Republican’s Hand: A Pair Of Twos
More Senators on Sotomayor: Kyl, No. Graham, Yes
Once again, in the era of pettiness the Republicans have dragged us into, the Senate appears set to vote on a Supreme Court nominee with political results. Sonia Sotomayor is not a controversial nominee. She is a highly qualified nominee, a consistent and capable judge, and nothing about her background, demeanor, nor her “wise Latina” comments should derail her nomination. The “wise Latina” comments were suggestively racist, but the fact that she said what she said indicates that she is not by any stretch of the imagination a racist and does not allow her views on race to influence her decision making. Not like Senator Jefferson Beauregard “Jeff” Sessions III, a documented racist, and a judicial reject, who insisted on portraying her as a racist rather than, you know, inquiring into her judicial philosophy. The hearings were a farce, with the only real meat (not much) coming from the Dems, who were quite open about the fact that they thought she was a cool chica and had no intention of derailing her nomination.
What bugs me most about this is that we have a good nominee who is going to get only 60-70 votes because of pissants like Sessions and Kyl. Just a few decades ago it was the norm for a Supreme Court nominee to get between 90-95 votes, unless they were a real screw up. You can blame the Dems for getting the ball rolling, as I have to point out that a 78-22 vote for Roberts was not in any way justified. The man, like Sotomayor, was experienced, well qualified, highly recommended, and possessed no identifiable opinions that would cause him to be a poor candidate for the job. Maybe 10 votes against a non-court member being selected for the Chief Justice position, but 22 against was a pretty lame attempt at politicizing something that had no business being politicized in that fashion. Alito is slightly different, and I really don’t think that he (like Scalia or Thomas) has the caliber of mind to serve on the court, but 58-42 still is a bit much for a lackluster nominee.
If anything it represents this mentality, started by the Republicans, fanned by the Republicans, and under Bush embraced by the Dems as well, and now being perfected by the GOP, that you can oppose and oppose and oppose and eventually you will get what you want, and you don’t even have to be in power. It undermines the very democratic process we value so much as it seeks to negate the very concept of a majority/minority dynamic, and the Dems and Obama are playing into it. Sotomayor deserves more votes than she will receive, and we have the GOP to thank for this.
Michael
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