MumiaLast week, Obama’s nominee for assistant attorney general for civil rights, Debo Adegbile, was blocked in the Senate.  For this we can thank Republican unanimity and a few Democrat defections.

The rejection is a setback for Obama.  But what really happened?  What does it mean?  This is worth understanding.

In making this note, I’m mulling over Taranto’s WSJ analysis from Thursday, “Nuclear Fallout”. The full article is worth reading.

First of all, what’s the problem with Debo Adegbile? Sure, if Obama appoints him, he’s probably a skunk. But why?

Adegbile is known for his extensive work on behalf of Mumia Abu-Jamal, who murdered Daniel Faulkner, a Philadelphia policeman, in 1981. Abu-Jamal’s cause became the unifying force for a ghoulish cult of extreme leftists and black racists. Not all liberals or leftists are on board with the “Free Mumia” movement; I’d say this issue something of a litmus test as to whether a political opponent is a reasonable human being or beyond the pale.

(After almost 30 years of legal machinations, Abu-Jamal’s death sentence morphed into life without parole.)

Supporters of Adegbile argue that every accused criminal is entitled to a legal defense, and it’s unfair to condemn the man that undertook a necessary task. That statement is true in general and irrelevant to this situation. Adegbile’s sin isn’t that he provided criminal defense for Abu-Jamal, but that he worked on behalf of Abu-Jamal as a cause célèbre, and helped spread the name “Mumia” as a rallying cry for the mob.  Adegbile acted as an evil counselor, sowing seeds of hatred and division in order to bolster a nasty political agenda. As explained by an earlier WSJ editorial, “The Justice Nominee and The Cop Killer”

Debo Adegbile’s disturbing support for Mumia Abu-Jamal should disqualify him.

…As acting president and director of litigation at the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, Mr. Adegbile chose in 2009 to enter the circus created by Abu-Jamal and inject his organization into the case. Under Mr. Adegbile’s leadership and through rallies, protests and a media campaign, the Legal Defense Fund actively fanned the racial firestorm. In a news release issued when it took over as Abu-Jamal’s counsel, the Legal Defense Fund proclaimed that Abu-Jamal was “a symbol of the racial injustices of the death penalty.”

At a 2011 rally for Abu-Jamal, Mr. Adegbile’s co-counsel on the case stated that “there is no question in the mind of anyone at the Legal Defense Fund” that [Abu-Jamal’s conviction] “has everything to do with race and that is why the Legal Defense Fund is in the case.”

In 2012, even after Abu-Jamal’s appeals had been exhausted, and after the Philadelphia district attorney’s office had put the controversial case to rest by not seeking a new death sentence (which a court had voided in 2008 on the ground of faulty jury instructions), Abu-Jamal’s website reported that the Legal Defense Fund would remain active in the cause by investigating new ways to challenge his conviction.

In sum, Adegbile is a racist and a hatemonger and a divider, and Obama is a jackass for trying to promote someone like this as a civil rights advocate.

Those are the facts. Now we get to the politics, and things get strange and messy.

You’ll recall how the Democrats invoked the “nuclear option” last November, thus allowing a simple majority to approve an appointee of this class. If the old rules had been in effect, the Adegbile vote would have gone straight down party lines. The Republicans, with more than 40 votes, would have blocked Adegbile. Then the Democrats would have screamed to the world that the Republicans were racists, and the party of “No”, and were meanly blocking Obama’s wonderful progress.

The rule change was supposed to let Obama appointees like Adegbile sail into office. But instead a funny thing happened; an unintended consequence. Now that the Republicans couldn’t block Adegbile, some of the more vulnerable Democrats realized they’d be held responsible for sending this jerk to the Justice Dept.  These Democrats wouldn’t be able to posture and point at Republicans. Instead, the Republicans would be posturing and pointing at them.

I’m glad the system “worked” and rejected an unfit candidate. But it’s depressing to think that very few of these people did what they did because it’s the right thing to do. How many Senators could look you in the eye and honestly say Adegbile should have been confirmed? Probably only a tiny handful. But they vote for the posture, almost every one of them. And that leaves the American people looking at Washington with an ever-more cynical eye, thinking that government will only do the right thing by accident or when there’s some self-serving reason.

This section is for comments from tammybruce.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Tammy agrees with or endorses any particular comment just because she lets it stand.
4 Comments | Leave a comment
  1. ancientwrrior says:

    What this means for all to see, is that Washington is corrupt and rotten from the inside out. When a tomato is in this condition, you don’t try to eat it, you throw it out and get a new fresh one, else you will become sick if you eat it. We in this nation have become sick to our guts having to feed on this rot being forced down our throats. Enough already, throw all the rot out. It’s time for a new fresh healthy batch.

  2. Teri says:

    I see Mark Warner from my state of Virginia supported the vile Adegbile. That bastard is going to hear from me. Note the four last letters of Debos last name.

  3. strider says:

    O will be only be able to focus on the next insult to attempt.

  4. Alain41 says:

    I think mainly this vote means, it is an election year. If it were a non-election year, the Democrats would have approved him. Obama will likely recess appoint him post-election now or appoint him to a non-Senate approval position. Will want to get him into DOJ before Holder leaves.

You must be logged in to post a comment.