U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions is taking a lot of flack from his conservative brethren for holding a fund-raiser in a Las Vegas nightclub last year. The congressman, whose district includes parts of East Dallas, Lake Highlands, Preston Hollow and North Dallas, used the Forty Deuce at the Mandalay Bay, and it does seem a bit risque for someone who sponsored legislation to require that the Treasury mint commemorative coins to honor the Boy Scouts.
But what struck me -– and I’m really surprised that Sessions’ colleagues at the Texas Eagle Forum didn’t catch this –- is that the 2008 fundraiser was held at a Vegas sports bar owned by rapper Jay Z. I’m assuming that Sessions and his friends don’t know who Jay Z is, because his bar seems an even more unlikely venue for a Sessions event than the Forty Deuce.
Let’s just say that Jay Z likes to use the N word. Two of his hits were Big Pimpin’ and Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up). There are 15 tracks on Jay Z’s current album, and all are labeled explicit for the lyrics. Plus, and I know this will raise some eyebrows, Jay Z did a guest spot on a song by rapper Nas in 2006 called Black Republican. One reviewer said "Black Republican is an understanding and admittance of hypocrisy."
Don’t get me wrong. I’m a free speech guy through and through, and Sessions is free to hold his fund-raisers anywhere he wants. The catch is that someone who adheres to the family values line as strongly as Sessions does (he said Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were forcing "their liberal values upon the rest of the country" after their infamous 2004 Super Bowl halftime show) needs to understand some people may make sport of where he holds them.
