Whoops! Republicans Just Created a Feminist Slogan by Silencing Elizabeth Warren

After a narrowly failed attempt to stop Donald Trump’s education secretary pick, Besty DeVos, with Vice President Mike Pence casting a first-ever tie-breaking vote to confirm a cabinet nominee (not a first you really want to be known for), Senate Democrats turned their attention to stopping civil rights nightmare Jeff Sessions from becoming attorney general. When Senator Elizabeth Warren tried to read Coretta Scott King’s 1986 letter urging the Senate not to confirm Sessions for a federal judge position due to his involvement in racist voter suppression, Mitch McConnell shut Warren down with an absurd excuse and an even worse justification.

The Senate rule that was used to silence Warren is one mandating that, in Senate debate, Senators may not disparage other Senators. Unfortunately, Senator Sessions himself is the topic of debate in this case, which makes invoking that rule particularly disingenuous. It’s also worth noting that Sessions failed to attain that federal judgeship in 1986 due to the concerns at the time, which makes it all the more ridiculous to throw what was said about him and his record at the time out of the current debate.

After Republicans voted Warren out of order and banned her from taking part in the remainder of the debate over Sessions, McConnell said, “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” Apart from sounding like the villain from the end of the third Matrix movie,

which you never want to do because that movie is bad and also he’s the villain, McConnell made a poor choice in creating a really easy anthem for his opposition—especially since it sounds like all-too-familiar victim-blame to women. So, of course, the Internet has run with it:

(image via Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock, Inc.)

Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site!

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

Follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google+.

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Author

Close

Dan Van Winkle

Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct Geekosystem (RIP), and then at The Mary Sue starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at Smash Bros.

twitter Link to www.projectmgame.com