June
6, 2009
Sotomayor Sort-of-Racist
By
now, we've all heard and saw the video of Sotomayor 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." On its face value,
it is a racist and sexist statement. Obama and his supporters say "it was
taken out of context." Obama said, "I'm sure she would have restated
it." Well, Obama, you're right. As a matter of fact she has restated it a
number of times in speeches and writings.
Sotomayor turned over material relating
to her career to the US senate for the confirmation process. So far, that material
has confirmed that Sotomayor said exactly what she meant and has repeated it many
times. There is no doubt; she thinks that being "a wise Latina woman"
she would "reach a better conclusion than a white male."
Her racism
alone won't keep a democrat majority in the senate from confirming her to the
Supreme Court. However, there is another little problem that may. It seems that
Sotomayor, being a devote Catholic, is pro-life. This is causing a dilemma for
democrats. They may get the liberal racist as a US Supreme Court justice, but
they may also be helping to overturn Roe v Wade. This is a gamble that the democrats
may want to rethink. It has also caused some consternation with conservatives
who are against a racist, but may be willing to trade a bit of racism for the
pro-life movement.
Both sides of the political spectrum would be wise not to
confirm Sotomayor. While she may vote on the pro-life side, she really has no
clue as to how to interpret law. She's been overturned over 80% of the time by
the high court. This could prove to be a problem for the left as she is simply
a loose cannon. There is no rhyme or reason to Sotomayor's legal decisions. They
are never based on the law, but simply on how she feels at the moment.
Also,
it has been learned that Sotomayor first spoke with Obama about the nomination
days before Justice Souter announced his decision to retire this October. In the
meantime, Sotomayor had made glowing compliments regarding Obama. This is a judicial
no-no. It smacks of quid-pro-quo.
Both Obama and Sotomayor got to where they
are not through merit, but simply filling the appropriate quota needed at any
given time. Even if that were not true, it illustrates the problem with Affirmative
Action. It assumes that minorities and women (who are a majority) are incapable
of reaching a position of prominence on their own.
We have seen where white
firemen were denied a promotion by the city of New Haven simply because no blacks
qualified on the racially-blind tests. They sued and Sotomayor on the 2nd Circuit
Court of Appeals sided with the city. Fortunately, one justice on that court,
Judge Cabranes (also a Hispanic and Puerto Rican) gave a very loud dissenting
opinion citing Sotomayor's lack of legal basis. The US Supreme Court heard arguments
last April and will likely announce their decision this June.
The case highlights
Sotomayor's racist attitude and ignorance or lack of legal understanding. Sotomayor
has empathy simply because she knows that she is not qualified to be where she
is today and has spent years rendering decisions that were based on her biases.
TLG
