Politics –
#LetLizSpeak Elevates
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
The actions of Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the senate floor Tuesday night have not only given birth to the hashtag #LetLizSpeak, but has breathed new life into the minority party and elevated the Massachusetts Democrat into a modern-day hero.
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Politics
During senate confirmation proceedings for Sen. Jeff Sessions to be US Attorney General, Sen. Warren rose to read a letter that Coretta Scott King (the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) had written 30 years ago opposing Sessions for a federal judgeship. However, Republicans took offense to the letter and accused Warren of violating Senate rules against impugning another senator. That’s when the GOP voted to shut her up and bar her from participating in the proceedings any further.
“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted,” Republican Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell said.
Bad move, Republicans!
Not only did McConnell and his GOP cronies commit a grievous error in shutting down the words of an iconic figure in black history and in turn create the perception of being tone-deaf to civil rights, but they inadvertently gave power to Sen. Warren and boosted her credibility within a party that is desperate for leadership.
McConnell’s decision to admonish Warren with the words “Nevertheless she persisted” painted the picture of yet another man attempting to silence a woman.
However, Sen. Warren refused to be silent. She simply left the senate floor, walked to the lobby, then read the words of Coretta Scott King aloud on Facebook Live to an estimated 6 million viewers.
Check and Mate!
Although Republicans were successfully able to confirm Sen. Sessions on Wednesday as the US Attorney General, they now have a much bigger problem on their hands.
McConnell’s use of an obscure parliamentary rule to prohibit Warren from speaking against the nomination on the Senate floor created a short-term victory for the GOP. However, in the long run, it made Republicans look like tone-deaf bullies.
Warren was simply attempting to read the words of the late Coretta Scott King on the subject of voting rights. “Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters,” Mrs. King wrote in 1986. “For this reprehensible conduct, he should not be rewarded with a federal judgeship.”
Those are extremely important words and, McConnell would have done himself a favor by allowing Sen. Warren to speak those words then simply use the Republican majority vote to deliver his expected victory. Instead, McConnell chose to be vindictive, deemed Warren’s reading a violation of Senate rules of decorum, then decreed her unable to participate in any further debate about the Sessions nomination.
Bad move, Republicans!
Politics
Democrats and Independents took notice and McConnell’s move seems to have now backfired.
“Nevertheless she persisted” has since become a social media rallying cry, inspiring the hashtags #LetLizSpeak and #ShePersisted and turning up the volume for Sen. Warren to run for president in 2020.
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“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
That line, delivered by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bar Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren from speaking, has become an instant classic and a powerful rallying cry for her supporters.
— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) February 8, 2017
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“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Still, she persisted” Every woman’s epitaph. #letLizspeak #theresistance @elizabethforma
— Jill Belasco (@jillbelasco) February 8, 2017
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“[Warren] was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted,” said @SenateMajLdr, providing a history of feminism.
— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) February 8, 2017
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“Nevertheless, she persisted.” Mitch McConnell just gave Elizabeth Warren the title of her autobiography, if not a line of T-shirts.
— David Simon (@AoDespair) February 8, 2017
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“She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”#ShePersisted #HarrietTubman #BlackHistoryMonth pic.twitter.com/JLa06IOhxs
— Heather Matarazzo (@HeatherMatarazz) February 8, 2017
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Sen. Warren’s act of bravery was also recognized by the daughter of Martin and Coretta Scott King, who posted this statement on Twitter:
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Thank you @SenWarren for being the soul of the Senate during the #Sessions hearing. #LetCorettaSpeak #LetLizSpeak pic.twitter.com/DQiiO0sOAF
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) February 8, 2017
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In light of the global Women’s March the day after Trump’s inauguration, it appears Mitch McConnell must have been asleep and/or missed the memo. Nevertheless, he would be wise to recognize that women are not simply going to go away quietly and allow the white male establishment to tell them what to do.
McConnell’s shortsighted actions have awakened a sleeping giant. Too bad the GOP is completely unaware of the bonfire they just ignited.
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McConnell’s use of an obscure parliamentary rule to prohibit Warren from speaking against the nomination on the Senate floor created a short-term victory for the GOP. However, in the long run, it made Republicans look like tone-deaf bullies. […] Now there you go again DJ, being too kind. To my eyes, the Over-reaction of McConnell made him and his Repub cohorts look like a bunch of SCARED, White Supremacist, male chauvinist pigs. Which I would argue is exactly who they are, But here's what the Dems must realize. The rise of Trump has *liberated* McConnell and his ilk to say and do even more reprehensible things in order to appeal to red-meat voters, in particular, in hopes of gaining even more power. In other words, you can't shame them. Admittedly, I don't know enough about Elizabeth Warren to know if she'd make a good leader for the Democrat party. But… Read more »