Friday, July 17, 2009

Graham: Republicans select political appointees on the basis of race.



Sen. Lindsey Graham has been astonishingly candid during the confirmation hearings on Sotomayer, saying things which I never believed I would hear a Republican say.

He stated:

“Politics is politics in the sense that I know that Republicans sit down and think, ‘Okay, we’ve got some power now. Let’s make sure that we let the whole country know the Republican party is not just a party of short white guys.’”

What I want to tell the country is that Republicans very much do sit down and think about political picks and appointments in a political sense to try to show that we’re a party that looks at all Americans
and wants to give an opportunity. And that’s just life. And that’s not a bad thing.
This is the very thing which Pat Buchanan and others have been decrying as affirmative action. And yet, here Graham admits that the Republican party themselves also make such considerations and that, "It's not a bad thing."

That seriously undermines Pat's outrage.

Graham really surprises me here. If more Republicans displayed his kind of candour, then I don't think they would be in the trouble that they are currently in. Buchanan sounds like he's from another century, Graham does not.

Hat tip to Think Progress.

1 comment:

Kel said...

Of course he is. But doesn't he hide it well on this occasion? He comes across as almost human.