Lieberman urges Mfume for high court: In make-up speech recommends NAACP boss with no law degree

WorldNetDaily.com ^ | Friday, July 18, 2003

[JohnHuang2]

A few days after being declared "persona non grata" by the NAACP, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Lieberman suggested in a speech to the group that its leader, Kweisi Mfume, would make a good Supreme Court justice, the New Republic reported.

Mfume, however, has never been to law school.

Sen. Joe Lieberman

Lieberman had upset the civil-rights leader by skipping a candidate forum at its national convention Sunday, the magazine reported.

The Connecticut senator called Mfume the next day to apologize and agreed to come to Miami to speak to the convention Wednesday night.

After an apology to the group and a recounting of his civil rights bona fides, Lieberman, the Democrats' vice-presidential candidate in 2000, commended the NAACP for its work during the Florida recount.

"We didn't realize at the time, Al Gore and I, that we not only needed Kweisi Mfume fighting for justice here in Florida counting votes," Lieberman said, according to the New Republic. "We need him on the Supreme Court where the votes really counted. Maybe that'll happen some day."

According to the NAACP website, Mfume has earned a Masters degree in liberal arts, with an emphasis in international studies, from Johns Hopkins University.

Don't bother asking

At Sunday's event, Mfume said the four candidates who didn't show up now have no right to ask for black votes in the 2004 election, USA Today reported.

Four empty chairs were placed up front, representing Lieberman, Rep. Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and President Bush.

''We are interested in people who are interested in us,'' Mfume said, calling their failure to attend an affront to African-American voters and the 94-year-old National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

''This organization has dignity,'' he said, according to USA Today. ''We are not going to allow anybody, Democrat or Republican, to take it for granted.''

In a speech, the NAACP leader named each of the no-shows accompanied by a dramatic death-knell chord.

''You have now become persona non grata,'' he said. ''Your political capital is the equivalent of Confederate dollars.''

USA Today noted Bush is the first sitting Republican president to travel to Africa, and the three missing Democrats received 100 percent scores for their voting in the last Congress from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

[lugsoul]

agreed, and the refusal on the default seems odd. at least where I am they will usually grant the default but are quite liberal about opening defaults if a basis is presented. but I have zero knowledge of WA procedure.

[RightWhale]

isn't this a wonderful example for the younger members of American society

Maybe this person has something going for himself we are not aware of. Besides, he might not be a shining ideal role model, but he might be a person that could relate to a good-sized chunk of the populace that is being nearly ignored right now. He could spend his first 2 or 5 years up at the local Law College getting the rudiments of law under his belt and maybe figure out what he has been doing as a legislator these recent years. It's got potential, and who says a SC justice has to be a lawyer anyway?

[freeangel]

'just doing his part to promote welfare moms and provide democrat votes

[connectthedots]

Washington rules and statutes regarding defaults are very similar to the federal rules of civil procedure. The main difference is that in Washington, a judge is required to enter the judgment in the amount demanded in the complaint when the defendant fails to answer, appear or otherwise defend within the statutory time limitation period. In order to get a default judgment vacated, the defendant must establish both a meritorious defense and excusable neglect.

Excusable neglect by a government agency is virtually impossible and apprroximately one year after I was entitled to the default judgment, the county claimed they had never even investigated the allegations in my complaint (I've got that in an affidavit of the deputy prosecutor who intially represented the county in the lawsuit). They didn't have to investigate because they knew damn well everything I alleged was true. If they had actually created a report of an investigation, it would have been discoverable pursuant to a public records request and they couldn't risk that. Based on the principle of collateral estoppel, I could choose which position they were stuck with. In this case, it should have made no difference. If they did not investigate, they could not possibly have establish a meritorious defense, could they?

[DoctorMichael]

Joe, you're an 'effin idiot.

[DoctorMichael]

Joe, go lick a boot, you moron.

[connectthedots]

One more comment. There would have been no possible basis for vacating a default judgment in my case, so the corrupt judges decided to simply deny entry. I also had another judge tell me that all the superior court judges in my county that they had all sgeed that none of them would enter my default judgment, and the judge who was involved in the intial corruption personally solicited a judge from another county to enter an order denying me the default judgment. I have a copy of a letter from one judge to another that proves this fact. As you must know, a judge who recuses himself cannot pick his replacement. If my case had no merit, why would they do this kind of crap?

[honeygrl]

"Black conservative ping "

I think this one might be a "hold muh beer" as well since lieberman must have been drinking before he said this stuff! LOL

[connectthedots]

I forgot to mention that unlike the federal rules which do not permit default judgments to be entered against the U.S. government, Washington governments do not have that benefit, and not court has claimed they do.

[Liz]

...you forgot the southern fried ginger Chicken and the sesame-seeded Poke salad...

Yeah, and the machacha wonton soup, the spaghetti chimichangas, and the sweet and sour brisket.