Whatever Happened to No Discrimination...

...Based on Race, Gender, or National Origin?

Barack Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor because of her race, gender, and national origin - and because her legal opinions will be based on the "unique sensitivities" such background brings to the court that no white male could bring. Wow!

For the past 4 decades it has been illegal to choose anyone for anything on that basis - not employees, not college students, not contractors, not tenants - no one.

Newt Gingrich correctly observed: “A white man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. A Latina woman racist should also withdraw.” Ironically, Janet Murguía, president of the National Council of La Raza ("La Raza" meaning "The Race", more specifically the race of people indigenous to Mexico) warned against judging Sotomayor "unfairly." Well, well, Ms. "non-racist" racist La Raza President, I'm pretty sure what your opinion of "unfair" will be. Pretty much the same as your Puerto Rican, non-gender neutral, non-race-neutral female hispanic pal, Sonya.

(Note to critics of my sexist, racist verbiage: I only mention these gender and racial qualities because they are central in importance to our President Obama and to his Supreme Court nominee - not because I'm racist or sexist as I would be called if not for the fact that it has apparently become popular and accepted to be so.)

As the Wall Street Journal pointed out: "In the President's now-famous word, judging should be shaped by "empathy" as much or more than by reason. In this sense, Judge Sotomayor would be a thoroughly modern Justice, one for whom the law is a voyage of personal identity."

In the interest of "change", Obama has nominated a self-declared racist to be on our Supreme Court. But what else could we expect from Obama, with his background steeped in racist rhetoric - 20 years of listening to "Not God Bless America; God damn America." And the company he keeps - yes - is there any doubt this is his natural course?

Will she be confirmed? A quick "Google" of "will Sotomayor be confirmed" indicated a solid consensus she will. I would hope for a resounding "ya gotta be kiddin'" rebuke of Obama from Congress. But in reality, the most likely "best case" is a long (and essential) confirmation debate.

In Sotomayor's Own Words
by Human Events

05/27/2009

President Obama on Tuesday nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be on the Supreme Court. Here are some provocative statements she has made in the past.

“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.”

"I simply do not know exactly what the difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.”

“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.”

“America has a deeply confused image of itself that is in perpetual tension. We are nation that takes pride in our ethnic diversity, recognizing its importance in shaping our society and in adding richness to its existence.Yet, we simultaneously insist that we can and must function and live in a race and color-blind way that ignore these very differences that in other contexts we laud… Many of us struggle with this tension and attempt to maintain and promote our cultural and ethnic identities in a society that is often ambivalent about how to deal with differences.”

“I wonder whether by ignoring our differences as women or men of color we do a disservice both to the law and society.”

“I further accept that our experiences as women and people of color affect our decisions. The aspiration to impartiality is just that -- it’s an aspiration because it denies the fact that we are by our experiences making different choices than others.”

“All of the Legal Defense Funds out there -- they're looking for people with Court of Appeals experience. Because it is -- Court of Appeals is where policy is made. And I know, and I know, that this is on tape, and I should never say that. Because we don't ‘make law.’ ”

“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.”