Sen. Cornyn Can Kiss My X Chromosomes
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Just double checking: this is still 2009, right? Because this is beyond ludicrous and insulting:
Although Ms. Johnsen is a well-regarded scholar and spent five years in leadership roles at the OLC under the Clinton administration — one and a half of those years as head — Republicans were quick to dismiss her qualifications. The low point of the hearing took place when Senator Cornyn (R-TX) suggested that Ms. Johnsen shouldn’t head the OLC because she lacked the "requisite seriousness" needed for the job.
Yes, as we all know, Ms. Johnson’s boobies and uterus call her analytical abilities into question. Damn her X chromosomes for making her such an unserious lightweight.
Not like super-mucho-qualified manly folk like Alberto Gonzales, about whom Cornyn said:
I’m pleased to be here today to introduce Judge Alberto Gonzales to this committee. He is a talented lawyer, a dutiful public servant and a good man. He’s a great Texan and an inspiring American success story, as you, Mr. Chairman, have already alluded.
Oh yeah, Gonzales’ awesomeness was clearly unparalleled. That’s why he’s still looking for a damned job because even his old firm won’t take him back.
Look, Cornyn is and always has been a bit of a swaggering ass.
But to say that Dawn Johnson isn’t serious enough for the job after all of her experience doing it? Coming from Cornyn, whose tenure as AG of Texas was rife with Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed self-dealing, that’s awfully rich. I agree with Nan Aron of AFJ:
Coming from a man whose last re-election campaign used a commercial so ludicrous that it still makes me laugh out loud at his unserious gooberlicious self-worship? John Cornyn can kiss my X chromosomes.Senator Cornyn rejected a highly qualified nominee, citing a reason he never would have relied on with a male candidate. Beyond the blatant double-standard, his justification doesn’t pass the laugh test. Dawn Johnsen is exceptionally qualified. She is a highly regarded law professor and legal scholar. She served in a leadership role in the Office of Legal Counsel for five years, and acted as the head of that office for over a year. Her nomination has been routinely praised by some of the most respected lawyers and legal professionals in the nation.
"Senator Cornyn, however, gave full-throated support to Alberto Gonzales to be attorney general of the United States. And let us not forget his support for previous head of the Office of Legal Counsel Jay Bybee, who authored torture memos later repudiated by the Department of Justice. The primary qualification possessed by these men was an inability to say no to the White House.
Sure, make light of the Senator for saying that Dawn Johnson lacks seriousness, but remember to give him due credit.
Few people in the Senate have had the integrity necessary to champion the cause of marital equality for box turtles.