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Sotomayor Not Racist, Just Wrong For Job |
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Conservative Compass Blog
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Written by Bob Sordahl
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Sunday, 07 June 2009 |
The controversy about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is just another example of Republicans taking their eye off the ball. In my opinion, trying to pin a "racist" label on her won't get much mileage for the effort. Her Comments, though exhibiting a level of self absorption, don't really meet my litmus test for overt racism. Once again, the right is squandering energy and public opinion while more important things continue to move forward in DC.
In 2001 Sotomayor is quoted as saying: "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."
Further, she continued: "My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas in which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage."
In these statements she has all but admitted that she would allow, and in fact expects personal ethnic or gender bias to affect her judicial decisions. Her cavalier expression of opinion calls her judgment into question, but certainly doesn't qualify her as racist. However, I believe that no one deserves preferential treatment because of gender, race or religion, so Sotomayor's words are particularly troubling since so many cases involving those issues come before the High Court.
Her comment about Latina women versus white men would have been much more enlightening if someone, even now asked her to explain what she meant by it. Instead, we are left with President Obama glossing over it according to the Associated Press by saying: "I'm sure she would have restated it". Were the roles reversed, I doubt the media would have accepted such a throw away response from a Republican President.
Even if she makes Liberals uncomfortable, Democrats in Congress will present her confirmation to Obama as a gift and affirmation of their solidarity behind the philosophy of his administration. All Republicans can do is raise the proper questions and watch the confirmation move forward.
By my definition, Sotomayor is not a racist, but brings a decidedly ethnic, self admitted bias to her decision making. In the position of a Supreme Court Justice, that bias alone is enough to question her qualifications.
My suggestion for the Uber Republicans in Washington is to limit their criticism to legitimate issues of fitness for a position and refrain from hip shooting, name calling which serves no purpose and ultimately reflects poorly on the Party. Sometimes there’s no political advantage in being the first to comment on what your opponent is doing in DC. Especially when further information and cooler heads reveal you to be a fool.
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