The Supreme Court high hurdles contest

By Michelle Malkin  •  May 27, 2009 09:33 AM


Able to leap tall life obstacles in a single bound!

Not all “compelling personal stories” are equal
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009

Since when did securing a Supreme Court seat become a high hurdles contest? The White House and Democrats have turned Second Circuit judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination into a personal Olympics event. Pay no attention to her jurisprudence. She grew up in a Bronx public housing project. She was diagnosed with childhood diabetes at 8. Her father died a year later.

And oh, by the way, did you hear that she was poor?

It’s a “compelling personal story,” as we heard 20,956 times on Tuesday. Sotomayor’s a “real” person. Why, she even read Nancy Drew as a young girl, President Obama told us. She’s “faced down barriers, overcome the odds and lived out the American dream that brought her parents here so long ago,” Obama said.

If Sotomayor were auditioning to be Oprah Winfrey’s fill-in host, I’d understand the over-the-top hyping of her life narrative. But isn’t anybody on Sotomayor’s side the least bit embarrassed by all this liberal condescension?

Republicans are not allowed to mention Sotomayor’s ethnicity lest they be branded bigots, but every Democrat on cable television harped on her multicultural “diversity” and “obstacle”-climbing. President Obama made sure to roll his r’s when noting that her parents came from Puerrrrto Rrrrico. New York Sen. Schumer stated outright: “It’s long overdue that a Latino sit on the United States Supreme Court.” Color-coded tokenism dominated the headlines, with blaring references to Sotomayor as the high court’s potential “first Hispanic.” (Not true.)

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill – one of the leading Democrats tasked with guiding Sotomayor through the nomination process — carried the “compelling personal story” talking points to the tokenist extreme in an interview on Fox News:

“If you look at what this woman has been through, and the obstacles that she has had to overcome, I think she does have a richly, uniquely American experience that makes her incredibly qualified to pass judgment on some of the most important cases in our country,” McCaskill asserted. “Overcoming incredible odds and I think that is new to the courts. There have been a lot of privileged people that have landed on the Supreme Court. The fact that she has lived the life of the common American, trying to grow up in public housing, reaching for scholarships, reaching for the courtroom as a courtroom prosecutor, all of those things will make her a better and wiser judge. And I don’t think that is identity politics. I think that is the American experience.”

Clever. Challenging Sotomayor’s credentials and extreme views on race and the law is not merely anti-Hispanic. It’s anti-American!

More significantly, Sen. McCaskill waved the high-hurdle card after being asked to defend Sotomayor’s infamous statement at a 2001 University of California at Berkeley speech asserting brown-skin moral authority: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” McCaskill actually denied that Sotomayor had make the remarks, then argued the words were taken out of context.

You want context? It’s even worse than that soundbite. As National Journal legal analyst Stuart Taylor reported, “Sotomayor also referred to the cardinal duty of judges to be impartial as a mere ‘aspiration because it denies the fact that we are by our experiences making different choices than others.’ And she suggested that ‘inherent physiological or cultural differences’ may help explain why ‘our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging.’” The full speech was reprinted in something called the Berkeley La Raza Law Journal. “La Raza” is Spanish for “The Race.” Imagine if a white male Republican court nominee had published in a law review called “The Race.”

The selective elevation of hardship-as-primary qualification demeans the entire judiciary. If personal turmoil makes one “incredibly qualified to pass judgment on some of the most important cases in our country,” let’s put reality-show couple Jon and Kate Gosselin on the bench. Millions of viewers tune in to watch their “compelling personal story” of life with eight children on television. It’s a “richly, uniquely American experience” of facing obstacles and overcoming the odds. Get them robes and gavels, stat.

McCaskill’s assertion that “overcoming incredible odds” is “new to the courts” is ridiculous. Is she arguing that Thurgood Marshall, Felix Frankfurter, and Sandra Day O’Connor faced lower hurdles than Sotomayor? And how about Clarence Thomas, a descendant of slaves, grew up in abject poverty in the South without a father. The object lesson, of course, is that not all compelling personal stories are equal. Thomas’s crime, of course, was embracing the wrong ideology. So his incredible set of odds and obstacles don’t count in left-wing eyes.

Democrats are eager to celebrate diversity, you see, as long as the diversely-pigmented pledge allegiance to the Left for life.

***

Slublog in the Green Room spotlights the NYTimes editorial on Sotomayor today, which illustrates my point precisely.

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Comments


  1. #101
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:04 pm, rightwingrocker said:

    Schumer had his chance to put a Hispanic on the Supreme Court with Eric Estrada. He had a “personal compelling story” and had an idea what being a judge meant – adjudicating based on law and not empathy.

    Great …

    CHIPS on the Supreme Court …

    HAHA

    RWR
    http://www.rightwingrocker.com

  2. #102
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:19 pm, happyscrapper said:

    Rush reminded me of something Joe Biden said when Clarence Thomas was appointed. “He would never have gotten this if he were not black”. Oh Lord, I can’t take much more of this insanity and hypocrisy. These people are truly nuts, and they think they are this intelligent elite bunch who can save the world. I have to get back to my praying now.

  3. #103
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:21 pm, happyscrapper said:

    Great …

    CHIPS on the Supreme Court

    Probably more qualified for the job than Ms.Sotamayor!

  4. #104
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:24 pm, CantCureStupid said:

    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:19 pm, happyscrapper said:
    Rush reminded me of something Joe Biden said when Clarence Thomas was appointed. “He would never have gotten this if he were not black”.

    I heard that, too. The thought I had directly following it was “Neither would our feckless leader.”

    I really hate identity politics.

  5. #105
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:28 pm, mytake said:

    Everyone here does realize that white males are a minority. We certainly make up less than 50% of the population. We need some affirmative action, too!

  6. #106
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:30 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    The arrogance of leftists is quite literally mind numbing. People like Soros, Obama, Biden, Colin Powell and lgm and lil swiss miss really believe they are an intellectual elite who should rule over us peasants by virtue of their intellectual superiority.

    Combine that with a unheard of case of narcissism like our current “Dear Leader” proudly demonstrates at every opportunity and you have the prescription for the “perfect storm” in a bloated government…

  7. #107
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:31 pm, martin.musculus said:

    Seems WP has eaten my 1st post.
    —————————

    On May 27th, 2009 at 10:39 am, lgm said:
    Given the damage our recent vanilla white bread justices have done (Alito, Roberts), a little color might help.

    If it really troubles you so much, LeGuMe dip the current ones in orange paint. Or in your case, perhaps tie-dye them.

  8. #108
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:34 pm, martin.musculus said:

    Mark McKinnon, (and his Tiny Tool)*:
    quote from his piece in The Daily Beast:

    We should be on our knees praising Colin Powell for declaring that he has not, despite the desire of some narrow and vocal forces within the GOP, left the party. Because if he does, we might as well turn the lights out.

    *: a triple reference — to his intellect, his reverence for The Constitution, and his honor.

    Here we are to-it, boys & girls:
    Time to draw that line in the sand. If we listen to tools like The Colon or Tiny Tool, the light are already out. We simply need to turn the keys over to the Statists and head for the hills.

    Those who wish to redeem the Republican Party, its an uphill climb. I’m not ready to abandon it, (although I am exceedingly grieved to find that McCain really is as bad as I thought, and even more so by the number of people who still think the sun rises & sets at his word…).

    Redeeming the R-party needs to start at the bottom, and build up. Any other method will fail. Republicans also need to close the tent-flap and make the tent smaller! Right now, the tent is so big that Statism is Ok, and welcome too! After all: we are a big tent, right?

  9. #109
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:37 pm, happyscrapper said:

    speaking of narcissism…I just turned on our local weather channel…just to find out the temperature. That’s all I wanted, just to find out the temperature. And there was O speaking about the food shelves being empty. On my local weather channel!! He is everywhere! I am literally sick to my stomach about this. Every time I turn around, there he is, in my face. Yes, I really do believe there will be statues erected in his honor, all over the country. Already they are naming schools after him and he hasn’t even proven he can lead our country. In fact, every day he is proving just the opposite. What happens when he crashes and burns? I guess all those schools and streets and towns will have to be re-named.

  10. #110
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:44 pm, Jeff said:

    Anyone see the farce in how she is portrayed in the media?
    Reminds me of Steve Martin in ” The Jerk ”
    ” I was born, a poor black child… ”
    ;)

  11. #111
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:47 pm, mytake said:

    Type one diabetes reduces lifespan by an average of 15 years. Sotamayor is 54 years old. At age 50 a woman is predicted to live to 82. 82 -15 equals 67. Therefore, we can expect Sotamayor to sit on the top court of the land for 13 years if she sticks it out till the day she departs this green earth. If she develops severe complications from her disease she may retire sooner and if she has to join us in the health care we get under Obama’s plan she will surely suffer sooner. It’s hard to wait for a kidney and even harder if you first have to wait a year to even get an appointment with a nephrologist.

  12. #112
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:47 pm, Dan Lee said:

    Wow, I have had those kind of “qualifications” err.. I mean, “life challenges” too.. I should be nominated!

  13. #113
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:57 pm, mytake said:

    I am part of the biggest minority group of all. Me, myself! I have unique life experiences that noone else has shared. Some were hard and some weren’t. I got help along the way, “affirmative” help from my family, friends, teachers, etc. I’ve had hard setbacks that would make you cry. This gives me a unique view of the world. Call Obama…I’m willing to serve!

  14. #114
    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:58 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    It’s funny. My wife isn’t white. But when I look at her the first thing I “see” isn’t the color of her skin. I suspect when a leftist looks at her all they see is an “oppressed, woman of color” which is, in their vocabulary triple-redundant…

  15. #115
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:06 pm, graysonret said:

    When Katie Couric speaks on the radio every work morning, I usually roll my eyes and head to the kitchen for more coffee. This morning she made a point that I had to agree with. She was talking about a Puerto Rican poor single mother who raised two children to become a doctor and a judge. NYC is a tough place to raise children, alone. I have to hand it to her. I wish more people could raise their children to be successful, as she did, and not be government dependents. I don’t know the “doctor”, and I certainly disagree with Sonia’s idea of the Constitution, but I will respect the mother.

  16. #116
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:06 pm, happyscrapper said:

    and if she has to join us in the health care we get under Obama’s plan she will surely suffer sooner. It’s hard to wait for a kidney and even harder if you first have to wait a year to even get an appointment with a nephrologist.

    Are you kidding? She would not have to be on the same universal health”care” plan as the rest of us peons. She would get the elite healthcare that Congress gets and will always get.

  17. #117
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:08 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    I suspect many, many Americans are not aware of the health care and retirement benefits that Congress has awarded itself and other key government “servants.” If more people knew there would be fewer people pulling the lever for leftists at election time.

  18. #118
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:08 pm, Savage24 said:

    I would still like to know how all these dirt poor liberals get into Ivy League Colleges!

  19. #119
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:11 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    It appears that many of those who claim to be “dirt poor” like Obama were not. He was largely raised by his racist, white grandparents who were NOT poor. And it appears that he is disinclined to release his college paperwork precisely because it might disclose who paid for his Ivy League education…

  20. #120
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:19 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:08 pm, Savage24 said:
    I would still like to know how all these dirt poor liberals get into Ivy League Colleges!

    Can you say “quotas”? I knew you could.

    Actually, it’s reported that Sotomayor graduated Summa cum Laude. So, whether she got in because of her minority status or not, she’s obviously smart.

    She’s also just as obviously WRONG when it comes to the role of judges in American law.

  21. #121
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:22 pm, PhredE said:

    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:28 pm, mytake said:

    Everyone here does realize that white males are a minority. We certainly make up less than 50% of the population. We need some affirmative action, too!

    It sounds like you’re saying this at least partially in jest, which I totally understand. Actually, you might (or might NOT!) be surprised to learn that some universities are actually having serious discussions about the proportions of males vs. females on some campuses and in some programs (eg. ‘affirmative action’ quotas for males). It seems, the once unreachable goal of male-female equity (of course, in sheer numbers – via demographic ‘bean counting’) has not only been reached in many cases, but now an over-representation of females exists in many program areas.

    …Sigh, go figure (trans. means: ‘when does it end?’)

    PS. Apologies for venturing off-topic somewhat…

  22. #122
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:23 pm, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

    Well rightwingrocker Eric Estrada is indeed a Republican-although he did support McCain. If he is any relation to Miguel I do not know.

  23. #123
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:28 pm, MrOlympia said:

    OK now I can see this coming.

    When asked about some of her “gaffes” her answer will be something like….Well on that particular day I didn’t get a chance to check my sugar. It is estimated that my sugar was 267, which explains why my brief/gaffe didn’t make any sense.

    I have corrected my sugar issues with a disciplined approach that will not allow that to happen again. I promise and cross my heart blah blah blah blah lie blah lie blah lie lie blah.

    Repubs and Dems eat this answer up. CONFIRMED!!!

  24. #124
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:28 pm, Ragspierre said:

    Ivy League schools ACTIVELY look for poor minorities to recruit, as do all the others. They often are offered a full ride.

    SOME of them actively recruit poor kids from any ethnic background. Much less common, though.

    I have NO problem with a school administering private grants targeted at poor and/or minorities. I think that is laudable, in fact.

    I have a HUGE problem with fudging the admission standards to push them into their programs, though.

  25. #125
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:32 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    No, her response will be more like:

    You stupid gringos don’t understand the subtle nuances of the Spanish language and cannot comprehend that I was using the phrase in context of its meaning in Spanish and you monolingual, racist, white males cannot fathom what I really intended when I said that. You may kiss my diverse butt know…

    Leftists idiots in the Senate will think it true and any Republicans in the Senate will be too scared to respond.

  26. #126
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:44 pm, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

    Who ever came up with the idea that PRs, or Cubans for that matter, speak Spanish?

  27. #127
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:46 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    Well the folks in Ecuador told me that they are the only ones in the Western Hemisphere who actually speak Spanish…

  28. #128
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:49 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

    Who ever came up with the idea that PRs, or Cubans for that matter, speak Spanish?

    The same guys that claim we speak English… when it’s obvious we speak ‘Merican!

  29. #129
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:50 pm, lgm said:

    Ragspierre said (#122):

    Ivy League schools ACTIVELY look for poor minorities to recruit, as do all the others.

    Maybe, but they don’t make them Summa Cum Laude (Latin for “some loud mouth”). That is earned in competition with everyone else.

  30. #130
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:58 pm, ugly kid joe said:

    probably already been mentioned elsewhere on this thread, but besides sotomayor being a racist, she also believes the duty of a judge is to make policy, not just interpret it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfC99LrrM2Q

  31. #131
    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:59 pm, Ragspierre said:

    Maybe, but they don’t make them Summa Cum Laude (Latin for “some loud mouth”). That is earned in competition with everyone else.

    To be sure, and that wasn’t a point directed to Judge Sotomayor, who I think everyone recognizes as an accomplished person.

    She has proven her merit…and her racist and sexist views, along with her contempt for the rule of law and the Constitution.

    By her own words, she has fully disqualified herself for the nation’s highest court, much less the one on which she sits at the moment.

    But, have no fear. She will be confirmed, and will work as an object lesson against electing anyone remotely like Obama again. I can’t wait.

  32. #132
    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:02 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    Once again lgm demonstrates his lack of proficiency in another language! His/her Latin teacher must be sooo proud.

    Of course the actual direct translation is: “with highest praise” and the commonly understood meaning is “with highest honors.”

    In light of “grade inflation” and the fact that Sotomayor probably took a good number of her courses in underwater basket weaving, minority and women’s studies and other suitably challenging subjects I am not ready to bow down and grovel.

    I guess lgm’s new motto is “Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum.” Let’s see how he translates that…

    On May 27th, 2009 at 4:50 pm, lgm said:

    Maybe, but they don’t make them Summa Cum Laude (Latin for “some loud mouth”). That is earned in competition with everyone else.

  33. #133
    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:06 pm, mytake said:

    Competition in a liberal professors class can also have “affirmative” grading. How about a member of The Harvard Law Review who has no examples of his written work at Harvard to show us?

  34. #134
    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:10 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    Is “affirmative grading” a way of rewarding students for what they don’t know they haven’t learned or for what they have learned that just ain’t so?

  35. #135
    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:15 pm, mytake said:

    One must also remember that no matter how long some families have been in this country English is still a second language. Amazing that some people come here and learn it in less than one lifetime. In the affirmative line of thought time is a variable and learning is a constant. Grading is done on how far you’ve come from where you were, not on how well you’ve done compared to your peers.

  36. #136
    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:17 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    Well, lgm demonstrates that time is variable and learning is constant with every post. The major problem for lgm is that in his/her case the value of the constant is null…

  37. #137
    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:18 pm, mytake said:

    That’s funny

  38. #138
    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:23 pm, Regulus said:

    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:06 pm, mytake said:

    Competition in a liberal professors class can also have “affirmative” grading. How about a member of The Harvard Law Review who has no examples of his written work at Harvard to show us?

    Ah, not just getting onto the Harvard Law Review, but becoming president of the same with absolutely ZERO evidence of any kind of scholarly legal writing before or after.

    Affirmative Action, through its manifestation in the form of race-based quotas in academic admissions, is the handmaiden of grade inflation. Last I heard, something like 90% of Harvard degrees are “Cum Laude” awards, because you really have to work at it to get less than an A- in any given class.

    When I see supporters of someone like Sotomayor bandying about terms like “Summa Cum Laude” with no supporting evidence in the form of transcripts, the first thing that comes to my mind isn’t, “Boy, she must really be smart!” but rather, “Princeton must’ve been really desperate to polish its ‘diversity’ credentials.”

  39. #139
    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:23 pm, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

    Well lgm a really smart racist/fascist/thief is even more dangerous than a dumb one. That “competition with everyone else” seems to NOT resonate with her as with the Firefighters case- Ricci v. DeStefano.
    It was indeed she who stated merit SHOULD NOT be, or at least a lesser, consideration in hiring and promotion but ONLY race and gender.

    Read her ruling and not just the spin.

  40. #140
    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:35 pm, Ragspierre said:

    Read her ruling and not just the spin.

    I think, Arizona, that you will look long and hard for her ruling…

    http://www.slate.com/id/2219037/

    She punted, along with the other members of her appellate panel. Perhaps to avoid leaving a trail to cloud her SCOTUS ambitions. Perhaps to just get where she wanted to go in terms of outcome. Gutless, by any measure.

    Now, the case rests with the Supremes, and a very pivotal case it will be, too.

  41. #141
    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:41 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

    Now, the case rests with the Supremes, and a very pivotal case it will be, too.

    After which, she will have been overturned in more than 60% of her cases.

    Once she’s confirmed, that will be a little awkward around the office, won’t it?

  42. #142
    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:57 pm, ArizonaNeanderthal said:

    I think, Arizona, that you will look long and hard for her ruling…
    She punted, along with the other members of her appellate panel. Perhaps to avoid leaving a trail to cloud her SCOTUS ambitions. Perhaps to just get where she wanted to go in terms of outcome. Gutless, by any measure.

    Exactly, but with empathy of course.

    Perhaps her legal education did not cover

    Title VII: Statutory protection against employment discrimination

    According to Title VII, an employer may not “fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race.” 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a)(1). Additionally, an employer may not “limit, segregate, or classify his employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such individual’s race.” 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a)(2). Furthermore, employers may not “adjust the scores of, use different cutoff scores for, or otherwise alter the results of, employment related tests on the basis of race” for promotion decisions. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(l).

  43. #143
    On May 27th, 2009 at 6:02 pm, mytake said:

    Going back to the Harvard law years, what will Obama put in his library after his presidency? Time line…birth…moved around….went to school….took some courses…got some grades..wrote nothing….had ghost writer write two books…no letters…no papers…potus..exit. Shouldn’t need any foreign donations to build this double wide trailer!

  44. #144
    On May 27th, 2009 at 6:40 pm, sonofdy said:

    Maybe, but they don’t make them Summa Cum Laude (Latin for “some loud mouth”). That is earned in competition with everyone else.

    Sure LGM, sure.

    Face it obama, your lord and master has proven himself a lightweight. Nominating this racist simply proves that.

  45. #145
    On May 27th, 2009 at 6:52 pm, Member-VRWC said:

    On May 27th, 2009 at 10:39 am, lgm said:

    Given the damage our recent vanilla white bread justices have done (Alito, Roberts), a little color might help.

    Please provide details about this “damage” you refer to.

    And would you have felt the same way about “color” had Estrada been nominated? No? Then you’re just as big a hypocrite as the editorial board of the NYT.

  46. #146
    On May 27th, 2009 at 8:05 pm, martin.musculus said:

    I’ve posted thrice, none appears.

  47. #147
    On May 27th, 2009 at 8:24 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

    The “racism” charge is just projection, by the true racists,
    upon those who are not (in an attempt to silence them).

    It’s really getting a bit old. We’ve seen it over, and over, and over again from the Democratic Socialist Communists.

    The Program of the Communist Party USA mentions variations on the word “race” (racial, racism, racist) 124 times and variations on the word “oppress” (oppression, oppressed) 116 times. Its overarching theme is that white male capitalists are racist oppressors and the system (capitalism) must be dismantled.

    That’s what this is really all about…
    the Communists’ attempts to “bring an Empire to its knees“.

  48. #148
    On May 27th, 2009 at 8:36 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:

    Imagine the reaction if someone had unearthed in 2005 a speech in which then-Judge Samuel Alito had asserted, for example:

    I would hope that a white male with the richness of his traditional American values would reach a better conclusion than a Latina woman who hasn’t lived that life

    — and had proceeded to speak of

    “inherent physiological or cultural differences.”

  49. #149
    On May 27th, 2009 at 8:42 pm, dtb said:

    anyone else get the feeling this administration is determined to get reparation in one form or another?

  50. #150
    On May 27th, 2009 at 9:08 pm, freemind25 said:

    Wow, the hypocrisy is amazing…Here is quote for you…

    …and that goes down the line. When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account. When I have a case involving someone who’s been subjected to discrimination because of disability, I have to think of people who I’ve known and admire very greatly who’ve had disabilities, and I’ve watched them struggle to overcome the barriers that society puts up often just because it doesn’t think of what it’s doing — the barriers that it puts up to them.

    Who said this???? SAM ALITO during his confirmation hearing.

    George H.W. Bush on Clarence Thomas:

    “I have followed this man’s career for some time,” Bush said of Thomas. “He is a delightful and warm, intelligent person who has great empathy and a wonderful sense of humor.”

    Hypocrisy knows no bounds.

  51. #151
    On May 27th, 2009 at 9:24 pm, txvet2 said:

    On May 27th, 2009 at 11:52 am, happyscrapper said:

    I was referring to the M/M board, obviously (to most).

  52. #152
    On May 27th, 2009 at 9:52 pm, happyscrapper said:

    On May 27th, 2009 at 10:25 am, txvet2 said:
    Has anybody but me noticed the absence of Obama defenders the past few days? The silence is deafening.

    On May 27th, 2009 at 11:52 am, happyscrapper said:
    Apparently you haven’t check in with the MSM. They are still drooling over him, you can be sure!

    On May 27th, 2009 at 9:24 pm, txvet2 said:
    I was referring to the M/M board, obviously (to most).

    Well, it’s really not that big a deal, but I guess it wasn’t that obvious to me, for some reason. I am sorry if I misunderstood or offended you.

  53. #153
    On May 27th, 2009 at 10:02 pm, Dimsdale said:

    Aside from the fact that lgm is either ignorant or blind to his own racism, here is a candidate with some “color” that the Democrats raked over the coals, in total die

    Miguel Estrada – Biography

    Estrada was born to an upper-class family in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. After his parents divorced, he immigrated to the United States to join his mother when he was 17, arriving with a limited command of English.

    He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree
    from Columbia College, New York in 1983. He received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree magna cum laude in 1986 from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. After law school, Estrada served as a law clerk to Judge Amalya L. Kearse of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and then clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court.

    From 1990 until 1992, Estrada served as Assistant U.S. Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Appellate Section, U.S. Attorney’s
    Office, Southern District of New York. In 1992, he joined the United States Department of Justice as an Assistant to the Solicitor General for the Clinton Administration. In those capacities, Estrada represented the government in numerous jury trials and in many appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he practiced law in New York with Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

    Now read a few excerpts from Slate, never accused of being a conservative publication: Miguel, Ma Belle: The racial ugliness under the Miguel Estrada nomination. By Dahlia LithwickPosted Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003 (http://www.slate.com/id/2079445/) Emphasis mine.

    There are so many different strands of affirmative action and racial misunderstanding bound up in the Estrada nomination that it’s virtually impossible to untangle. First, there is the Bush administration’s effort to court Hispanic voters by positioning a Hispanic-American for a Supreme Court slot. This is pandering—no different from George Bush Sr.’s determination to replace Thurgood Marshall with an African-American—and it might be permissible pandering if Bush would just cop to it and admit that he wants to put a Hispanic judge on the high court because race matters in America. Instead, it mirrors his profoundly illogical claim that he supports racial diversity in education but opposes affirmative action. Thus, the cynical Bush take on affirmative action: Race matters enough to count when it comes to re-election but not enough to deal with it honestly or systemically.

    and the article wraps up with this gem:

    In the end, Miguel Estrada’s supporters cannot see past his skin color, and his detractors cannot see past his ideology. As a result, the “debate” over his qualification is happening, yet again, in the weary key of black-and-white. There are good arguments for affirmative action, but the Estrada fight is not the place to find them. We can only hope that the Supreme Court can bring more nuance and sophistication to their consideration of affirmative action next month than we have brought to the debate over Miguel Estrada.

    Just switch the names.

    There is a nice, concise summary of Sotomayor’s dubious judicial history in http://www.committeeforjustice.org/blog/2009/05/guns-intellect-judgment-are-key.html, particularly from liberals!

    To wit:

    First, there are the questions about Sotomayor’s temperament and intellect. Liberal law professor, author and Supreme Court expert Jeffrey Rosen wrote earlier this month in the New Republic that

    “Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking to a range of people who have worked with [Sotomayor], nearly all of them former law clerks for other judges on the Second Circuit or former federal prosecutors in New York. Most are Democrats … but nearly none of them raved about her. They expressed questions about her temperament, her judicial craftsmanship, and most of all, her ability to provide an intellectual counterweight to the conservative justices.”

    Jonathan Turley, an equally liberal professor of law at George Washington University, reviewed Sotomayor’s opinions and concluded

    “[Her opinions] are notable in one thing, in that it’s a lack of depth. There’s nothing particularly profound in her past decisions. … You can’t say she’s a natural choice for the Supreme Court.” (MSNBC, May 26, 2009)

    and

    Third, the contempt for the rule of law revealed by Sotomayor’s remarks at Duke University were on display again in the Ricci case, this time calling her judicial ethics into question. An excellent piece by National Journal columnist and former New York Times Supreme Court reporter Stuart Taylor tells you all you need to know. Taylor explains that Sotomayor and her two 2nd Circuit colleagues engaged

    “in a process so peculiar as to fan suspicions that some or all of the judges were embarrassed by the ugliness of the actions that they were blessing and were trying to sweep the case quietly under the rug, perhaps to avoid Supreme Court review or public criticism, or both. … The three-judge panel initially deep-sixed the firefighters’ appeal in a cursory, unpublished order that disclosed virtually nothing about the nature of the ideologically explosive case.”

    That the Supreme Court will issue its decision in Ricci next month – in the middle of her confirmation battle – is bad news for Sotomayor, because it will serve to increase the focus of senators and the media on the case. Worse yet for Sotomayor, the Court will almost surely reverse her ruling in the case, while perhaps scolding her and her two colleagues.

    It ends with

    In sum, Sotomayor’s questionable intellect, temperament, ethics, and judgment mean that much more than just her legal analysis is in doubt. Based on past experience, that ensures that the confirmation process will be a bumpy one for the President’s nominee.

    One could say the same about the young president.

  54. #154
    On May 27th, 2009 at 11:19 pm, Little Ma said:

    Oh dear God! How much more of this insanity are we going to take?

    Guess I’d better get to work on that safe house in the mountains. I’m leaving tomorrow.

  55. #155
    On May 28th, 2009 at 5:44 am, gridlock said:

    The argument that Sotamayor has overcome poverty and racism and that this makes her worthy of such over-the-top celebration is racist and classist to the core. The people who are so impressed that she is a step away from the high court are acting like they just saw a pig on the Moon. It’s just the absolutely amazingly amazing thing that she is there at all, don’tcha know…

    So, why is it so amazingly amazing that a Puerto Rican woman can succeed in her chosen field in America? We have seen all kinds of people achieve all kinds of great things in this country, through their intelligence, skill or unstoppable drive. It would be idiotic to say that people can’t get ahead in America because of such things as Puerto Rican heritage or humble beginnings. One only has to look at Clarence Thomas, who grew up in a situation even more dire, in every respect, but succeeded on his own merits, as so many others have.

    So, what is it about poor Puerto Ricans from the Bronx that makes Sotamayor’s success so remarkable, so unbelievable, so amazingly amazing? You are left with the inescapable conclusion that the people are so surprised because they feel, deep down, that poor Puerto Ricans from the Bronx are ignorant and inferior, which is why it is so surprising when one of them succeeds. Pig on the Moon.

    Since it seems to be a day to pull anonymous blog postings out of context, let me say, unnecessarily, that I in know way share this view. I know that poor Puerto Ricans in the Bronx are people just like me who happen to be in difficult circumstances, but are possessed of the same abilities and intelligence as any other people, and the success of one of their number, while welcome, is not at all surprising.

  56. #156
    On May 28th, 2009 at 6:08 am, RetFireman said:

    On May 27th, 2009 at 3:58 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    It’s funny. My wife isn’t white. But when I look at her the first thing I “see” isn’t the color of her skin. I suspect when a leftist looks at her all they see is an “oppressed, woman of color” which is, in their vocabulary triple-redundant…

    My wife isnt either. In fact, she is 50% the same as our host, which then makes our daughters 25% Filipino as well.

    Then again, unlike what the stereotyping bigoted trolls on here (and, no doubt, other sites) think, neither am I. After all, only “Whitey” can be Conservative, else we are all sell outs, right?

    Oh, did I forget to mention that in the past? Gee, guess it would be because according to Liberals, such things aren’t supposed to matter. That is, unless it involves one of their own.

  57. #157
    On May 28th, 2009 at 6:11 am, RetFireman said:

    On May 27th, 2009 at 5:02 pm, WarEagle82 said:

    Once again lgm demonstrates his lack of proficiency in another language! His/her Latin teacher must be sooo proud.

    The only thing LGM demonstrates is what happens when you are dropped and stepped on repeatedly.

  58. #158
    On May 28th, 2009 at 7:48 am, misterbee241 said:

    Sounds like she’s being nominated for Queen For A Day. Where are you, Jack Bailey?

  59. #159
    On May 28th, 2009 at 8:42 am, John Deaux said:

    Isn’t it amazing that they tout her compelling life story and attribute her success to hard work and personal sacrifice, yet they are trying to replace those values with the welfare state?

  60. #160
    On May 28th, 2009 at 8:59 am, Ragspierre said:

    freemind25 said:

    Wow, the hypocrisy is amazing…Here is quote for you…

    I’m sure whatever Statist web-site you gleaned your quotes from thinks they really got the conservatives now!

    Ew, ew, they used the “E” word, too! Hypocrites!!!!

    But, really, how stupid can a group of people be?

    Of course no conservative wants a judge devoid of empathy. We just don’t want a Justice of the Supreme Court who, by admission of THE ONE, uses empathy as her guiding light, rather than the rule of law. To use a very apt analogy, we want an impartial umpire calling the games.

    I think it is a universal that all good umpires can empathize with the looser and winners, but they don’t call the game on the basis of who they perceive the players to be. Which is expressly what THE ONE and Sotomayor said they wanted and will do, respectively.

    My very Scots-Irish family, like all others in America, holds stories of prejudice and persecution as part of our history. There isn’t a family in America that wasn’t the target of bigots at one point or another…religious, ethnic, political, place of origin, etc. My American Indian ancestors certainly knew that experience.

    So, duh, we all have a story of people in our families who overcame the bigotry of small people, and overcame privation. The American Dream realized.

    That’s the “take-away” from Sotomayor’s life-story. During the Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush years, this lady realized the American Dream, largely because of the work of her intact nuclear family, and the opportunities she uniquely found in America.

  61. #161
    On May 28th, 2009 at 9:04 am, NJRepublican said:

    I loved how when Obama was introducing her he said her mother wanted her to have a good education so she sent her to Catholic School! He admitted that the govt run schools are not as good.

    On another note, I don’t recall alot of hype about Scalia being the first Italian justice.

  62. #162
    On May 28th, 2009 at 9:18 am, Ragspierre said:

    And WHO nominated the first female Justice?

    Hmmm….?

  63. #163
    On May 28th, 2009 at 10:01 am, lgm said:

    WarEagle82 said (#130):

    Once again lgm demonstrates his lack of proficiency in another language! His/her Latin teacher must be sooo proud.

    Of course the actual direct translation is: “with highest praise” and the commonly understood meaning is “with highest honors.”

    It was a joke, numbnuts (from Austin Powers). I put the link to the correct translation in the my post.

    You’re accusing liberals of being racist for insisting on a Hispanic judge and then accusing us of, I’m not sure what, for opposing Hispanic candidate Estrada. It would have been good to have Estrada on the bench. Like Sotomayor, he had the credentials and experience and intelligence. The problem was, he was nuttier than “Slouching Toward Gomorrah” Bork.

  64. #164
    On May 28th, 2009 at 10:22 am, Ragspierre said:

    You’re accusing liberals of being racist for insisting on a Hispanic judge and then accusing us of, I’m not sure what, for opposing Hispanic candidate Estrada.

    As usual, you got it wrong.

    You are a racist, as is Sotomayor.

    You support her appointment on the basis of her race.

    Leftists opposed Estrada on the basis of his race, coupled with his perceived ideology.

    Race was…first, last, and always…what the LEFT pivoted on.

  65. #165
    On May 28th, 2009 at 10:37 am, tiredofit08 said:

    as if what has been reported is not enough about this woman….just saw a story on fox news that sotomayor ruled in a 2nd amendment case that states have the right to ban guns. This case will be coming up in the next few months to the Supreme Court…gee how nice that she could again be making a decision for us all about the 2nd amendment….she can excuse herself from the case but will she should she be installed on the court??

    http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/sotomay…ond-amendment/

    http://www.cnsnews.com/public/conten…x?RsrcID=48718

    Quote:
    n a 2004 criminal case, U.S. v. Sanchez-Villar, a three-judge panel that included Sotomayor wrote that “the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right.”
    dear leader picking someone who obviously goes against what he says thus giving us lip service about our 2nd amendment rights…

    oh one last thing….she is a member of “la ratza” !!!

  66. #166
    On May 28th, 2009 at 10:38 am, DBNinKY said:

    The problem was, he was nuttier than “Slouching Toward Gomorrah” Bork.

    Well that’s a two-fer of a different color – not only are you denigrating the genuine intellect of Miguel Estrada, you also seem to be implying the same untruth the Left did in 1987, when they smeared the Honorable Judge Bork as a racist over a previously existing land covenant. It’s unfair.

    You’re accusing liberals of being racist for insisting on a Hispanic judge and then accusing us of, I’m not sure what, for opposing Hispanic candidate Estrada.

    Reverse racism is real, and a major tool in the Democrats’ overwhelming arsenal of dirty tricks and unsavory tactics.

  67. #167
    On May 28th, 2009 at 10:58 am, DagneyT said:

    (Not true.)

    Yes, but that only works when a donk nominates them.

  68. #168
    On May 28th, 2009 at 11:00 am, lgm said:

    Ragspierre said (#161):

    You are a racist, as is Sotomayor.

    OK,

    You support her appointment on the basis of her race.

    OK, that makes me a pro Hispanic racist.

    Leftists opposed Estrada on the basis of his race, ….

    Now that makes me an anti-Hispanic racist. I’m willing to be a racist, I just need to know whether I hate whites or Hispanics.

    DBNinKY said (!163):

    you also seem to be

    Conservatives are unlucky with “seems to be”, as in Saddam seems to be developing…, Terry Schaivo seems to be …, . It’s probably safer for you to stick to things you actually know.

    …implying the same untruth the Left did in 1987, when they smeared the Honorable Judge Bork as a racist over a previously existing land covenant.

    I heard about that, but I was referring to the book Bork wrote afterwards. That book was so nutty, even people who had been uncertain at the time of the confirmation hearings were grateful Bork had been Borked.

  69. #169
    On May 28th, 2009 at 11:11 am, DBNinKY said:

    It’s probably safer for you to stick to things you actually know.

    And what do you know of either Bork or Estrada that wasn’t fed to you by the liberal media – have you ever read or listened to non-biased interviews of these men, or given open minded consideration to their accounts of the political allegations made against them?

  70. #170
    On May 28th, 2009 at 11:21 am, DBNinKY said:

    That book was so nutty, even people who had been uncertain at the time of the confirmation hearings were grateful Bork had been Borked.

    “Nutty” only to the close-minded -

  71. #171
    On May 28th, 2009 at 11:27 am, Ragspierre said:

    Note that lgm has to torture what I did say into something I did not say to make a “point”.

    That is called a lie.

    My statement was, “Leftists opposed Estrada on the basis of his race, coupled with his perceived ideology”. They said it, and it is true. Because of his race, they regarded him as a threat.

    lgm is a racist, due to his use of race as a pivotal criteria for how he views an individual.

  72. #172
    On May 28th, 2009 at 11:29 am, Ragspierre said:

    That book was so nutty, even people who had been uncertain at the time of the confirmation hearings were grateful Bork had been Borked.

    Really? Name five.

    I read the book and found it brilliant.

    You?

  73. #173
    On May 28th, 2009 at 11:47 am, emjem24 said:

    lgm said:

    Conservatives are unlucky with “seems to be”, as in Saddam seems to be developing…, Terry Schaivo seems to be …, . It’s probably safer for you to stick to things you actually know.

    Perhaps, you should take your own advice. I’ve seen you harping incessantly about the “untruths” of Conservatives yet never account for the “untruths” perpetrated by the Left. Intelectual dishonesty has always been your game on this blog and you play it very well. Many lefty professors, like you, are SPECIALISTS, with no REAL WORLD experience so it is amazing that you can lecture anybody about the “known” or “unknown.”

    You are an ignorant buffoon. I find it amazing that you can lug that ginormous ego around that lofty ivory tower of yours. You are intellectually arrogant, meaning, that you think your limited “knowledge” supercedes the practical knowledge that actual lawyers like Rags bring to the table. Keep trying to convince us and yourself that you know anything more than your chosen career field. Looking down your nose at those who don’t inhabit the same inward-looking echo chamber as you doesn’t even imply common sense.

    Have fun collecting your tenure-provided, public-supported, academic paycheck and filling your students’ heads with white noise.

  74. #174
    On May 28th, 2009 at 12:50 pm, John Deaux said:

    As lgm’s posts get nastier and he now resorts to ad hominem and strawmen, please use him as a barometer of the left. They see their utopian plans falling apart. They are scared.

    Oh, he’s still an idiot. Just a scared idiot.

  75. #175
    On May 28th, 2009 at 1:24 pm, lgm said:

    John Deaux said (#171):

    As lgm’s posts get nastier and he now resorts to ad hominem and strawmen, please use him as a barometer of the left.

    My tone the past two days is a reaction to what was said about me on this blog. I’ve been trying to reflect some of the nastiness back at you. You can start by reading the post right above yours.

  76. #176
    On May 28th, 2009 at 1:40 pm, RetFireman said:

    My tone the past two days is a reaction to what was said about me on this blog. I’ve been trying to reflect some of the nastiness back at you.

    You know, my 9 year old knows better than to act like that. What are you, six?

  77. #177
    On May 28th, 2009 at 1:56 pm, GraniteMan said:

    In March of 1857, the United States Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, declared that all blacks — slaves as well as free — were not and could never become citizens of the United States. The court also declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, thus permiting slavery in all of the country’s territories.

    Here was another Supreme Court Chief Justice who considered the person rather than the constitution

  78. #178
    On May 29th, 2009 at 7:12 am, Danceswithdachshunds said:

    New bumper sticker -

    BORK SOTOMAYOR!

  79. #179
    On May 29th, 2009 at 9:27 am, Ragspierre said:

    Make the case for individual vs. group rights, for justice vs. empathy. Then vote to confirm Sotomayor solely on the grounds — consistently violated by the Democrats, including Sen. Obama — that a president is entitled to deference on his Supreme Court nominees, particularly one who so thoroughly reflects the mainstream views of the winning party. Elections have consequences.

    Vote Democratic and you get mainstream liberalism: A judicially mandated racial spoils system and a jurisprudence of empathy that hinges on which litigant is less “advantaged.”

    A teaching moment, as liberals like to say. Clarifying and politically potent. Seize it.

    http://townhall.com/columnists/CharlesKrauthammer/2009/05/29/sotomayor_criticize,_then_confirm?page=2

    This is the way to handle this, IMNHO.

    Respectfully, no person of conscience should EVER consider “Borking” anybody, because that was an exercise in lying, and in the foulest form of character assassination. The people who did it were (are)morally reprehensible.

    If anything, the treatment of Thomas was worse. It has become a pattern with our unprincipled opposition.

    They recognize no rules, and I have argued and do argue that there are no rules in such a case.

    BUT…regardless of rules…when it comes to a simple question of truth v. lies, decency v. evil, we have GOT to always follow the high road.

    That means we act as people throughout our history, until recently, act when faced by an otherwise qualified nominee under “advice and consent”. We respectfully but thoroughly inquire, and…unless there is good reason not to…we give the President their choice.

    He then gets to live with the consequences. As do we all…

  80. #180
    On May 29th, 2009 at 10:34 am, lgm said:

    Danceswithdachshunds said (#177):

    New bumper sticker -

    BORK SOTOMAYOR!

    That means: use her vocal opposition to decisions such as Griswold, and principles such as the right to privacy (ninth amendment), as a reason to vote against her. Good luck.

  81. #181
    On May 29th, 2009 at 11:18 am, DBNinKY said:

    Sotomayor is a Catholic Hispanic, and there are no decisions to determine where she stands on social issues like abortion or even gay marriage.

    The Left may have it’s own Souter in a SC Justice Sotomayor, and wouldn’t that be scrumptious!

  82. #182
    On May 29th, 2009 at 11:29 am, DBNinKY said:

    BTW – when critics once derided the Burger Court for displaying no discernible “theme,” Justice Powell wisely responded by asking could a litigant retain confidence in a Court that rendered decisions on a set philosophy rather than “applicable law.”

    Seeking justices who display “empathy” over precedent in judging cases is no different; it is an attempt to imprint upon the highest court in the land a philosophy that comports the Constitution to its own ideology of emotion over law.

  83. #183
    On May 29th, 2009 at 11:49 am, RetFireman said:

    This person is a racist, a bigot, a sexist and more. How she has been allowed to continue on the way she has for this long is nothing more than an excercise in the damage that Liberalism is able to do and does on a daily basis in this country.

    How many cases has she judged based on her contempt for Whitey? How many times has she been able to legislate and “create policy” instead of interpret the Law?

    The amount of destruction she will be permitted to do if allowed to sit for the rest of her life on the bench of the highest court in the land is unfathomable…unconscionable.

    Do NOT allow these Socialist, Leftists, to intimidate you. Yes, there is racism here…but it is coming from THEM and it is so loud, it is deafening. Not only should she not be rewarded for her life-long work in racism, she should be stripped of her current position, have every single case she has ever sat on reviewed for any chance she used racist viewpoints or legislated from the bench and never, EVER be permitted into a courtroom where she has the opportunity to make decisions ever, EVER again.

  84. #184
    On May 29th, 2009 at 12:39 pm, MacEamonn said:

    Senator John Cornyn of Texas threw Newt and Rush “under the bus” in an interview with NPR. I would suggest it is time to throw most of the current Republicans, including Cornyn, out of office and find some people who’ll stand up for the Constitution.

  85. #185
    On May 29th, 2009 at 12:53 pm, Ragspierre said:

    lgm, as is typical, shows that he and his Statist fellows have no integrity…

    WHATSOEVER.

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