During the debate in the Senate committee on the assault weapons ban, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) continued his evocation of Joe McCarthy with his mansplaining about the Constitution to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).
Cruz, a former constitutional law professor, began by reciting portions of the First, Second, and Fourth Amendments, and asked Feinstein whether the power of government to restrict certain types of guns would be equally appropriate given those provisions.
Ms. Feinstein, who came into national notice in 1978 when she was one who had to break the news to the press about the murders of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk at the hand of Dan White, was having none of it.
“Let me just make a couple of points in response,” Feinstein shot back at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. “One, I’m not a sixth grader. Senator, I’ve been on this committee for 20 years. I was a mayor for nine years. I walked in, I saw people shot. I’ve looked at bodies that have been shot with these weapons. I’ve seen the bullets that implode. In Sandy Hook, youngsters were dismembered. Look, there are other weapons. I’ve been up — I’m not a lawyer, but after 20 years I’ve been up close and personal to the Constitution. I have great respect for it. This doesn’t mean that weapons of war and the Heller decision clearly points out three exceptions, two of which are pertinent here.”
Feinstein continued: “It’s fine you want to lecture me on the Constitution. I appreciate it. Just know I’ve been here for a long time. I’ve passed on a number of bills. I’ve studied the Constitution myself. I am reasonably well educated, and I thank you for the lecture. … I come from a different place than you do. I respect your views. I ask you to respect my views.”
It’s not exactly the show-stopping moment of “Have you no decency, Senator? At long last have you left no sense of decency?” made famous by Joseph N. Welch that finally put the brakes on Joe McCarthy in 1954, but then again, Mr. Cruz does not seem to have any sense of decency, so the point is moot.
He was talking down to her. No one likes that. She is smart and called him on it. We do not need all these high powered weapons. I am sick of us killing one another.
I respect your views. I ask you to respect my views.
I do love DiFi, but I cannot believe that she thinks for a nanosecond that Cruz will respect her views. Cruz is a Teahadist, and it’s Teahad orthodoxy to believe beyond persuasion that only they hold rational, meaningful, authentic positions on everything.
How dare a woman speak to him like that??! Doesn’t she know her place? /snark It’s about time we started speaking in an authoritative manner to the wingnuts.
I have seen that clip twice and I think Diane was too easy on TC. I would have lit him up with both barrells smoking!
That’s DiFi’s charm: she never makes anyone ecstatic, but she manages to get enough accomplished to keep her constituents happy.