This saturday President Obama nominated Loretta Lynch for the position of Attorney General. Lynch is perhaps best known for dealing with civil rights cases that involved police brutality, a hot-button issue that has been under very close scrutiny by the US Justice Department as of late. At Lynch's introductory press conference Obama spoke very highly of her; "She has spent years in the trenches as a prosecutor, aggressively fighting terrorism, financial fraud, cybercrime, all while vigorously defending civil rights". If congress approves the nomination Lynch will be the first African-American woman to obtain the post of Attorney General. Hot Air, a conservative blog, claims that the White House is trying to quickly slip Lynch through the cracks as a nonpartisan attorney by stressing her equal treatment of corrupt Democrats and Republicans, as well as having a republican staff member. The blog writer also believes that the Obama administration wants to usher Lynch in before the Democrats who just lost their seats in the midterm elections hand the senate majority to the GOP. The writer and Republican Senator Mitch McConnell share the same view on this tactic: “Ms. Lynch will receive fair consideration by the Senate,” [Senator Mitch McConnell] said. “And her nomination should be considered in the new Congress through regular order”. Lynch seems like a highly qualified candidate, but should the future, voter-approved Republican Senate be the judge of the matter, or should the current Democratic Senate be the decision-maker?
Questions:
1.Do you think the nomination of Loretta Lynch suggests that the US Justice Department is eager to show they are prioritizing police brutality?
2.Do you agree with Hot Air? Should the "new Congress" be the judge of Lynch's nomination?
2 comments:
If this is a sign that the US Justice Department is prioritizing police brutality, then so be it. I don't think that should be a bad thing, considering the countless cases concerning police abuse and severe misconduct (for lack of a better term). I think Lynch is a good direction for the nation's justice system to be heading even. However, from a objective standpoint, I also believe that the newly elected Senate should be the ones voting for Lynch's appointment. "The people" have voted in new representatives, so they should be the ones making big decisions now. If Lynch is truly apolitical and has good judgement, she may still have a good chance of becoming Attorney General.
I agree with Regina, Loretta Lynch seems like an experienced, well-equipped, choice, hopefully she can change the way corrupt police departments are being run, for the better. I also agree that the "new congress" which was recently chosen by the nation's midterm voters should make the decision. If the situation was extremely dire, (maybe if the current Attorney General died in the midst of a crisis) then an extremely quick approval of the nominee would make sense, but that does not seem to be the case here.
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