Booker Bombs Again

Sen. Cory Booker made himself look the fool yet again this week while questioning judicial nominee Neomi Rao. At Tuesday’s confirmation hearing, the Jersey Democrat senator went after Rao with the clear suspicion that she’s some kind of religious bigot, asking first: “Have you ever had an LGBTQ law clerk?”

Her reply exposed Booker’s total lack of preparation: “I have not been a judge, so I don’t have any law clerks.”

He fell back to asking if anyone now working for her is LGBTQ — and she humiliated him again: “To be honest, I don’t know the sexual orientation of my staff. I take people as they come, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation.”

But Booker wouldn’t let go, asking, “Are gay relationships in your opinion immoral?”

She started to answer: “I’m not sure of the relevance of that,” and he interrupted:

“I think it’s relevant to your opinion if you think African-American relationships are immoral, do you think gay relationships are immoral?” Huh? Immoral African-American relationships?

Rao gave up trying to make sense of his questions and said, “No, I do not.”

Still, he persisted: “Do you believe they are a sin?” (Not immoral, but a sin? Really?)

Rao finally explained that it doesn’t matter what she believes: “Whatever my personal views are on the subject, I would faithfully follow the precedent of the Supreme Court.”

In fact, Rao is about as far as you get from the Religious Right: She was raised in an immigrant family of Zoroastrian tradition, and converted to Judaism when she got married.

All Spartacus did was expose his own bigoted ignorance.