Obama nominates Sonia Sotomayor for SCOTUS- Page 3

[Jilani]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 10:32am

"sonia, how exactly are latinos physiologically different from caucasians and how does that specifically affect the decision making process with regard to legal analysis and interpretation?"

Her comment about physiological differences wasn't necessarily tied to ethnicity. In fact, since she was also talking about gender, isn't it much more likely she was talking about physiological differences between men and women? Do you deny that those exist?

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 10:34am

nope. she was clearly speaking of physiological differences between races. racist. obnoxious. dumb.

it's gonna be a fun decade or so before the intestines get to her.

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 10:43am

Papa is correct that she was referring to ethnic physiological differences, which there are. He's taken phrases out of a speech she gave talking about how judges, despite striving to do otherwise, are almost certain to allow their life experiences into their decision making. A person's background, including their race/ethnicity, consititutes a big part of that life experience. Papa's using that to try to portray her as a racist, and I'm sure the likes of Hannity and Limbaugh will be quick to join him. The link to the entire speech, which I found interesting, is below. However, I think this excerpt sums up her points:

"While recognizing the potential effect of individual experiences on perception, Judge Cedarbaum nevertheless believes that judges must transcend their personal sympathies and prejudices and aspire to achieve a greater degree of fairness and integrity based on the reason of law. Although I agree with and attempt to work toward Judge Cedarbaum's aspiration, I wonder whether achieving that goal is possible in all or even in most cases. And I wonder whether by ignoring our differences as women or men of color we do a disservice both to the law and society."


Sotomayor's speech

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 10:52am

And what's all this about "judicial activism"?

Wasn't it "judicial activism" that put Bush in the White House?

Updated On: 5/27/09 at 10:52 AM

[Jilani]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 10:52am

Here is the relevant sentence from her speech:

"Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, a possibility I abhor less or discount less than my colleague Judge Cedarbaum, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging." (emphasis added)

She is talking about BOTH gender and national origin, and the order in which she named them actually suggests applying "physiological" differences to "gender" and "cultural differences" to "national origin". That seems to me the most logical reading of that sentence, since there actually ARE physiological differences between men and women.
Updated On: 5/27/09 at 10:52 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 11:47am

I would be very happy to have a Supreme Court justice who says things like this:

Each day on the bench I learn something new about the judicial process and about being a professional Latina woman in a world that sometimes looks at me with suspicion.

I am reminded each day that I render decisions that affect people concretely and that I owe them constant and complete vigilance in checking my assumptions, presumptions and perspectives and ensuring that to the extent that my limited abilities and capabilities permit me, that I reevaluate them and change as circumstances and cases before me requires.

I can and do aspire to be greater than the sum total of my experiences but I accept my limitations.

I willingly accept that we who judge must not deny the differences resulting from experience and heritage but attempt, as the Supreme Court suggests, continuously to judge when those opinions, sympathies and prejudices are appropriate.

[tazber]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 11:53am

The GOP doesn't foresee a filibuster.
Link

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 12:28pm

blah, blah, blah. lots of sound and fury and in the end the obnoxious, dumb, racist will get a seat on the court. and we will get to listen to her sound like an idiot for years to come. unless there's something there that no one vetted.

how many of her rulings that have gone before the supremes have been upheld. i mean without them saying, "yes, the ruling is right, but the rationale is utterly wrong and boneheaded?"

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 12:38pm

we will get to listen to her sound like an idiot for years to come

And we will have to listen to you falsely calling her a racist for years to come.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 12:43pm

she is racism incarnate. her picture replaced david duke's in racists' quarterly.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 12:51pm

She's no more obnoxious, dumb or racist than you are.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 1:03pm

i'm not the one who thinks that person cannot be judged without considering the color of their skin or gender. i'm not the one who thinks that i could render better judgements that someone based on solely on their gender and race. she's a racist and her choice to spout those views publicly make her either a moron or more arrogant than the president. hey, maybe i see what he likes about her.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 1:39pm

The number of her opinions overturned by the SC are actually lower than the average for those taken up by review. 5 of her opinions have been reviewed by the Supremes, and her reversal rate is 60%, LOWER than the average of 75%.

"Firstly, only five of Sotomayor's opinions have been ruled upon by the Supreme Court. That's hardly enough to reach a statistically sound conclusion. Moreover, as a matter of semantics, most people don't begin quoting percentages until the number of instances is significantly higher than five.
...
But secondly, a 60 percent reversal rate is actually below average based on the Washington Times' criteria. According to MediaMatters.org, the Supreme Court typically reverses about 75 percent of circuit court decisions that it chooses to rule upon."

But, at this point, you have lost all credibility by parroting the talking points of those not are not even as smart as you are. At some point, facts will overtake talking points.



Up is Down

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 1:56pm

Newt Gingrich just tweeted: Latina woman racist should withdraw

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 1:57pm

any article that cites mediamatters as a source and wishes to be taken seriously has a problem.

someone needs to talk to cnn about the lies they are spreading about her...
1 for 5 and about to be 1 for 6

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:04pm

Spin away papa.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:04pm

proof that newt reads bww.

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:07pm

"Latina woman racist should withdraw"

The word 'woman' is redundant in that sentence. Newt should know better.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:11pm

and for the record, i was making these freakin' points before anybody in the gop was, so they should be referred to as the "papa's points." i cannot help that the gop sees my logic and recognizes the truth of it.

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:15pm

"i cannot help that the gop sees my logic and recognizes the truth of it."

Do you really want that on a bumper sticker?

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:23pm

when i am king of the world the children will start their day with, "we see papa's logic and recognize the truth of it. hail mambo."

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:33pm

And they'll all be staring straight ahead, eyes unblinking, speaking in a monotone voice, repeating the phrase over and over again. Those who blink or stray from the script will be shot and field-dressed by Sarah Palin.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:39pm

she'll do the lucky ones first.

[madbrian]

Posted: 5/27/09 at 2:46pm

Oh, and I forgot, she'll be shooting them from an airplane. They'll be dressed in brightly colored clothes, and sent out into deep snow.

[roquat]

Posted: 5/28/09 at 11:30pm

This is the definition of "reaching." I guess Sonia didn't smoke pot or go to strip clubs in college, so the GOP had to resort to this word-police garbage instead of their usual smear tactics. It's laughable and pathetic.