’s worked his way to being in contention for a PROMOTION in the fire department, he should be understanding that there’s a reason he’s being DOUBLE screwed in the name of progress?
I certainly hope not everyone accepts Senator Graham as an example of “average, every-day white guy”s. I know many white dudes who would shudder at being placed in his company. Senator Graham, call me. I’ve got your brass cojones for you if you want them.
