A 60 Minutes Miracle

American Spectator ^ | 3/29/2004 | Paul Beston

[swilhelm73]

I was all set to turn off 60 Minutes last night after its first segment -- a too-brief and entirely anticlimactic interview with Condoleezza Rice -- but if I had, I would have missed a small miracle. Judge Charles Pickering finally got the public hearing he deserved, and the competence, courage, and decency of the man shined through.

Pickering was nominated by President Bush to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2001, but his appointment was blocked by Senate Democrats through 2003. Finally in January of this year, Bush made a recess appointment for Pickering. But when that temporary appointment expires next year, Pickering will have to return to the Senate floor that was the scene of such vile character assassination from Senators Charles Schumer, John Edwards, and others.

Pickering had a long and distinguished record in Mississippi of supporting civil rights. In the 1960s, he testified against the Ku Klux Klan at significant risk to himself and his family. He sent his children to integrated schools when all-white private school options were available. He successfully defended a young black man wrongfully accused of a crime against a white girl. And he was widely respected by the black citizens of Mississippi, including those who knew him professionally.

But the Democrats seized on a decision he made in a 1994 cross-burning case -- in which he advocated a reduced sentence for one of the defendants – to argue that he was "racially insensitive." As with so many of such charges, the Democrats were employing half-truths devoid of context. Pickering had good reason to argue for the reduced sentence, as explained here. (A followup is here).

All of this the 60 Minutes segment brought out. Unlike John Edwards -- who ingeniously twisted subtle legal distinctions into seemingly incriminating admissions from Pickering in the Senate confirmation hearings -- Mike Wallace let the man talk. At times, Wallace almost seemed indignant himself at the treatment the judge had received. Best of all, the segment allowed some of Pickering's detractors, like Senator Schumer and Clarence McGee, the head of a Mississippi NAACP office, to say their piece. In doing so, the program revealed how spurious or just plain ignorant the criticisms of Pickering are.

Schumer was on twice. In his first appearance, he spit out the condemnation he makes so comfortably from his moral Olympus in the northeastern United States: "The bottom line is if Judge Pickering were so sensitive to the long and sad racial history in Mississippi, he would never have done what he did with the case of cross burning." Later in the segment, he excoriated Pickering for going against the federal sentencing guidelines and advocating a reduced prison term: "And Judge Pickering took it on himself, the one time he had a crusade, to help a man who burnt a cross."

That was Pickering's "one crusade," according to Schumer. Apparently sending a notorious KKK thug to prison was something less. I do marvel at the equanimity and grace so many white Southerners are able to maintain even after 40 years of lecturing from New Yorkers like Charles Schumer.

THE HIGH POINT OF the segment came near the end, when black citizens from Laurel, Mississippi, spoke out on Pickering's behalf. One black attorney, a man named Charles Lawrence, said of Pickering: "I trust him because I've been in front of him. I've had cases in front of him. And that's not to say I've always won. I haven't always won. But he, he has an understanding of the law and he applies it fairly across the board." Another black attorney, Deborah Gambrell, said: "This man makes for a level playing field," she said, "and that's the thing that I admire about him."

And then 60 Minutes brought on McGee, head of the NAACP office in Hattiesburg, to debate with the wonderful Charles Evers, brother of Civil Rights era martyr Medgar Evers. Someone at the NAACP should have known better than to tangle with Evers in any case. But if they were going to do so, shouldn't they have sent a representative who knew something about Charles Pickering? This priceless exchange must be quoted in full:

Evers: You know, maybe you don't know, you know that Charles Pickering is a man helped us to break the Ku Klux Klan. Did you know that?

McGee: I heard that statement made.

Evers: I mean, I know that. Do you know that?

McGee: I don't know that.

Evers: I know that. Do you know about the young black man that was accused of robbing the young white woman. You know about that?

McGee: Nope.

Evers: So Charles Pickering took the case. Came to trial and won the case and the young man became free.

McGee: I don't know about that.

Evers: But did you also know that Charles Pickering is the man who helped integrate his churches. You know about that?

McGee: No.

Evers: Well, you don't know a thing about Charles Pickering.

All McGee could come up with was the cross-burning case. Fumbling, ill-prepared and clearly uncomfortable, he managed: "I would say he overstepped his bounds. He might be somewhat intimidating. These kinds of things disturb me."

Nobody who watched 60 Minutes last night would find anything remotely "intimidating" about Charles Pickering. But there are many -- including people in NAACP leadership positions whom, one would think, would make sure they knew the record on such matters -- who don't know a thing about the man.

Thanks to 60 Minutes, though, their numbers are smaller this morning. Better late than never; and for Judge Pickering, maybe not too late, after all.

[chainsaw]

But when that temporary appointment expires next year, Pickering will have to return to the Senate floor that was the scene of such vile character assassination from Senators Charles Schumer, John Edwards, and others.

Yes but this time he will get and up or down vote. Something the democrats would not allow in the senate. The only thing the democrats in the senate did was take cheap shots at Pickering without proving any charges what-so-ever.

[Michael.SF.]

Thanks for posting this.

The Dems are not so much afraid of Charles Pickering, as they are afraid of what he represents. That being, a Conservative at heart, but a fair man in dealing with the law of the land.

Common sense and fairness are two pages missing in Democratic playbook. Common sense went out with the death of Patrick Moynahan (sp?) and fairness was removed during the Clinton Administration.

[cwb]

Speaking of the Rice intereview, Britt Hume just noted that CBS actually edited from their interview with Rice, several important facts that she pointed out. One of them was the fact that Bush had met with Tenet on something like 43 occassions prior to 9/11..and that she had begun instituting homeland security measures long before 9/11. Geez...not only do these people lie by ommission, they edit what they don't like. The media is becoming an enemy to this country.

[TexasCajun]

I stayed tuned as well. I was impressed by the support and affection Missisippi Americans With Dark Skin showed Judge Pickerin.

[solzhenitsyn]

Thanks, swilhelm73. The truth bleeds through in time, even in the most unexpected places.

[GreenHornet]

I wish I had stayed tuned. After the Condi interview, when I saw that the next story was about Judge Pickering, I expected the usual 60 minutes treatment, and changed the channel. I figured it would be best for my blood pressure if I didn't watch. I'm glad I was apparently wrong about this one.

[ErnBatavia]

Years ago, Mike Wallace almost single-handedly bitchslapped America out of it's "Hang the McMartin Family" mode....eventually, enough came to their senses that they were aquitted.

He was the first to even suggest that this entire family was being rairoaded by mass hysteria.

[ml/nj]

I never watch 60 Minutes anymore.

Well, almost never. Last night I came down to my computer where my little TV was still on, and on CBS. I guess I went down there during the halftime of the Duke game, and I wanted to be aware when the game restarted. So I came down to this remarkable segment about Pickering, and I had to watch. The quoted article really doesn't do justice to the destruction of the NAACP guy by Evers. It was just beautiful. The other parts really emphasized Pickering's character by describing actions he has taken. I thought the Swimmer and Chuck the Schmuck were made to look petty.

This was 60 Minutes? Why was this on?

I think I know. They were made to look really bad last week as they apparently had an infomercial for a liar whose book they are marketing, plus the liar is a purely political liar. I think this show was put forward as a counter example of their left-wing bias.

And it almost works. But if you were watching the NCAA basketball games as I was, you saw a lot of promos for 60 Minutes. They didn't promo the Pickering segment at all. The Rice segment was mentioned once that I recall by the on air announcer. All of the prepared promos featured a story about a 14 year old soccer phenom. CBS will say they wanted to appeal to sports fans, but I would guess that fewer than five percent (and I'm in the minority group) of the basketball fans watch more than two soccer games in four years.

ML/NJ

[I still care]

You could see some of Condi's statement were edited to the point of incoherence. They took out the middle of her sentence in at least one case.

I would think that the WH would absolutely insist, no editing. 60 minutes has a long history of editing to back up their point of view.

[mass55th]

"The media is becoming an enemy to this country."

What do you mean becoming?