Just Words? At Sotomayor Hearings, Rhetoric is Relevant

Words mean things. Communication with words is how we convey what we think or mean of feel. That's how you know what the person is try to reveal, his or her inner thoughts. The spoken word. There is nothing to be taken out of context here. She was very clear and presise in her chosen words. She is, by all accounts, an intelligent woman and you are saying that IN THIS case she has misinterpreted her feelings or thoughts? RIGHT. She meant what she said and sticks to it. Regarding the replacing of "one with a simular one" justification, that's not the point here. Any future judge should be appointed or rejected based on his/her qualifications and not whether he/she resembles the charactoristics of the hole being filled.

Is it possible to have a reasoned political discussion with people who think Sotomayor isn't qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice but Palin is qualified to be President? How about with others who insist that President Obama is a Muslim and wasn't born in this country? I would think that the best you could do was insult the cretins

The statement in question was made to a collection of female latina lawyers and judges. That was the context of the statement. If she had made such a comment to a judicial panel composed primarily of white men then it would have raised my eyebrow but she didn't. It was a cultural comment made to women of the same culture. She didn't mispresent herself at all. She is being misrepresented by people who have been unable to find anything substantial in her judicial history.

As for words, words become utterly meaningless if you analyze them to death. It's kinda like the bible; a statement can say whatever you want it to say if you want it to. You want to read her statement as a racist statement of latina superior, you will read it as such. That doesn't make it implicitly true. Now, if you had... say... a half dozen statements in a wide variety of contexts all with a similar message then your claim would have some more traction. What you have effectively done is projected an incident into a pattern of behavior for which no evidence exists.

As the Senate kicked off the historic confirmation hearing of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, it seemed every other senator felt compelled to remind her how lucky she was to be there.

Echoing Sen. Patrick Leahy's remark that Sotomayor is the product of a "truly American story," GOP senators wasted no time in suggesting that as a self-described "wise Latina," Sotomayor's background has instilled her with intolerable bias.

REP Minority espouses: "I will not vote for ... an individual nominated by any President who believes it is acceptable for a judge to allow their own personal background, gender, prejudices, or sympathies to sway their decision in favor of, or against, parties before the court," Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions said in his opening remarks.

Ironically, these hearings have brought up Sen. Jeff Sessions's own troubling relationship with race.

According to numerous sources, Sessions once joked that he "used to think [the Klu Klux Klan] were OK" until he discovered they were "pot smokers."

Sen Sessions is also said to have "called a white civil rights lawyer a traitor to his race," and repeatedly called a black assistant attorney to the state of Alabama "boy."

Touche' again Somber! Your excellent comments always illustrate your vastly superior education, intellect & honesty, which seems to drive; the largely hypocrite AOL Conservative posters, inverse proportional to the US mainstream majority opinions, even further out of proven mainstream AMERICAN, relevance!

"It's odd that conservatives would pick this troubled proven racist as their leading voice against the first Latina nominated to the Supreme Court,"

After all it was Sessions who WAS Not confirmed to legally represent the US judicially because of his obvious & well proven BIAS!

leading the GOP/RNC ever further away from Mainstream America, as proven by any valid Scientific Polling! Online Opinion comments & polls are not representative of Mainstream USA reality!

The quality of the words don't matter to dems right now. What matters is the quantity. The longer the Soto-hearings go on the, the more dust that it stirs up, the better it is for the Liberal Express.

Sotomayor will be turned into somewhat of a fiasco as the left needs a diversion from the biggest principle parts of their Liberal push and, surprisingly, the Repukes are going to give The Big O the assist on this one. If the Repukes were smart then they would shut up, vote her through and move on. But who are we kidding ... they aren't smart ... they can grandstand with the best of them:

http://splashinthepacific.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/soto-slaughter-republican-folly/

Pundit: as usual, excellent posts. When you get a chance, Google Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky senator who came out early against Sotomayor, and now confirmas he won't support her nomination. I'm tracking stories on the characterization of his military discharge (unsuitability/homosexuality) and and his serial groping of men. Of course these are just wild accusations, ...McConnell is married (second marriage)to Elaine Chao(Bush II cabinet member), but then Larry Craig had a sham marraige also. while being a homosexual is not a crime, being a hypocrite should be.

Just Words? At Sotomayor Hearings

She's Racist,Sexist and a TYPICAL Lying LIBERAL buffoon that SHOULD BE TRIED FOR PERJURY!!!

http://wadesayswhat.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/“sotomayor-this-is-where-policy-is-made”/

I'm proud of you, mstohler, your post gets a 100% rating for being totally fact free. Do you even know what Socialism is?

mstohler - You are right. Remember President told us the kind of person he would pick for a judge if he had the opportunity - and he did. Do you think Obama cares what the public thinks? I do not..
A smiling peacock who thinks sitting down with men who want to kill us, and talk. They are laughing at him. You know what a person is like by those he choses to surround him.
This woman meant what she said.. a little racist?