Senate Republicans Reveal More About Their Thinking And Biases Than Sotomayor's
By Nicole Belle Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 10:30amMy oh my, I don't think the Republican Party is trying very hard to disprove the widely held notion that they are the party of privileged white men. Let's look at their perhaps unintentionally revealing tactics in questioning Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor:
First, we have Sen. Jeff "I couldn't become a federal judge because of my racist tendencies" Sessions basically telling Sotomayor that he expects her judgments to fall in line with other Puerto Ricans on the bench, because they're Puerto Rican. (h/t Think Progress)
And then Sen, Jon "We don't want no stinkin' Gazan refugees" Kyl goes off on a SEVEN minute rant to Sotomayor over his out-of-context interpretation of her "wise Latina" remark (thinking and talking points courtesy of Rush Limbaugh), despite the fact that Sotomayor had already addressed this issue a number of times.
And then Sen. Lindsey "I'm going to throw a tantrum and shut down the Senate if you get to see what we enabled" Graham treated Sotomayor with such attitude that even MSNBC's Tamron Hall and Mike Viquera termed it "patronizing".
And then to really hit home how the GOP's exposure to minorities come almost exclusively from TV sitcoms, Sen. Tom "Don't Ask, Don't Tell about my fellow GOP's sordid affairs" Coburn invokes none other than Ricky Ricardo to warn Sotomayor if she--metaphorically speaking, of course--attacked him.
Really, GOP...how do you think you're gonna attract that all-important Latino bloc of voters to your side in 2010-- with fried chicken and potato salad?
Login or Register to post comments.
--truly represent the South, it sounds to these Northern ears that Obama is incorrect in his assertion that our country is made up not of red States and blue states but the United States of America. These past few weeks' shenanigans tell me it's way past time to stick a fork in the GOP. I know Obama wants to leave a legacy of beginning to bring the parties together through his stubborn bi-partisanship, but sometimes it's more prudent to bring in Dr. Kevorkian, lest you sacrifice yourself.
for the important Latino bloc
Interesting thing I read: When doing "I Love Lucy" the writers would have Lucy make fun of Ricky's (her then real life husband Desi), accent and the audience would howl. However, if the writers had any other character do the dame thing, the audience reaction was more somber. So, Sen. Coburn, I think you just screwed yourself over.
he's got some 'splaning to do.
Oh whosie!
They can't help themselves. Republicanazi are not progressive, they are regressive, including in matters of race.
for the important white trailer trash block.
yet of course.
Unless caught in a closet with an Intern.
as always.
down below?
and Dems spoked like Jethro from the "Beverly Hillbillies" or used quotes from "Deliverance"...
Ejected from the Pelosi event?
LOL
...southern white man with those references...just like your grand wizzard Sessions.
would have risen that high in the klanocracy. Maybe if he was named just Beau or Junior.
Sotomayor surely realizes that the thugs assailing her have no intention of asking real questions. Their only purpose is to try to rile her anger so they can point and say, "See? She's an angry, dangerous minority!"
Lindsay Graham is of course the most irritating of the thugs, but there's no reason to respond to his childish taunts with anything but patience and courtesy. Hopefully that will piss off the little prick.
and she's a racist too!
LOL only in Murcia the Debt Republic
Lindsey tried to telegraph yesterday that she was a hot headed Latina. He kept suggesting that she had some sort of out of control temper. How she kept calm through his snide questions is beyond me. If she had gone over and bitch slapped the hell out of him, I would have cheered. He is the epitome of asshole.
All Lindsay Graham needs is the cute party dress, ruffled undies and a binky hanging from his neck.
Oh...I'm sorry...that's his typical Saturday night.
I'll take a wise Latina over a dumb racist conservative any day
I was at the 2006 "Helldorado Days" in Tombstone AZ in the parade was a campaign car with Jon Kyl also in the parade was a demonstration of men dressed in confederate uniforms carrying the confederate flag. It was offensive.
Does Jon Kyl align himself with groups that celebrate the Confederacy?
It's the only they can remain relevant.
I have even greater admiration for the Judge now after watching her sit there and be spoken to like she was some student learning about law by a bunch of shitheads who were all about tearing her down rather than discovering who she is and her rationale for her decisions. That she could sit there and not either walk over and slap the shit out of them or tell them to go to hell, shows she is one hell of a woman. After she had to tackle the "wise Latina" comment the second time, she should have asked the next one who brought it up, What the fu*k part of my last explanation didn't you understand?
She may be a saint because a regular person couldn't so calmly put up with what she has this week.
It's a job interview
Yeah it was a job interview, that's what it's supposed to be, but this was an insulting grilling by men with narrow minds.
besides they want to see if she's tough enough to play by men's rules. Men don't get into anything that reeks of maternal instincts, empathy, etc. They can act well if they want something though.
Well duh! Hello? I'm a woman and I have had experience with men. I know all about men acting. :)
... we're nice because we know you'll clock us one if we misbehave. ;)
Why I never. I'm the blushing flower who just sits back and smiles at all comments, good and bad. I've never raised my hand to anyone here, however sometimes I will try to kill someone with kindness. That's kinda fun.
I've never raised my hand to anyone here
So you wouldn't slap me around some, not even if I BEG you to????
Depends on what would be in it for me. ;)
Why mess up the manicure?
Yeah, 6.9 lbs of total bad assed dog hulk. He takes care of everything.
My husband has been out of town on business since Monday morning. During this time I often look at Martini and hope to hell no one breaks in because well, all they are going to do is laugh themselves to death when they see my hunky dog.
You made a comment yesterday that was down right insulting to all men. To clarify your sexist comments in the past two days, hate to say it but it takes two to tango. We're on equal grounds here. You're anger towards men isn't very attractive and simply insulting.
But I do wish she would have been more precise in her definition of what type of men.
This comment and the one she made yesterday was pretty insulting. She's lumping all men into one category. She makes us seem like high school jocks seeing how many times we can get laid. I could sit here and type about an ex-wife and a handful of girlfriends that were complete pigs and say all woman are the same but I wont like her. I think she needs to direct her anger not at men but the men that pissed her off years ago.
...it really shouldn't upset you that much. I really think POP was kidding anyway.
me this way would have seen me get up and tell them to shove their jobs where their collective heads are... up their a$$e$!
Sessions: How come *I* didn't get confirmed? Waaaaaaaah!
Kyl: Guggamuggafuggashuggabugga. How would you answer my question?
Graham: Please, won't y'all have a meltdown so I can justify being a smug bastard?
Coburn: And if this theoretical fetus had a theoretical birth defect, what would you say about Roe v. Wade? Theoretically, of course.
attacked the Cons take over and the Dems line up like little willing sheep behind them.
Sceparchy? (Government by sheep.)
gives a sh*t anymore. All they are concerned with is themselves and making sure the mass public at least have basic food in their bellies so they don't go berserk from hunger and yank out the guillotines and pitchforks.
... because there's no corrective authority overseeing the Congress. Oh, sure, you can vote the idiots out, but that's like letting a drunk driver stay behind the wheel on a cross-country trip.
in his half hour!!
___________
"...Once in awhile you get shown the light
in the strangest of places
if you look at it right..."
LOL good luck with that
If enough damage has not been done by the repubs to the Latino voters, Dennis Miller is going to be on BillO tonight making comments on Judge Sotomayor and her appearance. One can imagine where he's going with that.
guess.
Dennis Miller has *never* been much of a comedian. His appearance on the "Bill-O-Lies" show can only hurt Republicans. He can hurl insults at whomever he likes, but his schtick is really just an insult to the craft of comedy. Ratings fall when he goes on, from what I've heard.
Speaking of ratings, thank you, all, for watching the above Repugnicant senators blather on so I don't have to.
Miranda routine re. Sotomayor's experience as a Latina.
I hate Rethugs. I hate them I hate them I hate em. Ugh.
However, Ms. Sotomayor's composure in the midst of dealing with these poor excuses for men makes me very proud to be a Mexican-American woman!
Dennis Miller will use big words and voice inflections. The big words are to inflate his ego. The voice inflection is so O'Reilly's listeners will know when to nod their heads in acceptance. Dennis Miller has been a complete failure in anything he's done. FOX News is his last chance and he knows it. On SNL he was stuck reading the news and barely if ever was in any skits. He had a talk show that lasted two season. HBO picked him up after that failure and did a show with no studio audience FOR YEARS!!!! Any one remember that? didn't think so. Just rambling on. Oh yeah, he was on Monday Night Football and lasted two season. I hear he beat out Rush Limbaugh for the spot. Limbaugh eventually got the spot and you almost wished Miller was still there. This is Millers last chance, FOX News. If he fails here, he'll have to rob Quicki-marts to pay for his coke.
graham has had his fringed leather chaps in an absolute wad ever since he got "mr congeniality" at the leather ball and parade in the Castro.
he was convinced that he deserved at least second runner up with his heart-wrenching rendition of scarlett o'hara doing the ballroom scene in gone with the wind. he got all chafed and bruised from the petticoat and corset but he thought he had it locked in. after all, he had Ryan Seacrest flown in to play rhett butler. how could he lose? well, he did. to two 19 year old Jonas Brothers impersonators no less.
and lets not forget about him losing his own pet earmark in the senate defense appropriations bill. he was penciled in for free flirtinis and appletinis on Fire Island during Fleet Week (he WAS in the Navy after all) but when the CBO determined that the cost could run into the millions, he withdrew it. and he has been insufferable ever since.
As much as I enjoyed that lil scenario, it pales compared to my 20 year old gossip on Senator Hatch. No ballroom scenes but tons of awkward over his "date".
Preach! Preach! dont just tease us!
way too few straight white men posting in this comment thread.
never been big on following the crowd.
I require.
Diversity is like the basic element of creation you would think humanity would have "gotten it" by now.
The real culprit is lifestyle clashes not diversity itself.
Of course lifestyle choices are manufactured, marketed and "sold" to the public so there's another problem yet to be dealt with.
could I choose a more fulfilling lifestyle?
its sad that there are many battles with racism still going on at this time.
can begin my individualist response.
I hope after the hearings each day the Judge goes home, has a couple of cocktails and laughs her ass off as she talks with her friends about what a bunch of pigs she had to deal with that day.
If I were her, I'd also replay the jerks' questions and give answers I had to bite my tongue over, i.e. "Enough with the 'wise latina' crap! Weren't you listening when I answered it BEFORE, or were you elsewhere, busy soliciting sex? You ARE a republican, after all."
I wish as these goofs were hammering her, we could have seen in a little bubble over her head what she was really thinking.
That would be great! I see a vision of Bugs Bunny, saying, "What a maroon!"
made public of this nature with bug technology or a listening van disguised as media sitting out front her place.
(Sigh) you're probably right. Maybe she could do it after she's confirmed.
Or maybe some comedian would do it for the public's benefit. I think it would be hilarious.
These Senators love to testify to their own cause. What ever happened to asking a direct question? Don't they understand how to do this? Oh wait they want her to have a melt down, and after what I have read today intellect in women is scary thats why Palin is their golden goddess.
...nothing done. Assholes like these three idiots love to hear themselves ramble on about nothing. Ask the same questions over and over. Bring up YOUR short comings to try to pin down someone who is ten times the person you ever dreamed of being.
How insulting that we have to have such f*cking morons represent us in Congress and deal with the well being of the American people. These butts lickers need to be replaced..PRONTO. IDIOTS!! All three of them...and more!
Remember how the senators whined because she had so many cases they wouldn't have time to read them all before the hearings began? Now here we are and the only thing they read was "wise latina"
Wait for a Politician to improve your life and you'll be waiting forever still applies.
My husband and I didn't wait for the govt to improve our lives, we used the do-it-yourself way.
Republicans think now? When did this happen? I always thought they were like the bugs in Starship Troopers led by their nastier than nasty brain bug leader Rush Limbaugh.
De gringo make-a me so embarass! Aye caramba! Taco Bell! Ricardo Montalban! Aye chihuahua!
The Republicans are cementing their base with this amazing display of cultural ignorance. What they probably don't realize is that it's strengthening the Democratic Party even more.
The Reslugs base includes only the uneducated, racists, bigots, intolerant and the Wing-Nut domestic terrorists.
But their polis and their media pundits and yet they are the centrists and moderates and the mainstream and anyone slightly left of that is somehow far*10^1000 left. That's how the conservative dems can go around pretending they're "liberal".
Graham was making me sick at that point, and now i know why - he was patronizing Sotomayor. It makes so much sense now. Graham thinks he is so high and mighty - that's why he;s let his morality atrophy.
Now he's just a republicanazi zombie by the looks of it, with a superiority complex.
When she gets confirmed she will be more powerful than him. Can you imagine his chagrin?
Why is it the one's with the thickest "southern drawl" have biggoted responses with heavy predudice? Everytime I hear a "southern drawl" I almost immediately think it's an impediment indicating a flawed personality with deep, mental issues. Speak English properly! Annunciate your words...don't "drawlllllll" them out. It's just not a natural way to speak. It's like a "tell". It tells you what you're dealing with.
Oregard Beauregard
It could be anyone from anywhere with a thick regional accent - the result of lasting early local influence on thinking and speaking - that may indicate they are also set in their ways in general.
I mean, maybe you could sub a north east accent and your statement still works...
For a short time in my life I sold display ads for a local newspaper. One of my clients was a car dealership and the guy who owned it had a thick as hell southern accent. He told me once that when people bought cars from him, because of his accent the customers thought he was stupid and everytime he sold a car the buyer automatically thought they had gotten the best of the deal. Don't be fooled by accents.
Oh no, don't be "fooled" by the accent. The point is I have these "kinds" in my family closet(believe me, we keep them in the closet...incest, prison time, etc). They are "highly predudice"(and they are no gems themselves). Their deciet levels seem higher than the average bear and their self- rationale is always there. Their bigotry seems, almost, guaranteed. And when dealing with them they throw tantrums, falsely accuse and believe "their way" is proven American. But they back stab family members for gain.
Sessions and Lindsay Graham have that kind of drawlll that just shouldn't be trusted as well balanced. Most who have that lack of proper annunciation think they're getting something over on you. Don't trust that salesman with it. Definetly. It's a "tell" that they're up to something. It just seems a flaw in their mental choices:if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck it's probably a duck. Birds of a feather do flock together. It's ok to defend the obvious. But, be aware of it too.
think you're gonna attract that all-important Latino bloc of voters to your side in 2010"
You said it. These GOP fools are slitting their own throats with this kind of behavior. They need the Latino vote to be of any relevance and they act like this.
Anyone see BillO attacking a Latino group on last night's "Factor"? Not only did he attack them trying to get Latino candidates elected but he also mocked the Latino accent by rolling his R's in a greatly exaggerated manner.
If the GOP keeps it up, they will work themselves into oblivion.
.....does Sen. Sessions just exude stupidity? Never before have I looked at someone and said to myself, "God, that guy LOOKS like a stupid idiot"! Teh Stoopid just shines out of his hangdog face.
Lucy, you have some splainin to do? Are these people completely dumb or is their racism that deep that they just don't care? Thank god this isn't a black woman or they'd be offering her diapers, fried chicken and a watermelon. (don't attack me for that, it's the stereotype shared by many conservatives)
the funniest part is they are trying to be respectful to not piss off the Latino voters but they just can't help themselves.
Why not just quote Chico from Chico and the Man
And I haven't even brought up their condescending sexism.
The comments Lindsay Graham read originate from lawyers who regularly appear before Judge Sotomayor. Graham did not make them up. I regret to say that there is no disputing the fact that among this group, she has a reputation for lack of congeniality and hostility and arrogance. And these are lawyers who do not say the same thing about other judges, be they Latino, female, or African-American.
I have litigated in federal courts for 25 years. Judge Sotomayor is not the worst judge or the biggest bully I have experienced, but she is certainly in the bottom 25 percent. I support her nomination because she is not unqualified (I never got no summa from Princeton and her resume beats hell out of mine), because I support Obama, and because it is disgusting that no Latina has made it to the Supreme Court.
I just wish I had more reasons to support her. Like that she is a great or brilliant or exceptionally fair Judge. She is none of those things.
who graduated from Harvard Law and clerked with several federal judges before going into his practice.
According to him, Sotomayor does not have a reputation of being particularly friendly. However, that isn't a prerequisite for being a Supreme Court Justice. She is demanding, doesn't suffer fools gladly (which makes her performance during these hearings all that much more impressive) and can be brusque with those around her.
However, I wonder how much (and honestly, I don't know the answer to this) of the "bitch on wheels" reputation she has in law circles comes from being a woman in a man's world. My personal experience is that women do the same things as ambitious men are often referred to as "ball-busters" and other epithets.
Friendliness is irrelevant, I agree. And there is a double standard, as you say. And,yes, she is doing a good job at the hearings, though not blowing your top in the U.S. Senate shouldn't impress us too much. None of the above proves that Judge Sotomayor is free from arrogance and willful ignorance, however.
I clerked for a woman Judge -- an infinitely better lawyer than me -- and respect and admire my woman colleagues. Thank God that they are transforming and improving the law and the legal workplace. (Much nicer place now, for me at least, than back when I started, in what was then a male club.) And the tougher the better, as far as I am concerned.
But there is a reason we call them "hearings." Those "fools" she will not suffer are the representatives of parties before the court.
If she does not listen, she will not hear.
Kyle made some perfectly valid points. The fact is that Sotomayer *has* quite clearly stated in the past that her Latino background and experience helps her in decision making, and even makes her a potentially better judge than old white men. And it bothers me that Sotomayer has not only failed to respond adequately to these points, but that she has been given a free pass in the media for doing so.
It seems to me that Sotomayer's present claims about making judgements based only on "the law" are very much at odds with her previous statements, and quite frankly make her look disingenuous. If she thinks her background makes her a better judge, she should be honest about that, not suddenly change her tune when she gets in front of Congress and try to pretend she's some sort of literalist.
if you bothered to listen to the whole of Sotomayor's speech that day to see that she didn't say anything of the sort. In point of fact, she said just the opposite, but that's one of those inconvenient facts that prevent any actual critical thinking being from believing that Kyl had a valid point.
Well it might have helped Nicole if you guys had actually posted her responses instead of just the questions. It does make it rather hard to make a judgement. Admittedly I haven't watched much of the proceedings, only clips because I haven't time to do anything else, but the responses I have seen to date have not impressed me much.
On this site and on our sister sites, Video Cafe and Third Branch.
I also gave the full context of her "wise Latina" remarks several weeks ago:
withdrawn
Login or Register to post comments.