That story came to mind as I watched U. S. Attorney Jeff Sessions respond to questions before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, June 13, 2017. Two hours into his testimony, Senator Kamala Harris’ (D-CA) pressed Sessions about his interactions with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential election campaign, Harris attempted to hurry the exchange along to preserve her limited questioning time. She posed a series of yes or no questions to Sessions. Sessions protested her rapid-fire approach. “I’m not able to be rushed this fast. It makes me nervous,” Sessions said.
Senator Harris also questioned Mr. Sessions' preparation for the hearing as well as his knowledge of Department of Justice policy.
At Sessions' request, two members of the committee came to Sessions' rescue, reprimanding Sen. Harris for not allow him to answer the questions fully as Sessions was seeking to invoke the legal concept of “executive privilege.”
One of the clues to incompetence is the attempt by others to rescue the incompetent. Often it is difficult to identify incompetence if it is hidden behind a rescue. Do not be fooled by the rescue as the rescuer may have another agenda. Deflection can be very effective. In this case, it also uncovered a lack of preparation. Rescues save the incompetent from detection and serves the rescuer's separate agenda.
In contrast to Mr. Sessions, congratulations to Senator Kamala Harris for her preparation, insight, focus and tenacity.
Stay tuned. More about incompetence to come.
Excerpts taken from: thinkprogress.org/it-makes-me-nervous-republicans-rescue-sessions-by-interrupting-kamala-harris-again-e0a270dbbeda
Pyke, A. (June 13, 2017). ‘It makes me nervous’: Republicans rescue Sessions by interrupting Kamala Harris, again. ThinkProgress.org.
