After a narrowly failed attempt to stop Donald Trump’s education secretary pick, Besty DeVos, with Vice President Mike Pence casting a first-ever tie-breaking vote to confirm a cabinet nominee (not a first you really want to be known for), Senate Democrats turned their attention to stopping civil rights nightmare Jeff Sessions from becoming attorney general. When Senator Elizabeth Warren tried to read Coretta Scott King’s 1986 letter urging the Senate not to confirm Sessions for a federal judge position due to his involvement in racist voter suppression, Mitch McConnell shut Warren down with an absurd excuse and an even worse justification.
The Senate rule that was used to silence Warren is one mandating that, in Senate debate, Senators may not disparage other Senators. Unfortunately, Senator Sessions himself is the topic of debate in this case, which makes invoking that rule particularly disingenuous. It’s also worth noting that Sessions failed to attain that federal judgeship in 1986 due to the concerns at the time, which makes it all the more ridiculous to throw what was said about him and his record at the time out of the current debate.
After Republicans voted Warren out of order and banned her from taking part in the remainder of the debate over Sessions, McConnell said, “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” Apart from sounding like the villain from the end of the third Matrix movie,
which you never want to do because that movie is bad and also he’s the villain, McConnell made a poor choice in creating a really easy anthem for his opposition—especially since it sounds like all-too-familiar victim-blame to women. So, of course, the Internet has run with it:
Anyway, here’s to all the women who persist, who resist and who rebel. pic.twitter.com/3f0cIl4zSp
— Carly Lane (@carlylane) February 8, 2017
Nevertheless, #ShePersisted. pic.twitter.com/iGDdraZTvp
— Whovian Feminism (@WhovianFeminism) February 8, 2017
Silencing Elizabeth Warren does not work! #ShePersists #LetLizSpeak #CorettaScottKing #elizabethwarren #TheResistance #wednesdaywisdom pic.twitter.com/DGfxrBfjPS
— A.Silver-MeMEs (@SilverAdie) February 8, 2017
How women reach their full potential summarized in quote. White men can keep telling us to sit down, and we’ll keep persisting. #ShePersists pic.twitter.com/dmwWqzIe1E
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) February 8, 2017
“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” #ShePersists pic.twitter.com/zibEorqbNq
— Brian Jay Jones (@brianjayjones) February 8, 2017
Huge mistake @SenateMajLdr #letlizspeak #ShePersists pic.twitter.com/8CekFPIgRQ
— Nasty Women (@WomenG4Hillary) February 8, 2017
Nevertheless, #ShePersists pic.twitter.com/0oo53KIMsj
— Chandra Branch (@chandra_branch) February 8, 2017
“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
– @SenateMajLdr – #ShePersists #LetLizTalk #LetLizSpeak pic.twitter.com/AAxwDaku5e— Dandelion Dollars (@DandelionDollar) February 8, 2017
#shepersists pic.twitter.com/AdIiL2QHjX
— Barth Anderson (@FairFoodFight) February 8, 2017
She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted. pic.twitter.com/ebXJRX23Re
— Marc (@MarcSnetiker) February 8, 2017
(image via Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock, Inc.)
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