am not going to change my story I think Mr Obama has made thr right choice and that all I have to say

 Mr. Taylor,

While I enjoy your writing, I think it is disingenuous for you to represent yourself as a "centrist," at least in terms of legal politics (I don't know what your positions on any number of public policy issues are).  As long as I've read your work, which is since the late nineties, your have consistently supported the Republican/"originalist" position on most important issues.  It seems as if you consistently try to position yourself as The New Republic  of legal commentators by saying "I'm not a conservative but the conservatives are right" on any issue that comes down the line.  

the first Hispanic Justice?

The blindfold comes off with all the excuses wrapped in the flag of diversity.

Oh, I think you could at least damage the credibility of Sotomayor in a manner not dissimilar from what was done to Clarence Thomas.  The key is not to defend nine white firefighters against the discriminatory in unjust summary ruling of Sotomayor, rather Republicans ought to show how she was dismissive of two of the firefighters: an hispanic and a man with dyslexia (i.e. learning disabled) and ask her what the hierarchy of status is amongst aggrieved minorities.

Scott, I like it. Good call.

Judge Sotomayor wil not be the first Hispanic justice.    That honor went to Justice Benjamin Cardozo.  However, please don't let "facts" get in the way of a good news "story."  She will be the first Hispanic woman justice.

I have read a number of comments stating that IT IS GOING TO BE HARD TO ATTACK SOTOMAYOR. Why use the word "attack"? It is not a matter of attacking pointing out someone's record. And some are even in the wide open internet. It is very clear that she is "pro" ruling from the bench instead of interpreting the law. Thanks,

Backlash?? What backlash for the Dems attacking and stalling Miguel Estrada's nomination or the treatment of Alberto Gonzales??  Although Latinos comprise 14% of the population they were 6% of the electorate in 2004.  Lrt the nomination stand on its merits.  Isn't that the goal Doctor King spoke about, character, not race?

sotomayor position is promotion based on skin color and not intellect.  somehow she figures that someone who never studied hard for a firefighter promotion test (even though all study information is at the library) deserves promoted.  This is affirmative action.  affirmative action it is alledged led to the new york plan crash that killed 49.  see the pilot failed all piloting test but was socially promoted.  when you give an unqualified person a job based on sex or race you get fannie and freedie, you get gm and chryler.  i for one don't want no token trying to rescue me from a burning building.  i would rather have the qualified applicant who didn't get the job not because he wasn't the most intelligent (he was) but because he was simply the wrong color.  sotomayor is also an affirmative action token and has had 80% of her decisions over turned by higher courts.  she was reprimanded by an hispanic mail judge for not following the US CONSTITION.  fillibuster sotomayor and atleast let the public know that she believes in promotion based on skin color and not qualifications.  lets not through quality out the door for skin color.  we did with the president and now we are all paying dearly.  ps do you really think ghettofingerinhand and union members can run gm and chrysler.  these are the people who wrecked them in the first place.

Have you seen Obama's approval rating lately??  He doesn't have to PLAY politics with those kind of numbers....or is it that you don't think that a Hispanic woman can do the job, why?

And Scott, you liken her nomination to that of Clearance Thomas??, the sexual harasser, PLEASE, your caveman is showing.

OK, Pat from Texas, do you think those who oppose Sotomayor should pull out the kind of witch hunt that was done against Clarence Thomas. What was done to Thomas was one of the most outrageous and political witch hunt ever!

Cardozo was not Hispanic; his ancestors were Portugese Jews who migrated from Portugal to the American colonies in the 1740s and 1750s.  The name Cardozo (or Cardoso) is Portuguese in origin.  

Bob A, please don't let the facts get in the way of your comments.

I guess her blatant racism is ok because she seems to hate white males. I guess if she had made her comments about blacks or jews she would have been tossed from the bench a long time ago. But hey, she is a woman, a latino and all she needed was to be a pregnant lesbian and all the bases would have been covered.

I think Pat hits the dem talking points right off, you can not disaggree with the racist sonia because she is a latino. That means she can do or say what she wants because anyone that might question her motives or rulings must be a racist, right Pat?

Have you seen Obama's approval rating lately??  He doesn't have to PLAY politics with those kind of numbers....or is it that you don't think that a Hispanic woman can do the job, why?

And Scott, you liken her nomination to that of Clearance Thomas??, the sexual harasser, PLEASE, your caveman is showing.

" . . . the essence of the ethnic and gender stereotyping that liberals once properly abhorred. But with Republicans already in danger of being seen as the white-male party, rushing to the defense of white males may not be a winning argument politically."

Rushing to the defense of slandered white males might not be a winning argument politically, but permitting such a slander is unprincipled.  As a moral necessity consistent with Constitutional principles, Judge Sotomayor's candidacy ought to be opposed based on HER ADMITTED UNWILLINGNESS TO UPHOLD HER JUDICIAL OATH to administer justice impartially.

It is a shame that liberal Democrats have so consistently abandoned principle in favor of politics.  Here's hoping that Republicans won't abandon principle as easily.

Hey, so other than Judge Stoneage being a racist that thinks the environment always trumps human progress, no matter what, I guess we got ourselves one heck of a judge.  What could possibly go wrong?

Her nomination made me grin. All the arguments from the Right are entirely predicatble and who couldn't guess the most quoted person would be a talk radio dingbat.

In one way this reminds me of the nomination of Thomas: a blatant dare. Obama is daring the Right to alienate even more Hispanics and more women than they already have. The difference now is that the nominee is immensely qualified.

So the Right will form another circle and commence firing. They really should charge us for this kind of entertainment.

I do not think Hispanics will vote on Sotomayer either way.  Moreover, there are a lot of Frank Ricci's in Pa., Maine, Florida, and throughout the nation.  Her view on judging appears to be deeply out of the American mainstream.  Republicans have to think of all the voters.  If they note that the Democrats stopped a truly great Hispanic nominee and use the Hispanic members and constituents to question her rulings and statements, as Senatorial candidate Rubio is now doing, they wll be fine. 

I'm torn as I think she is the least dangerous of his choices for the Bench but most poisonous for the Country because of race.  Thomas is going to eviscerate her if she tries any of that I was opressed stuff.  The South Bronx in the 60's ain't pinpoint in the 50's.

When considering Sotomayor's position with regards to the firefighters, does she hold a similar view with regards to acceptance at a good university? I assume she took the SAT to get into Princeton and got a good score.

If one extends her position, and that of the town of New Haven, shouldn't all testing be thrown out if the pass-rate doesn't reflect the ethnic background of those taking it? And should testing institutions continually reconfigure tests until the pass-rate reflects those taking it?

I really wish that the right would be honest.  They would all hate anyone he nominated if it wasn't someone they picked.  They would object to Jesus himself for being too liberal.

This is nothing more than the continued sour grapes and whining from the right.

Sotomayor will certainly be confirmed.  Republicans can benefit by exposing her extreme judicial posture (e.g., dismissing firefighters case without a hearing), radical liberal positions many of which were overturned by a not-so-conservative Supreme Court.  Republicans can also benefit by highlighting the fact that - once again - Obama's actions do not match his spoken intentions, and tying it to his words on other issues.  No fillibuster attempt needed, lay out the facts and tell it like it is.

Scott, you're taking the wrong approach.  You're outdoing the Democrats in identity politics, which is exactly what turns libertarian-leaning moderates like me off. 

Sotomayor will be confirmed if this is pretty much the extent of the serious issues with her nomination.  Her comments from 2001can be dismissed as an inartful expression of her sentiments about how being a latina female has shaped her worldview.   Her "makes policy" remark from 2005 can be dismissed as a joke, which it may well have been.

I intuitively dislike the case outcome in New Haven firefigher lawsuit, however I believe the actual ruling had to do more with the lack of material damages suffered by the firefighters and New Haven's ability to make its own staffing decisions.  It's looking unlikely the Supreme Court will even come close to reversing that decision.

John M...

What makes you say it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will reverse the decision in Ricci v. DeStefano (New Haven firefighter lawsuit)?  I have followed the case closely.  Based on oral arguments, I would be surprised if it was not reversed.  Either way, it will likely be a 5-4 decision that turns on Justice Kennedy.  Sotomayor upheld the lower court decision based on giving New Haven deference in attempting to avoid a potential lawsuit by minorities who could sue that the disparate impact of the test was a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.  Essentially, she decided that the city could discriminate against whites if doing so was an effort to avoid discriminating against minorities.  That not only seems like blatant racism, but, more importantly, it seems like Sotomayor ignoring the Constitution in favor of "empathy."

Would agree with you except for the fact that the left trashed Erik Estrada to make sure that the Republicans could not nominate the first Hispanic to the Supreme Court.  Without this pick, Bush tact toward Gonzales who was trounced on a number of issues, then Meirs, then I can't complain as we got Alito. Point is that Dems already trashed a Hispanic to claim this "terrority" for themselves. Weaving this into to the criticism on what Hispanics themselves don't want this one in exchange for a promise that the next Republican pick will be a Hispanic eases the pain, don't you think?

Still amazed how ignorant is this country, and the continous association of "latino" or "hispanic" with a race. When AMericans are going to understand that latino is not a race?, like people that speaks English can be any of the known races. Simplifing, if now for wathever reason just black Americans emigrate or mixed (the case with SPanish speakers) emigrated for economical reason in a large number to other country, how did you guy feel if we call "anglo" just to color people?

Please Hispanic is simple a American tag, a person from Puerto Rico has the same relation with  Mexico like USA can have with New Zeland.

Sonia Sotomayor, Puerto Rican or Spanish speakers descendant, the accurate description.

Check this out, how a person called Sotomayor could look like:

http://www.trabajadores.cu/news/sotomayor-desafiado-por-otro-liston-protagonistas/image_preview (black race, Cuba)

http://www.abogadoperu.com/sotomayor-gomez-jose-luis-fotografia-21478.jpg (Amerindian race, Mexico)

http://www.versaform.com/uploads/images/CaseStudies/DrSotomayor_430.jpg (White, Uruguay)

Sonia Sotomayor is a mixed woman, white and native indian taina (indians from Puerto Rico)

This is one of those instances when us on the right have to swallow our prejudices and simply admit that Obama has painted us in a corner.  If we go after her, politically it's suicide and that in and of itself will set our causes back further than anything Sotomayor could do. 

Obama's Shrewd, and he got us on this one.  We need to admit to it when that happens.

The Dems have found their voice and their strategy.  They are kicking us while we are down and there's nothing we can do about it.  Sad but true.

"If Republicans attack Judge Sotomayor's more controversial actions, they risk provoking a backlash among Hispanic voters, who have already been moving into the Democratic column in droves."

It's this kind of cowardly thinking that's destroying the Republican Party. 

"I really wish that the right would be honest.  They would all hate anyone he nominated if it wasn't someone they picked.  They would object to Jesus himself for being too liberal."

--Rick

Rick, rather than speculate on what "the right" would do, why don't you address the issues at hand?  Do you endorse the nomination of a racist to the Supreme Court?  Judge Sonia Sotomayor's speech in 2001, in which she stated "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion [as a judge] than a white male who hasn't lived that life," is a clear expression of racism.  Rick, don't YOU find racism impermissible in a Supreme Court nominee?

Sonia Sotomayor is certainly not inviolate after the work over that Nan Arons has given anyone who in terms of qualification Sotomayor is not qualified to lick their boots has given prospective justices. Sotomayor is a racist hack. The latino version of Barry the Dilettante. No wonder he nominated her.

Ms. Sotomayer is an unabashed hispanic racial activist, recently ruled against white men who rightly deserved promotions, and rhapsodized that a minority such as herself could reach a better ruling than a white male judge thanks to her "rich experience as a latina".  Oh, and she's is on record as saying race, ethnicity and gender will be carefully considered in cases she reviews.  Judges are expected to be fair and impartial irrespective of these things but no longer in a racially polarized and increasingly tribalistic America. 

The Republicans need to do the right thing and fiercely challenge this nomination and let the chips fall where they may.   If that means losing a few thousand hispanic voters for simply acting in the best interests of all Americans then so be it.

"Sotomayor is a racist hack. The latino version of Barry the Dilettante."

Gee, I thought someone previewed these posts. Guess not.

I want the GOP screaming and kicking over this nomination. I want their top 2012 prospects leading the charge to destroy this Hispanic lady judge. I want them hysterical and blue in the face from anger. Since I never heard of her, I was afraid she might be a centrist, but as long as the right-wing bastards are screaming, I'm happy.

Wow! it  doesn't get any better than this! I am getting my popcorn ready.  When will the right wingnuts realize they are a dying breed that should have been taken down long time ago!  Who cares what a bunch of bitter racist think! If she is qualified then she should get the job, and if she isn't than let's get rid of Palin too!

Hello, so other than Judge Stoneage being a racist who thinks the environment always trumps human progress, no matter what, I think we got ourselves one heck of a judge. Alkoholbehandling sjælland. What could possibly go wrong?

A lot of ignorant people in this country I have to agree with you on that. It takes some time to effectively investigate a matter... sure but why wouldn't you go with the "normal" process on this one ?

Not to mention when things like these ones are at stake... I mean people should dedicate their lives understanding and perfecting the system so that in time we will no longer be affected by our hasty decisions. 

Alex - forex consultant

Thank you for writing about this, it sure is a interesting topic to read about. Now I'm just a bit curious to hear if anyone else has any thoughts regarding this.. Let's discuss! -Jimmy from Discount Dumbbells
 

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