I would like you to consider the video Race to the Bottom, which was compiled by Media Matters for America. I actually find the material and language used here to be so offensive that I do not want to type the words on my keyboard! Please judge for yourselves and decide what you think of these observations.
We are so sharply divided in this country right now and it is evident in almost every aspect of our lives. Nowhere more than when you read the online newspapers. Thanks to the wonders of the cyber-world we can now give instant feedback to whatever we read, think, or feel. Right this minute there are 2,140, and counting, comments under a story in the Huffington Post, with a headline reading "It’s Only Outrageous When She Says It!” The hot button topic of Judge Sonia Sotomayor is practically spilling out of the digital papers as blog after blog and report after report proclaim they have the freshest angle on her or the most information and statistics on her even the style section of the Huffington Post has a question and a little opinion poll to go with it titled “What kind of style will Judge Sotomayor bring to her court robes?"
From The New York Times to this article you’re reading right now we all want a piece of the story of the day. I am motivated to write about Judge Sonia Sotomayor after reading the most vile and hateful words describing the President's pick. I want to counterbalance this whirlwind of words and pictures, facts and statistics with a message to tone down the rhetoric and politicization of this very able woman.
Rachel Maddow on MSNBC explains the attacks and criticisms against Judge Sotomayor by using "props." She compares the makeup of the Supreme bench to a whiskey sour; the four Republicans are the sugar, the two Democrats are the lemon, and the two independent thinkers are the whiskey. This is going to be just one more fight in an already too long line of them amongst our political factions in the United States today and it is really sad that we don't talk to each other anymore.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Doug Hunter
"because of a much publicized statement she had made in regards to how a Latina woman from an impoverished background might be able to interpret the law DIFFERENTLY than her predominately English white male counterparts"
She didn't say 'differently', she said 'better'. The fact that you feel the need to misrepresent her statement, consciously or otherwise, is very telling.
Also Newt had a great point in that if a white male had said that he was better than a Latino he would be disqualified (and likely not even nominated in the first place). Do you disagree? As a self described flaming liberal I suspect you'd be the first in line to bash a white male who made a racist comment especially if you didn't agree with his politics.
2 - Jordan Richardson
Does anyone have the context of the "wise Latina woman" quote? What was she addressing specifically? It's very difficult to discuss the quotation out of context, although it does make for a nice soundbyte for those with political agendas.
I've been looking for a broader sense of her remarks but I haven't been able to find anything.
3 - Jordan Richardson
Spoke too soon, I found it.
So basically she's giving a lecture about her experiences specifically as a Latina. The title of the speech is "A Latina Judge's Voice."
In the speech, she says this:
"We are a 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."
She then goes on to discuss the lack of minority judges and how different experiences provide different judgments, etc.
The quote in question comes here:
"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. Justice O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O'Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, 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."
And she also says this:
"Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see. My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage."
Now is it "racist" to suggest that some personal background and experiences may produce better results dealing with certain cases than someone elses' background? I'm not entirely sure that I agree that she was being racist, but I can understand how politically-motivated Republicans could flip it in such a way. She probably should have been more careful with her choice of words, as I think from the context of the speech it's pretty clear what she meant.
4 - El Bicho
Well sure, Jordan, if you are going to put the sentence in context and make an effort to understand what she was saying, that's certainly one interpretation.
5 - Jeannie Danna
Doug, [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."] Jordan found the quote and I stand corrected. I copied it from MSNBC so you will have to call them now. :)
Jordan, I have written my opinion here through my liberal eyes and I am not claiming to be some sort of political expert on Judge Sonia Sotomayor. That's the point of the whole essay.
I hope that you can all debate without resorting to calling me or Judge Sotomayor names...I was really angry Wednesday at certain individuals and I had no right going off on the entire GOP but I will not be called vile names or put up with verbal abuse by anyone.
The point, and let me reiterate, is that I just like Judge Sotomayor see the world from my perspective, we all do, and this deference can enrich our lives if we would just learn to appreciate each other's culture.
I really like the way Dave Nalle edited my article and He made two subtle changes that improved it....thanks Dave :)
6 - Doug Hunter
Jordan and Jeanie,
I'm not making the case that the judge is some virulent racist or that I'm even offended by the comment. The first thing I did was look up the full text of the speech and am well aware of the context. I'm simply suggesting we have a double standard on these things and if the roles were reversed your team (the liberals) would be up in arms shouting racism from the rooftops and I'd be the one searching for 'context'.
The difference is the controversy will pass for Judge Sotomayer and she will continue. Contrast that with someone like Senator Lott. At another senator's birthday party he says basically you would have made a good president (when you ran in the 40's or 50's) People look back and realize that at the time the senator supported segregation and was a racist and that is pinned on Lott.
Now in context that was simply a case of saying something nice at a birthday party but your side jumped all over it and he was forced to resign.
When it's a white male context doesn't matter, a double standard does exist. That was my point, not that the judge is dangerous.
7 - SD
I can not help but thinking that a quote from a statement 8 years ago and taken out of context is should not be the sole basis to judge a person. Everyone is a composite of their life experiences, education, culture, and other influences that make each person unique. I fail to see her comment as racist..just a statement about her perspective. Should not differing views on a subject make us stronger in the long run as we can see all sides of an issue? Is that not what America is all about? Good article Jeannie.
8 - roger nowosielski
I agree, SD. What she ought to do, though, is to address the issue and explain the context and the quote. I wouldn't definitely want to be running on such a "platform" as a nominee for SCOTUS.
9 - Jeannie Danna
Thank you SD! I know this is going to be a ruff ride and it was good to see your comment...:)
10 - roger nowosielski
"double standard does exist"
Correct, Doug - but I wouldn't worry about other contexts because people will be people. But you can't be running on the double standard as a nominee. She'll have to repudiate.
11 - roger nowosielski
Anyways, we do have a mechanism in SCOTUS for a dissenting opinion. So why rub it in the face of "old white men" and play one-upmanship?
12 - Jeannie Danna
Doug, I believe the time has come for America to embrace all her cultures, not just the privileged; please do not be offended by this statement. I see a lot of disenfranchised people in our country today. If we can reflect all our ethnicities by appointing representative Judges to the Supreme Court I say why not? It is high time we enriched our American culture with the tapestry we have in front of us, the family of man, and this may sound like a slogan but we are the United States not the Divided States.
13 - roger nowosielski
" If we can reflect all our ethnicities by appointing representative Judges to the Supreme Court I say why not?"
That's the best argument for supporting her - everything else (i.e., the matter of qualifications, characters, etc.) being equal.
14 - roger nowosielski
So you've finally decided to brave it in, Jeannie, by publishing in the nasty Politics section.
15 - Jeannie Danna
Roger, Are you referring to the day I joked around saying I was tired of old white men running this country? I guess I was being playful and not sensitive to others..sorry :(
16 - roger nowosielski
Not really, Jeannie - just used the term in the context of Sonia's remarks.
I'm trying to get a blow-out of your picture, but I can't.
17 - Jeannie Danna
Roger, You are not nasty! you are fun! BTW I got a grammar checker in a new word program, unfortunately it won't work here. You'll have to suffer with the rest of em!
18 - Jeannie Danna
That's my glowing profile..like it? I look like the whitest woman in the world! :)
19 - roger nowosielski
I use Microsoft Office Word, Student version. Find it fully-functional.
So you must be a northern Italian, not a Siciliano.
20 - Jeannie Danna
I'm Italian where it counts in my heart! My actual blood line is a mystery Roger,I was adopted and I find this fact surprisingly freeing in my old age...:)
21 - roger nowosielski
Wow! They must have loved you. The Italians are great people, like the Greeks. I was being courted once by an Italian family in NYC. They all want to check you out first whether you're right for their daughter. I was too young, though.
I bet you, though, that had I married I would have stayed married. Once in the family, always in the family.
22 - Jeannie Danna
It's almost time to start a new article here before grass grows under my feet! I feel a blog coming on..:)
23 - Jeannie Danna
Yes Roger they sure loved me...although I drove them nuts! I guess I have that ability
24 - Jimmy McJimmy
Yeah, men don't know what it's like to have labor pains either. Typical female chauvinisms. But what about white female Judges who used to hire Hispanics as maids? Will the Supreme Court soon be the venue of hiss and scratch cat fights? And will Clarence Thomas try to facilitate same?
We have never had two women on the court at the same time, have we?
25 - Jeannie Danna
Does my hair look blonde Roger? I have always wanted to be blonde..:)