Today Obama picked Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace Supreme Court Justice Souter. Here are my thoughts on the Sotomayor
1. My earlier guesses on Obama's pick seems to have held up. Female - check, minority - check, radical - check. All the prerequisites are there. There maybe no better time for him to pick a super radical than now. Chances of getting her through confirmation...very good.
3. Glenn Beck pointed out her racist remarks and her "empathy" flying in the face of the oath of SCOTUS. Nice points but with Democrats in the majority, expect all that to fall on deaf ears.
4. Regarding her slapping down a reverse discrimination case, expect that to go no where too. Democrats will fast track her appointment to make sure SCOTUS isn't dealing with it during her confirmation.
5. Best bet for Republicans to defeat her nomination? CHECK HER TAXES! She is an arrogant one, and arrogance and tax cheats go hand in hand. Americans will gloss over many of the arguments against her, but if she is Tax Cheat #8, that will stick and sink her.
6. Expect Democrats to beat back any legitimate Republican arguments with charges of racism and or sexism. Especially any charges of her qualifications or competence.
7. Sotomayor strikes me as someone who is too cute by half. She is in awe of herself and that makes her a very loose canon, even for Obama. If she is appointed, expect her to totally go off the reservation from time to time and vote by her own whims even if that flies in the face of liberal orthodoxy. This pick could actually bite Obama in the butt!
9. Timing is everything! The Sotomayor pick takes Obama's failures with North Korea and Iran off the front pages. Coincidence, methinks not.
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4 comments:
At first blush, I thought, "This is an OK choice. She was a Prosecutor, allegedly tough on crime. She's got great qualifications, she's obviously a bright jurist, so all in all not bad."
I held back my consternation over her dismissing out of hand the New Haven suit, which while certainly debatable, is also very worthy of debate and serious consideration, which she chose not to give it.
But I acknowledge that I have obvious biases in that area, given my support and belief in the need for high standards and that such standards deliberately discriminate against no group.
But her view that her gender and Latin background SHOULD shape her decisions on the bench is troubling to say he least.
In this case, "empathy" is a shouded term to mean "anyone willing to shred the Constitution in the name of feeeelings."
The ONLY sving grace is that she'll be replacing a reliable Liberal (Souter...picked by Bush Sr, btw), so it won't change the balance of the court.
JMK:
I am not too concerned about the Sotomayor appointment simply because she is replacing another liberal. I think as confirmation goes forward, we will see a much more radical picture of her develop.
Given the make up of the senate, Obama would be politically foolish not to try to get his most radical choice in first.
Time will tell.
Yes it will.
She was once a prosecutor in NYC, and while it's puzzling how those who "turn" generally seem to lean Left AFTER having been somewhat Conservative or at least moderate, Sonia Sotomayor MIGHT surprise Conservatives on some score.
I do think her confirmation is virtually assured however, so all Conservatives can do is pray for the continued good health of Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito.
JMK:
So far Sotomayor strikes me as a "mavericky", she thinks highly of herself and therefore will do her own thing. I think if she gets in (pretty sure she will) lefties will be unpleasantly surprised how unpredictable she is.
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