Sure, the enemy of our enemy is our friend, and politics makes strange bedfellows and all that, but really: Are we actually on the verge of feeling a shred of sympathy for Attorney General Jeff Sessions?
Of course, we hate that the president has made him a punching bag, bullying him in tweets and at press conferences this week—and we love how he won’t resign, even as Trump beats the drum against him louder and louder. But hello—Jeff Sessions? Jeff Sessions is not, and never will be, your friend!
Before you get all starry-eyed, and/or weepy over the guy, let’s remember why we hated him so much in the first place:
Sessions has an appalling record on LGBT issues: He opposed the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and hate crimes protections, and voted for a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
When it comes to women, Sessions’s record is no better: He has voted repeatedly to defund Planned Parenthood. He opposed reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013. He was against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which allows women to file ongoing pay discrimination claims. He opposed Title X funding legislation that supports contraception, breast cancer screening, and other health services for low-income women.
Sessions is virulently against the legalization of marijuana, which he has characterized as “only slightly less awful,” than heroin. His positions on immigration—even legal immigration—are so draconian that the conservative National Review dubbed him “amnesty’s worst enemy.” He has opposed virtually every pro-immigration bill, including guest worker programs, and visa programs for foreign workers in science, math, and technology.
Sessions has a dismal record on environmental and climate change legislation: He has opposed nearly every piece of global warming and environmental legislation since 1997.
Sessions opposes the Voting Rights Act of 1965, calling it a “piece of intrusive legislation.” He has perpetuated unfounded claims of voter fraud and argued for voter ID laws.
Sessions has a history of being accused of racism. In 1986, when he was denied a federal judgeship, former colleagues testified that Sessions used the n-word and made jokes about the Ku Klux Klan, saying he thought members were “okay, until he learned that they smoked marijuana.” At that hearing, the late Ted Kennedy described the attorney general thusly: “Mr. Sessions is a throwback to a shameful era which I know both black and white Americans thought was in our past. It is inconceivable to me that a person of this attitude is qualified to be a U.S. attorney, let alone a U.S. federal judge. . . . He is, I believe, a disgrace to the Justice Department and he should withdraw his nomination and resign his position.”
Just something to keep in mind.