My favorite Democrat, part 8

I missed Democratic Senator Zell Miller’s contribution to the extended Senate debate on the Democratic filibuster of President Bush’s judicial nominees, including California Supreme Court Jutice Janice Rogers Brown. Justice Brown is of course the daughter of Alabama sharecroppers. Her inspiration to become a lawyer apparently came from the role played by lawyers in the civil rights movement of the 1960’s, in the days old when we were taught that people should be treated equally without regard to skin color.
Senator Miller invoked a metaphor from those days to describe the role of the Senate’s Democrats today: “The Democrats in this chamber refuse to stand and let her do it. They’re standing in the doorway, and they’ve got a sign: Conservative African-American women need not apply. And if you have the temerity to do so your reputation will be shattered and your dignity will be shredded. Gal, you will be lynched.”
The Democrats, of course, have responded with the most tiresome routine this side of the Sunshine Boys. Senator Daschle endorsed calls for Miller to apologize, saying — what else? — “I was offended. I think it was unfortunate. I think those within the civil rights leadership who have commented and have asked for an apology are right.”
Perhaps the best part of the story is Senator Miller’s defense of his reference to Justice Brown’s “lynching”: “Miller refused to back down from his comment, releasing a statement later in the day saying he is ‘not the first to use this analogy.’ He said African-American columnist Thomas Sowell ‘first used it’ in a column on October 24, and ‘I think it sums up the situation accurately.'”
We await word on whether the controversy has dimmed now that Senator Miller has cited Thomas Sowell as his authority. The CNN story is “Democratic senator under fire for ‘lynching’ comment.” (Courtesy of Captain’s Quarters.)