It’s Politics Over Conscience For Most Democrats (Guest Post)

Why was the Senate vote to not confirm Debo Adegbile a surprise? Because it was about politics, not about Adegbile. To be specific, 46 of 54 Democrats in the U.S. Senate voted politics, to confirm Adegbile. That means that 46 Democrats (and one independent who caucuses with Democrats) demonstrated where there real priorities lie. And it means that seven Democrats voted their consciences.

If ever proof that Dear Leader Barack Hussein Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) are political hacks was needed, this is it.

The Senate, by a 47-52 vote (8 Democrats joined 44 Republicans – Reid’s eighth “no” vote, as you will see, doesn’t count), rejected Adegbile for the position of head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Adegbile is the first Obama nominee to be rejected under the new Senate procedures approved in November 2013, that require only a majority of senators present agree to proceed to a vote on most presidential nominees. The decision by
seven Democrat Senators to reject calls from the White House and Democrat party leadership caused a rare split in the Democrat caucus because Democrats normally follow party politics and votes in lockstep on Obama’s nominees.

The fact that Adegbile was rejected is not surprising. An aide to one of the Democrat senators who voted against the nomination said that several Senators were very upset with Obama for moving ahead with the Adegbile nomination. What IS surprising is that seven Democrats actually let their consciences, rather than politics, be their guide when voting. Eight Democrats voted against confirmation. Reid initially voted in favor of
confirmation, but later switched his vote to “no”, giving him the right as Senate leader to bring up the nomination again. So Reid was playing politics rather than voting his conscience.

Debo Adegbile is a piece of human debris if there ever was one. While working for the NAACP, he served as the in-house voting rights expert for the Legal Defense Fund. While there, he filed a defense brief and became co-counsel in 2011, for Mumia Abu-Jamal, another piece of human debris, who was convicted for the 1981 execution of Philadelphia policeman Daniel Faulkner. There were four witnesses to Abu-Jamal’s murder of Faulkner, and he even confessed to/boasted about the shooting. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund helped Abu-Jamal get his death sentenced overturned and
has represented him at various times since. And, the NAACP has said that Abu-Jamal is a “symbol of racial injustice.”

Democrats like to say that Adegbile’s involvement with the Abu-Jamal case was limited. But extent of involvement is not at question – motivation is.

Politics once again rears its ugly head. First, Obama (or someone in Obama’s administration) nominated Odegbile. That was bad enough. Then 46 of 55 Senate Democrats (and one independent) voted to approve Adegbile. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) “the second-ranking Democrat in the chamber, said he was ‘very disappointed’ that Adegbile’s nomination was defeated even after direct appeals from Obama’s administration to members of their own party.”   [emphasis mine, higlightting the role of politics]  

Durbin continued:

It was a full-court press from the White House, and we worked with them in whipping this: I’m very disappointed

Adegbile was “eminently well qualified” and should have been confirmed.

Then, when Adegbile was rejected, Obama “… blasted the senators who voted against Adegbile’s nomination, saying they ‘denied the American people an outstanding public servant’.” Obama also said the main attack used against Adegbile “runs contrary to a fundamental principle of our system
of justice.” The main attack Obama refers to is recognition that Adegbile worked on behalf of convicted cop-killer Abu-Jamal.

Obama continued:

The Senate’s failure to confirm Debo Adegbile to head the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice is a travesty based on wildly unfair character attacks against a good and qualified public servant.

Mr. Adegbile’s qualifications are impeccable.

But what else could Obama say? He had to support Adegbile. Durbin’s statement about … a full-court press from the White House …” revealed Obama’s true feelings – it’s entirely about politics.

And here’s what Harry Reid had to say about Adegbile’s rejection:

They [Republicans] want fewer voting people. They don’t want people to vote and they especially don’t want poor people to vote.

Reid called Republican opposition to Adegbile “an affront to what it means to live in America,” and that the Adegbile rejection “is part of a larger Republican strategy to disenfranchise minority and impoverished voters.” What Reid said was not about Adegbile. It sure sounds as if Reid is trying to change the subject to Adegbile’s work at the NAACP as a voting rights advocate because he knew that Adegbile (and all the baggage he brought) was a loser from
the start. And an aid for one of the Democrats who voted against Adegbile agrees. Regarding Adegbile, he said, “It’s a vote you didn’t have to take. It’s a 30-second ad that writes itself.”

Two Democrats spoke about their votes: Chris Coons (D-DE), and Joe Manchin (D-WV).

Manchin said, “I made a conscientious decision after talking to the wife of the victim. I made a conscientious decision.” Coons was more forthcoming, even giving himself some wiggle-room:

At a time when the Civil Rights Division urgently needs better relations with the law enforcement community, I was troubled by the idea of voting for an Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights who would face such visceral opposition from law enforcement on his first day on the job. The vote I cast today was one of the most difficult I have taken since joining the Senate, but I believe it to be right for the people I represent.

So Coons voted against Adegbile not because he supports a cop-killer, but because Coons was “troubled.” Still, his “no” vote helped reject Adegbile.

One would like to think that the Republicans, none of whom voted to approve Adegbile, were voting there consciences rather than playing politics. We’ll never know. The closest thing to a statement about Adegbile from a Republican was offered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell:

Everyone deserves a fair trial and a zealous legal defense, and lawyers aren’t personally responsible for the actions of their clients. But lawyers [Adegbile] are responsible for their own actions.

In this case, the nominee [Adegbile] inserted his office in an effort to turn reality on its head, impugn honorable and selfless law enforcement officers, and glorify an unrepentant cop killer.

Democrats were so certain that politics would win out that they didn’t even bother to vet Adegbile’s history. But conscience won in the end. I guess some people are so obnoxious that even politics can’t overcome them.

But that’s just my opinion.

Cross-posted at The Pot Stirrer, my personal, very conservative web site.