IT BEGINS – AT 10:46 A.M.  ET:   Inauguration is 10 days away.  Confirmation hearings for the president-elect's nominees began this morning.  First up is Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the pick for attorney-general, and one of the most controversial of Trump's choices.  The Democrats are trying to paint Sessions as a racist, which he most certainly is not. 

It is perfectly obvious, though, that the radical leftists who ran the Democratic Party into the ground are making Sessions a test case.  Anyone who expects to rise in the party, or become its nominee for president in 2020, will have to oppose Jeff Sessions.  This includes senators who've worked cordially with him over the years.  Indeed, Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio announced his opposition even before hearings began.  He is reported to have his eye on the White House.

Most disgraceful is ultra-ambitious Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who wants to be the second African-American president.  Booker will break precedent by being the first senator in American history to testify against another senator in a confirmation hearing.  He will get party points for the effort.  A good part of the Senate, though, will probably, if privately, regard him with the contempt he's earned. 

Then there's Congressman John Lewis of George, whose name is always preceded by the phrase, "civil rights icon..."  Yeah, he was a true civil rights icon half a century ago.  In the years since he's become a pedestrian party-line congressman of no distinction.  He will proudly testify against Jeff Sessions.

Fortunately, Sessions will have testifying for him a number of prominent African-American leaders from his state who know his true record. 

I watched a bit of the Sessions hearing this morning.  He was doing fine.  If Republicans stick together, he will be confirmed.

January 10, 2017