August 3, 2010
DC Kumbaya, Finally!
Jason Reed/Reuters
If you thought bipartisanship in DC was long dead and buried, you might want to print out this photo and stick it on the refrigerator.
What you see is an Oval Office signing ceremony today for the Fair Sentencing Act, a piece of legislation that undoes the racist sentencing disparity between possession of powdered and crack cocaine. The bill, cosponsored by Patrick Leahy and arch-right winger Jeff Sessions passed the Senate unanimously in March. The House approved it by voice vote last week.
Not since this White House photo, a last remnant of Obama’s campaign “hope” campaign, have we seen such a line-up of opposing figures. Here’s the wider shot of the signing, but for just an afternoon — If just so I’m not accused of forever dwelling on conflict and negative vibes, I wanted to enjoy this shot of Obama celebrating with Lindsay Graham, framing the unlikely trio of Sessions, Utah’s Orrin Hatch and Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.
