The big news of the day was the Senate confirming Jeff Sessions as attorney general, Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday's Late Show, but all the real drama happened Tuesday night, when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made Sen. Elizabeth Warren sit down and be quiet, using the Senate's arcane Rule 19. "They kept her from reading a letter from Coretta Scott King," Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow, criticizing Sessions on black voting rights, he explained. "It's all part of the GOP's February message: Happy Black History Month, now shut up about the bad stuff."
"So, to recap: These days, a black person can't get their message heard even when a white person is saying it — unless that white person is a guy," Colbert said, "because this morning a bunch of white male senators were allowed to read excerpts from King's letter on the Senate floor. Of course, the men weren't silenced; that would violate Senate Rule 18: Bros before hos."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Novel 'bone collector' caterpillar wears its preySpeed Read Hawaiian scientists discover a carnivorous caterpillar that decorates its shell with the body parts of dead insects
-
Judge blocks key part of Trump's elections overhaulSpeed Read Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's decision temporarily bars federal officials from requiring Americans to prove they are citizens to register to vote
-
Why is Crimea a sticking point between Russia and Ukraine?Today's Big Question Questions over control of the Black Sea peninsula are stymying the peace process
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loomSpeed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panelsSpeed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocksSpeed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
