Sen. Joe Lieberman
Posted on 07/18/2003 12:16:57 AM PDT by 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.
Contrary to what many people think, there is no requirement that a U.S. Supreme court justice have any legal training or even to have been a practicing lawyer. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court has never been called upon to decide whether the practice of law is merely a privilege or a basic constitutional right.
When the Constitution was signed, it was illegal in over half the states to 'practice law for compensation'. Our founding fathers had a very low opinion of lawyers, possibly even a lower opinion than people today.
There is just constitutionally authorized position that requires some degree of legal expertise. Can anyone name that position?
I'm saving this one to trot out the next time someone tells me there's no difference between Republicans and Democrats.
"I got the Hyphenate vote locked up, for God's sake. Kerry's a nothing.
My grandfather, Senor Shaquille O’Liebermanelli Fu Ching changed his name. I claim
Irish, Latino, Black, Mediterranean, and Oriental voting blocs...er, I mean, roots."
" Come on down to my Hyphenate Pander Party. We got corned beef burritos, pastrami
Egg Fu Yung, grits in Marinara sauce, vintage Manishevitz, and oregano bagels stuffed
with teriyaki-glazed ham, chitlins and chili peppers."
Nope. Now I'm curious...?
I’m OK with Mfume skipping Law School – I’m NOT OK with his Marxist agenda.
Just when you think you've heard it all, the world has gone crazy. When GWB doesn't appoint him, look for riots.
Guys, what was Kweisi's name before he changed it? And didn't he have some history that might raise an eyebrow or two if someone were to seriously enter his name in nomination for a high court position? My memory is not as clear as it should be... I'll look around when I have a bit more time.
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