GOP cravenly uses black woman at Gorsuch hearings

[SunSeeker]

I am sure everyone watching the Gorsuch confirmation hearings has noticed the smiling, young, attractive black woman strategically placed above Gorsuch's right shoulder so that she is in EVERY camera frame of Gorsuch. She is obviously there to give the impression that she is somehow connected to him, to dress up the otherwise very white GOP flacks flanking Gorsuch and to suggest Gorsuch has the support of African Americans.

Gorsuch has nothing to do with her, and she does not represent African American opinion. She is Mary Elizabeth Taylor, former Koch intern and aide to House Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Taylor was paid $37,264.40 as a Senate Cloakroom Assistant. http://heavy.com/news/2017/03/mary-elizabeth-taylor-who-is-woman-sitting-behind-neil-gorsuch-hearings/amp/ I wonder how much she is getting paid to "cloak" Gorsuch...

[JI7]

1. these tHings are usually done to get support from white moderates

[SunSeeker]

3. Of course. nt

[Stinky The Clown]

2. Thanks for sleuthing out the answer to a question I had.

[mzteaze]

4. Say What?

I saw her on screen at the gym this morning..... Ugh.

[SunSeeker]

5. It's all part of the GOP's cynical Gorsuch dog and pony show.

Gorsuch is so obviously rehearsed. He has yet to make a candid statement. He is revoltingly fake and smarmy. He will be to the right of Scalia.

[Baconator]

6. I think it's messed up to lay that at someone's feet due solely to race...

[SunSeeker]

7. So you don't think the GOP is cynically using this woman because of her color? nt

[Baconator]

8. I think that she is a human being with free will and chose to be there...

... fully aware of how some people may perceive it.

No one forced her.

Based on what is in the OP, she is a conservative GOP agent so I don't know what is so shocking.

[SunSeeker]

9. No one is suggesting she was "forced." I am commenting on the craven use of her.

There is no doubt she is letting them use her. The point is not that it is shocking, but that it is shameless, dishonest manipulation of the viewers of the hearing.

[Baconator]

10. I guess I don't see it...

What's dishonest about it? Are you suggesting that there are no people of a hue other than white in the conservative wing? Is the GOP only allowed to bring forward folks of a certain melanin content?

I might get it if she were a member of the screen actors guild specifically hired to portray something that she is not. As it is, she appears to be exactly what she is.

A conservative agent who is hoping for this confirmation to go through and she happens to be a person of color.

[SunSeeker]

11. Um, of ALL the people to put in every TV frame with Gorsuch, why do you think they chose her?

Hmmmm?

[Baconator]

12. I don't disagree that there was an attempt to portray a diverse supporting cast...

I just don't think it's dishonest if she is who she says she is.

She really is a right leaning conservative with a vested interest in seeing this thing go through. She really is Mitch McConnell's aide.

How do you think that conversation should have gone? Sorry Ms. Taylor (Mrs?), you can't sit there because folks of your particular ethnicity don't represent a significant enough portion of our voter base.

[SunSeeker]

13. Of course it is dishonest. Good grief, she is just being used to imply Gorsuch had AA support.

He does not.

And she is not telling anyone who she is. She is just sitting there, inches away from Gorsuch in all the TV frames.

Do you think anyone can ask to sit in that TV chair behind Gorsuch? Seriously? Do you think it was her idea to sit there? Why put a no-name aide front and center like this?

And even if this whole deception was her idea, does that make it any less a craven GOP deception?

[Baconator]

14. It seems he does if she chose to sit there...

You agreed that she isn't there against her will.

Is it inappropriate for an aide of the Senate majority leader to be present and visible at a SCOTUS confirmation hearing?

Should she not be allowed out in public, in this or any other occasion, lest she give the appearance that a person of color supports or works for a conservative?

[SunSeeker]

15. It is inappropriate to put some random aide in the TV frame to deceive the public.

She is welcome to come out in public, but the chairs immediately adjacent to Gorsuch are not open to members of the public. You're just being silly now. You already acknowledged this was "an attempt to portray a diverse supporting cast." Now you seem to want to just argue with me.

I'm not letting you waste any more of my time.


Bye.

[Baconator]

16. She isn't just a random person who wandered in...

She is, according to the OP, an aide to the Senate majority leader. What is inappropriate about someone with that job sitting in one of those seats? I doubt you'd feel as strongly about Mr. Bob Smith with a Swedish heritage with the same job but a different skin tone.

Do you feel as strongly about all attempts to display diversity? Are no people of color allowed at any televised conservative events?

Do you think that there has a been a widely publicized political event that doesn't take into account who is going to be seen behind the candidate? Are people of color only allowed to be seen behind candidates you approve of?

Maybe you should make a list.

I just don't see what you are advocating for here. If it is appropriate for her, as an aide to the senior Senator, to sit in this type of hearing then who should have told her no due solely to her race?

[Idoru]

17. Are you serious?

Are you seriously turning this into a racist attack?

I've watched countless nomination hearings and those seats are almost always filled by family and friends, supporters of the nominee. WTF is some random aide doing there, rack your brain.

And as a black woman myself, it makes me sick.

[Baconator]

18. She is an aide to Mitch McConnell...

It seems utterly appropriate for someone with that job title to sit in on this hearing.

Are you suggesting that no aide or representative of people in power, in the history of confirmation hearings, has ever sat in on or been seen on the televised video feed?

I've watched countless nomination hearings and those seats are almost always filled by family and friends, supporters of the nominee. WTF is some random aide doing there, rack your brain.

I hate to break it to you but she is a supporter of the nominee.

Maybe that's where you are getting stuck. You just can't understand that a person of color could be a conservative. Look at who she chose to work for. Mitch freakin' McConnell.

I won't deny that she is a rarity. She's like a Log Cabin Republican. She works for people who have no interest in supporting a demographic to which she belongs. Given all of that, she has no obligation to hide away.

If you think it is inappropriate for an AA aide to a conservative be seen in public, even though she's doing her job, then just say that.

[Orrex]

23. I may have the answer re: the point that the poster is making

[JHan]

20. shut the fuck up. Goodbye Troll.

[SunSeeker]

21. Thank you! The GOP sure hates it when we call out their manipulation. nt

[FenwayDonkey]

22. I figured she must have clerked for him - but she's just a prop.*