WASHINGTON—In a surprising defeat for President Obama, the Democratic-controlled Senate on Wednesday blocked his controversial nominee to head the Justice Department’s civil rights division.
In una dichiarazione, President Obama called the 47-52 voto “a travesty based on wildly unfair character attacks against a good and qualified public servant.”
Supporters of Debo Adegbile, the son of a Nigerian father and an Irish mother, say his nomination had been fraught with race issues from the start. Opposition focused on his past legal representation of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a convicted cop killer in Philadelphia who became a cause celebre in leftist circles.
Adegbile’s involvement in the case brought condemnation from police unions and from the widow of the slain policeman.
Comunque, fino a poco tempo la sua candidatura era stato previsto di passare, anche se strettamente. Ma il Mercoledì, un voto procedurale sulla nomina è stato visto come così vicino che il vice presidente Joe Biden si precipitò al Senato nel caso in cui il suo voto era necessario per rompere un legame.
Infine, sette democratici hanno votato contro avanzare la candidatura. Ha segnato la prima volta che un candidato Obama è stata bloccata dal Senato ha cambiato le sue regole l'anno scorso per impedire l'ostruzionismo per la maggior parte delle candidature presidenziali.
Sostenitori dei diritti civili che hanno appoggiato Adegbile espresso indignazione, suggerendo che la gara può aver giocato un fattore.
"Tu odi di sollevare che fino, ma puzza molto male,” ha detto Hilary Shelton del NAACP.
Voi. Majority Leader Harry Reid warned Republicans just before the vote that if Adegbile lost there would have to be a “broad discussion” of civil rights in America. At the last minute, Reid changed his vote to no, a procedural move that could allow him to call another vote in the future.
Voi. Lindsay Graham, (R-S.C.), who voted against Adegbile, said the vote was about Adegbile’s behavior, not his race. “When someone has a history of helping cop-killers, this is what happens,” Graham said in an interview.
SOURCE: LA Times
Marzo 8, 2014 a 12:49 pm
I am glad to see the democrats have morals for once.
Marzo 16, 2014 a 10:45 Allo
If these so called Democrats are up for re-election this year, the we need to get rid of them too. Because they support a one sided justice system, because the last time I check everybody deserves a right for legal defense and this man was just doing his job. Remember they criticized the late Johnney Cochran for defending his clients. There is a certain segment of this country that would like to bring back the old practice of Kangaroo Courts.