Yesterday a federal jury in South Carolina sentenced the Confederacy-loving Charleston Church shooter Dylann Roof to death.
Meanwhile, in Washington, DC, the Senate gave a job interview to the living, breathing embodiment of the Confederacy's legacy - Alabama Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions the Third - who Donald Trump wants to be Attorney General.
Sessions - better known as Jeff Sessions - is probably Donald Trump's most controversial cabinet pick, and for one very good reason: he was too racist for the Reagan era.
Back in 1986 the Senate blocked him from becoming a federal judge because of repeated allegations of racism.
Sessions - at the time a U.S. Attorney in Mobile, Alabama - is supposed to have said that he "didn't think the KKK were such bad guys until [he] found out they smoked marijuana".
He's also supposed to have called an African-American colleague "boy" - and reportedly referred to a white attorney as a "race traitor".
Those allegations were serious enough that in 1986 the then-Republican-controlled Senate said "no" to him becoming a federal judge.
That was 30 years ago - and Sessions STILL might become the next Attorney General.
Amazing....
When it comes to Jeff Sessions, though, the past might honestly not be as concerning as the future.
Under the Obama administration, the Justice Department has allowed states to experiment with marijuana legalization by not enforcing federal drug laws that classify marijuana up there with heroin.
But in today's confirmation hearings, Jeff Sessions refused to say whether or not he would allow this policy to continue - even when it involved sick people using marijuana as medicine.
Senator Leahy: "Would you use our federal resources to investigate and prosecute sick people who are using marijuana in accordance with their state laws even though it might violate federal law?"
Senator Sessions: "Well, I won't commit to never enforcing federal law, Senator Leahy, but absolutely it's a problem of resources for the federal government. ... Using good judgment about how to handle these cases will be a responsibility of mine. I know it wont be an easy decision but I will try to do my duty in a fair and just way".
So - will Jeff Sessions allow the Obama administration's marijuana experiment to continue?
Or are we about to see the Justice Department double down on the racist war on drugs - which has always been about throwing black people in jail?
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Jeff Sessions Is No Robert Byrd...
