Sotomayor: A Good Choice, But Hardly Radical
Sonia Sotomayor (image from pace.edu)
President Obama has selected Sonia Sotomayor as the nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court judge. As Salon’s Glenn Greenwald wrote this morning, Sotomayor’s appointment is encouraging news. She’s a smart, capable judge.
Of course, the right is already ripping out their hair in hysterics. Glenn Beck Twitter-wondered if Obama, the “messiah,” has healed Sotomayor’s diabetes yet. Michelle Malkin proved that Twitter’s 140 character cap isn’t too strict to include both a vague sexist and racist remark.
It’s typical that Conservatives would be annoyed by any appointment of a liberal to the Supreme Court, let alone (perish the thought) a woman and Hispanic. However, Sotomayor is hardly some liberal radical. In many respects, her voting record is similar to Justice Souter’s.
I’m sure there are valid criticisms of Sotomayor out there somewhere, but aside from Jeffrey Rosen’s petty gossip, all I have seen thus far are poorly disguised racist and sexist remarks about her being the newest token addition to the Supreme Court. As though graduating top of one’s class at Princeton and serving honorably on the appellate court doesn’t qualify Sotomayor as a serious intellectual.
Sotomayor is a capable addition to the high court. Let’s hope the Republicans don’t embarrass themselves too badly trying to block her appointment. Any personal attacks against her character will inevitably look racist, sexist, and elitist.
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kilkenny
due to the amazing security protocol on this website, the following comment was meant to be to your essay on Social Security, but ended up here>
your heart is in the right place.
but FDR meant for Social Security to be an insurance program for workers paid for by workers “so no damn politician could take it away from them.”
if you want to tax the rich, do it through the income tax, but if you make them pay for Social Security they won’t rest until they destroy it. nor would it be good for the workers to turn Social Security into welfare.
the workers can pay for their own longer expected retirements with a tax raise that amounts to 35 cents per week in any given year.
So _this_ is the tack.. As I’ve said before, I hope that Obama’s picks for Supreme Court justices (and there will assuredly be more) are treated with the same level of respect, consideration and fairness by the Republican senatorial minority that Bush’s were by the Democratic minority.
I also hope that the media will subject all of Obama’s picks to the same level of scrutiny that they subjected Bush’s. However, hoping in one hand and crapping in the other, I know which will fill up first…
That was quick. Yet it’s still taking so long to approve Dawn Johnsen to head of the Office of Legal Counsel, cos she’s the closest to Pres. Obama that could actually kick his arse on his Bush-policies hardening.
What a wonderful lady, a distinguished member of the “Belizean Club.” I will pray she is stopped from having any power or influence. Let’s hope she is blocked and her supporters are exposed.