This week’s Mainstream Media Scream features famed former Washington Post journalist Carl Bernstein expressing his sadness at Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions being named attorney general by President-elect Donald Trump.
His money line: Sessions won’t even be as good as a former KKK member who made it on the court.
Bernstein appeared on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, hosted by John Berman:
“That’s the sadness here. The Department of Justice — great attorneys general like Robert Kennedy — the reason we have civil rights in this country and they have been enforced has been because of great attorneys general. Jeff Sessions is not someone who has made his mark by becoming a great advocate for civil rights in this country. That’s the sadness of this.
“Look, there have been people who were in the Ku Klux Klan and senators from Alabama — namely Hugo Black — who became a great liberal Supreme Court justice and was confirmed by the Senate after he had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
“I don’t think we’re going to see — I would love it if Jeff Sessions becomes a great advocate for civil rights for all Americans — but he’s going to win in the confirmation hearing — but you can’t look at this appointment separate from the other four names we’ve been talking about and what that signal is to all Americans of where Donald Trump is going. And they are, quite frankly, poking in the eye.”
Media Research Center Vice President of Research Brent Baker explains the pick: “Bernstein’s high dudgeon outrage is a sure sign TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) will last well past election night and into the new administration’s formation. Message to Bernstein: If you find yourself regretting someone isn’t as inspiring as a former member of the KKK, you’ve lost your way.”
Rating: Four out of five screams.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
