This evening the following posts appear at the top of the Real Clear Politics blog:
May 26th, 2009
Predictably Regrettable
Posted by Tom Bevan
Mike Memoli reports that at today’s briefing White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called early criticism of Sonia Sotomayor “regrettably predictable.” Is Gibbs implying that any criticism of President Obama’s nominee is “regrettable,” or only that which occurs during some unspecified period following the announcement?
And would Gibbs therefore characterize then Senator Obama’s criticisms of Justices Alito and Roberts—both of whom voted against in the end—as “regrettably predictable” as well?
Excellent question, Mr. Bevan. Unfortunately the mainstream media is not going to ponder it. Gibbs has no plans to address conservative/Republican criticism of Sotomayor based on her record. According to him, there’s no reason to: Gibbs is clearly implying that any opposition from the right will be based on Sotomayor’s gender and, more importantly, ethnicity.
And Gibbs is not alone. Now consider this charge against Republicans:
May 26th, 2009
GOP Race Gauntlet on Sotomayor
Posted by David Paul Kuhn
At the top of the 3 p.m. hour came a hint for Republicans of the race gauntlet ahead.
On MSNBC, Nora O'Donnell led the hour with the news “breaking now” of “surprising reaction” that “some on the right are already critical of the woman that would be the nation's first Hispanic American on the high court.”
These are the subtle media comments that infuriate conservatives. Conservative opposition to Sonia Sotomayor is framed not as a dispute over policy and worldviews—liberal vs. conservative legal disputes—but opposition to her as a Latina.
Oh really, Mr. Kuhn? SC Justice Clarence Thomas and former AG Alberto Gonzales must not have gotten the memo.
In case you didn’t get that charge of racism against Republicans loud and clear, Kuhn’s post appeared right over this one:
May 26th, 2009
Sotomayor's More Universal Identity Politics
Posted by David Paul Kuhn
Much will be said today about the optics of Sonia Sotomayor. Drudge gets to the point with the large headline: OBAMA PICKS LATINA. …
First of all, Mr. Kuhn, Hispanic is not a race. Second of all, I challenge you to cite a single example of a conservative opposing Sotomayer over her ethnicity. You won’t be able to find one. Just like you wouldn’t find an example of conservative opposition to Obama’s presidency because of his race (no matter what the fact-allergic Jeneane Garofalo says).
On the contrary, Mr. Kuhn, it is you and your ilk who are the racists (or whatever you’d like to call it). You approve of Sotomayer specifically because she is a Latina.
The problem, which people like David Paul Kuhn are actually quite aware, is all the right-wing arguments to oppose Sonia Sotomayor are reasoned, principled, and valid. Which is why the Left in Washington and the media have to make it all about identity politics.
What’s regrettably predictable is that the mainstream media will not focus on Ms. Sotomayor’s record, such as when she threw out a discrimination case in which the plaintiffs were white firefighters who didn’t get promoted even though they passed the required tests, while black applicants who failed the tests were promoted.
What’s regrettably predictable is that they will not focus on Ms. Sotomayor’s statements, such as “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life”—a statement which Rush Limbaugh correctly describes as racist— and “[The] court of appeals is where policy is made”
What’s regrettably predictable is that they will not focus on Ms. Sotomayor’s alliances. As Matthew Vadum at the American Spectator informs us, Sotomayor served on the board of a George Soros-funded LatinoJustice PRLDEF:
Along with groups such as the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), LatinoJustice fought a war of attrition against President George W. Bush’s 2001 nomination of conservative Miguel Estrada, a Honduran-born immigrant, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Democrats in the Senate filibustered the nomination and a weary Estrada withdrew from consideration in 2003.
Hmm. How does that fit into Kuhn’s bizarro conservatives-are-racists universe?
So, the media will focus on “regrettably predictable” criticism from the right. That will put the Republicans—those who will fight the appointment at least—on the defensive. Out of fear and political correctness, no serious opposition to Sotomayor will be built. The entire debate about appointing Sotomayor to the Supreme Court will have nothing to do with her judicial restraint, or her views on how personal background and policy preferences affect what should be impartial Constitution-based opinions. It will be about her gender and ethnicity. Period.
Just as the Obama and the media planned.
Becuae the goal of all this caterwauling about right-wing criticism is simple: Just as they helped Barack Obama get elected President of the United States, they will ultimately help Sonia Sotomayor get appointed. Thus, we will have another liberal activist judge initially nominated by a Republican president (thanks, George H.W. Bush) ascend to the highest court of the land.
Welcome to the future, suckers.
Other blogs on the issue: The Provocateur, Black Informant, Bookworm Room, Don Surber.
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