Today’s lesson: Don’t mess with John Kennedy. No, really.
Evidently, Biden’s nominee for the judicial post of Dale Ho was not warned. They should have told him. Two of the Republican senators he’d be facing at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday for the Manhattan Federal District Court would be Louisiana’s John Kennedy and Texas’ Ted Cruz — not exactly the guys to try to slip a fast one past.
Things didn’t go well for Ho.
The far-left voting rights litigator ended up apologizing for his “overheated rhetoric” on social media after being justifiably decimated by Cruz, and was masterfully trapped in a yuuge lie by Kennedy after denying multiple times that he had referred to the Republican Party as an “anti-democratic virus.” All of that, as Republicans on the Senate’s judiciary panel questioned Ho’s temperament, as reported by Reuters.
Fox News reported that Cruz was all over Ho’s anger problems from the beginning.
“I would note at the outset, that that’s not just my characterization. You yourself have described yourself as ‘a wild-eyed Leftist.’ Further, as someone ‘accused sometimes of seeing discrimination everywhere you look.’ Is that right?”
“Well, Senator Cruz, I think I was characterizing how others have caricatured myself,” Ho responded.
Cruz was back to serve
“So in the last 12 months, you have engaged — or the last about 18 months — you have engaged in partisan attacks on multiple members of this committee?”
Cruz quoted Ho then from the past.
“‘In these dark times, I’ve [Ho]I have been blessed to feel a great sense of purpose through my civil rights work. Dale: Do you love conservatives or are you helping people? This was what a friend of mine recently asked me.’” Cruz said, quoting Ho. He continued:
“What he was getting at is that anger can, in fact, be a tremendous source of power. I agree [Ho]Indignation and righteousness can bring a sense to moral clarity, which may motivate people to put in the hours necessary for the job. But it’s only a short-term burst. It’s not sustaining in the long run.”
Let’s get it straight. Ho has has “short-term bursts” of anger management issues. Sounds legit.
Cruz noted Ho had “tweeted attacks” at multiple members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and that “far from being intemperate statements when you were a teenager, most of these tweets occurred last year.”
Dale Ho—Biden’s nominee for the Southern District of New York—has written about his hatred of conservatives.
What would they think if a conservative appeared before his courtroom to prove that he was fair and impartial? pic.twitter.com/p36VFYPePo
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) December 1, 2021
Round One: Cruz.
Sen. Kennedy followed the same line of questioning, keying on the Biden nominee’s demonstrated anger:
“Mr. Ho, you’re a smart man. I can tell. But think you’re an angry man… We don’t need federal judges who are angry.”
Ho finally admitted that his “tone” at times didn’t “reflect how [he’s] shown up in court, or how [he’s] conducted [him]self in professional settings.”
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) to Biden’s judicial nominee Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s voting rights project, in today’s Judiciary Committee hearing:
“Mr. Ho, your a clever man. It’s obvious. But I think you’re an angry man…. Federal judges are not needed if they’re angry.” 🤔
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) December 1, 2021
Ho futilely attempted to convince Kennedy he would set aside his prior role as an advocate and serve “as a fair, neutral, impartial arbiter of the law,” if he is confirmed to the U.S. District Court.
Cruz wasn’t buying either, calling Ho an “extreme partisan,” noting that Ho had “tweeted attacks at multiple members of this committee.”
Kennedy offered that he had “grave concerns” over Ho’s anger.
The trap was then created.
Kennedy asked Ho if he would withdraw his own nomination if he were found to have called the Republican Party “an anti-democratic virus.” The senator reminded Ho he was under oath, but instead of answering the question, yes or no, Ho continued to say he didn’t “believe” he had made such a statement.
Here’s how that exchange went, as transcribed by Trending Politics:
“Did you say, quote, ‘Republicanism is an anti-democratic virus’?” Sen. Kennedy asked.
“No, Senator, I don’t believe I’ve used those words,” Ho replied.
“Okay, you’re under oath now,” Kennedy pointed out.
“Yes, Senator, I – I don’t believe I’ve used those words,” Ho repeated. “I do remember saying last year that ‘there was a… loss of confidence in our elections that has spread kind of like a virus’,” he continued.
“Right, well, that’s a long way from calling the Republican Party an ‘anti-democratic virus’,” Kennedy remarked.
“Yes, it’s very different, and I don’t believe I used those words,” Ho said again.
“Right, right,” the senator responded. “If you did use those words, will you pull down your nomination?”
“Senator, I don’t believe I’ve used those words,” Ho said a fourth time.
“But if you did,” Kennedy refrained. “Will you withdraw?”
“I can’t imagine a scenario in which I would use those words,” he replied.
A scenario can not only be “imagined,” Mr. Ho, that scenario actually happened. Verbatim.
This is a classic political editorial in The New York Times from January. ‘An Indelible Stain’: How the G.O.P. A pillar of democracy was toppled Ho said the following. (Emphasis, mine.)
“There is A virus of anti-democratic intent that is spreading through mainstream Republicanism among Republican elected officials.
“And that loss of faith in the machinery of democracy is a much bigger problem than any individual lawsuit.”
Mr. Ho?
Needless to say, Ho didn’t withdraw his nomination — nor would he give it a second thought.
Why?
Dale Ho’s silly ad hominem attack on the GOP was the leftist equivalence of a badge of honor, along with all his other leftist attacks against conservative lawmakers and conservative principles.
In the meantime, Democrats will confirm his appointment with no objections from their side, if they have any.
Biden’s administration also has other news to share:
Joe, How Low can you go? Biden disapproval continues to skyrocket in a new poll
The Kamala Express is still missing a big wheel
Biden’s Excuse for Not Meeting With Families of School Shooting Victims Is Pathetic
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