Senate Panel Approves Nomination Of Loretta Lynch As Attorney General

Via the New York Times:

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved Loretta E. Lynch to be the next attorney general, sending her nomination to the full Senate for what is likely to be a contentious vote. The panel voted 12 to 8 to advance Ms. Lynch, President Obama’s pick to replace Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. as the nation’s top law enforcement official, with all of the votes against her coming from Republicans. The full Senate will most likely vote in the next week or two. While praising Ms. Lynch’s credentials, Republicans made it clear that their objections to her nomination hinged on her belief in the legality of the president’s executive action on immigration, the same issue that has tied up the approval of funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Republicans voting against: Grassley, Sessions, Cornyn, Lee, Cruz, Vitter, Purdue, Tillis. Republicans voting for: Graham, Flake, Hatch. The Tea People are already calling for the heads of the three "yes" voters.

Arizona GOP US Sen. Jeff Flake Comes Out Against Anti-Gay Hate Bill

Flake is no ally of the LGBT community and has a 0% rating from the Human Rights Campaign. But to my mind that only makes today's move only more important as it probably comes from the standpoint of what the bill could mean for Arizona's economy.  Last year Flake was the target of a recall campaign by the Tea Party, who are furious over his support for immigration reform. In that regard, at least, he could be considered a relatively moderate Republican.

Giving Credit Where It's Due

Via Memographs.

Tea Party: Recall McCain & Flake

Tea Party supporters have launched recall petitions for Sen. John McCain and Sen. Jeff Flake over their support of the immigration reform bill. From the Flake page:

Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona has proven in his recent voting record that he does not represent his Arizona constituents, and instead votes in direct opposition to Conservative and Republican interests. Mr Flake voted to reward criminal foreign national illegal aliens with legal status before even attempting to secure our sovereign borders. In the Judiciary Committee, Jeff voted against meaningful E-verify enforcement, and he even voted against a measure introduced by Senator Cruz that would block instant access to state and federal welfare benefits for illegal aliens. Jeff Flake is proposing an immigration reform bill S.744 that abdicates Congressional authority to the Secretary of DHS, delays enforcement measures for years, and calls for plans rather than actual security on our sovereign borders and ports of entry. His votes display an utter disdain for the rule of law, national security, and the welfare of taxpaying citizens. We demand he be immediately recalled from office

From The Son Of GOP Sen. Jeff Flake

Via Buzzfeed:

Sen. Jeff Flake’s high school–aged son Tanner used Twitter to threaten the “faggot” who stole his bike that he “will find you, and … will beat the crap out of you,” joked about an acquaintance stealing one-liners because he’s Jewish, and went by the name “n1ggerkiller” in an online game. “I’m very disappointed in my teenage son’s words, and I sincerely apologize for the insensitivity. This language is unacceptable, anywhere. Needless to say, I’ve already spoken with him about this, he has apologized, and I apologize as well,” Sen. Flake said in a statement to BuzzFeed.

RELATED: Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), since you are probably wondering, is relatively moderate on LGBT issues.  Although he twice voted for a federal ban on same-sex marriage while a member of the House, he did vote for the repeal of DADT and in 2007 he voted in favor of ENDA.  He has boasted of his 100% rating from the FRC, however.  The Human Rights Campaign scored him at 20% in their most recent report.