The GOP Has Two Faces

I need to give Credit where Credit is due...This came in an email from The Rant... I just wanted to pass it along to my readers.

God Bless

If a Republican offers you a pat on the back, be wary. It seems the Party of No has a new plan for the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court: Say one thing in public, another in private.

You saw the footage: Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., called Judge Sotomayor "animated" and "engaged" and said he enjoyed meeting with her. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., warmly welcomed Judge Sotomayor to his office. How sweet.

Or not. According to an account in The Hill, the pleasantries are all for show. Behind closed doors, political minions are cinching up their boxing gloves. As her boss was being chummy with Judge Sotomayor, a McConnell aide, Lanier Swann, gave her thumb's up to a group of right-wing activists.

"'Swann told us she wanted to encourage all of us in our talking points and that we're having traction among Republicans and unnerving Democrats,' said an attendee of Wednesday's weekly meeting hosted by Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform. 'The point was we should keep it up. She told us at this meeting to put our foot on the pedal.'"

"Keeping it up" in this case might mean calling Judge Sotomayor a "reverse racist," as radio blowhard Rush Limbaugh did. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich left it at "racist," though he later clarified, saying she had said racist things. No apology was offered.

The chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., called the winking and nudging "disingenuous."

"This is the exact type of a Washington political game that offends Americans," he said. "When you try to appear thoughtful and open-minded in front of the cameras, but behind closed doors wink to your right-wing friends to keep up the vicious attacks, it is a strategy that is not only disingenuous, but it also does a disservice to the confirmation process."