Watch what you say

You ain't heard nuthin yet Reg.

The Post Gazette's most notorious national nattering nabob of neoconservatism, Charles Krauthammer, has yet to weigh in on Sotomayor.

This is the first time that I think I've seen the quote written like that, with the "I hope that".  Wow, what a difference.....thank you for that!

As a side note, am I the only one out there who wonders why everyone's making a stink about (a) what her abortion views are (esp. since no one can figure them out) and (b) her supposed "sharp" temperment?  You can't tell me Scalia, or Easterbrook (7th Cir. judge) don't get "sharp".  

Thankfully we now have the true interpretation of a statement from a professional wordsmith.

Ol' Reg put on his archaeologist hat and dug through the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls that contained this quote from 8 years ago.  Way back then, when the Earth was still young, statements were made that modern linquists stuggle to understand.  Those lucky enough to have graduated from the "It Depends On What Your Definition of 'Is' Is University", are able to help us today understand the true meanings of these ancient dialects.

Let's look at that statement again:

"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."

What is it really telling us?

That her conclusions would be better than any white male who has not lived the life of a wise Latina woman.  If her competition are those white men that have lived that life, then I HOPE her nomination is very, very quickly confirmed.

Well maybe we should revise the idea of a jury of one's peers to something more like: a judge & jury of the same race, gender & socioeconomic background for every defendent. That would truly be one's peers, right? It would be so interesting to see what becomes of the "everyone's a victim of this horribly unjust society" mentality when convictions & sentences couldn't be blamed on prejudice (real or imagined).

Sotomayor pulled herself up out of poverty by her bootstraps.   Isn't this supposed to be the classic American success story?  

Oh, wait, after all that, she didn't become a conservative.  And she made a speech to an audience of Latinas that *gasp* talked about her ethnicity as a positive influence on her work as a judge!  She must be a racist mediocrity.

1.  When George W. Bush nominated Italian-American Samuel Alito for a Supreme Court seat, none of his loyal supporters -- the types who are now castigating Sonia Sotomayor for her quote -- complained of racism after Alito stated: "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."  Double standard, much?

2.  George Will long ago rendered himself irrelevant -- not just that recent silliness over the supposed horrors of blue denim, either.  Why, on yesterday morning's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," he was grousing over US government incentives to American auto manufacturers to encourage them to build an increased number of fuel-efficient cars.   Will predicted that American buyers will boycott the new smaller cars by clinging longer to their old gas-guzzlers. Then he attacked the "cash for clunkers" program which provides incentives for owners to trade in their old gas-guzzlers.  Never mind that gas prices are creeping upward again (from ca. $2.00 to $2.50 in recent months), which sooner or later always inspire auto buyers to purchase more fuel-efficient new vehicles.  Will is such a "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche" kinda guy that he doesn't realize how strongly rising fuel prices influence the auto-buying habits of us mere peasants.

I think it's strange how the oppostition is clinging to this one comment, especially given that their boy Alito said something so similar, as Minx points out.

I myself am troubled by her decision in the Connecticut firefighter case, yet the GOP seems to be staying away from that one.  It's more substantive, yet they ignore it.  Are they stupid, or have they another agenda?

Regis, you are astute to ask, "...or have they another agenda?"

In the first half of the 20th century there was considerable prejudice in the US -- including right here in River City, according to some of my elderly Italian-American neighbors old enough to remember -- against people of Italian ancestry, although (fortunately) this has subsided significantly in my lifetime.

However, prejudice against Puerto Ricans remains fairly strong here on the mainland in the early 21st century.  So I suspect some of Sotomayor's opponents exploiting her quote are subliminally fanning discriminatory flames against her (while enjoying technical, if not plausible, deniability).

Egads!!!

Someone in the GOP has a big mouth.  How in the world did Minx and Regis uncover the truth that all conservatives are raging racists?  How did they unravel the super-duper top secret plan to insert racism, without using racism?  Now we might end up with a Latino.  Great.  And a woman no less.  Oh that's right.  All conservatives are raging sexists too. How did they unravel the super-duper top secret plan to insert sexism, without using sexism?

We conservatives should just stick to what we know best.  Becoming greedy billionaires off the sweat of all those minorities who should know their place.  Well, gotta go.  I'm off to church in my Hummer, totin' my six-shooters and a case of beer.  I heard the collection basket was missing $4, so we get to torture a couple of ushers.  Awesome.

Titan Lee, please note that (quite deliberately, might I add) I only wrote that "I suspect SOME [my emphasis] of Sotomayor's opponents exploiting her quote are subliminally fanning discriminatory flames against her..."  Nowhere did I facilely tar all conservatives with the same brush, because only part of them are playing this subliminal race card.

Titan, you spend a considerable amount of time on these blogs with wild general characterizations of people who disagree with you.  Apparently, you can't stand even a suggestion that people of your persuasion might not have 100% pure motives, or might use underhanded tactics.

You can dish it out, but react noisily when you have to take it.

"How in the world did Minx and Regis uncover the truth that all conservatives are raging racists?"

Hmmm? Maybe from reading the "magic negro" and over the top Acorn conspiracy theories from raging conservatives on this forum.