May 31 2009

GOP Self Destructing Over Sotomayor

Published by at 10:42 am under 2010 Elections

It is as I feared, the ‘true conservatives’ have no self control, no class and no business trying to lead a reborn conservative movement to oppose Obama. It is beyond their meager skills. Their over the top, childish rhetoric is the problem – they cannot form a serious thought or debate point. It is become so bad many people are cringing at the self destruction:

Top-ranking Republican strategists who specialize in Hispanic outreach say they are outraged, disturbed and concerned by the type of reception Barack Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court has received from conservative activists.

In the days since the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, several prominent conservative voices have leveled unusually blunt attacks at her resume. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and radio host Rush Limbaugh both insisted that the court of appeals judge was a racist for saying that her Hispanic background allowed her to come to better judicial decisions. Former Congressman Tom Tancredo, on Friday, called Sotomayor a member of the “Latino KKK.”

Is Sotomayor a ‘racist’ for poking fun at white men – especially grumpy old conservative white men? And if calling people names is wrong, has the GOP forgot what they called people who opposed them on comprehensive immigration reform?  

When the idiots on the far right rose up against reasonable immigration reform they cried for the forced round up and deportation of people, just like “Ike” did when he rounded up all Mexican looking people – and accidently coined the racist term wetback:

Round ’em up and kick them all out – even if they have not committed a major crime (working without papers is a process misdemeanor, not a violent crime which deserves serious repercussions).

That is racism. Targeting a people and punishing them based on their race primarily, and a stereotype they use to rationalize going outside the constitution. It is the essence of American racism.

Ethnic pride sprinkled with a cross-sex challenge is not racism. There are white men and women, hispanic men and women, black men and women, asian men and women – and in this country we all COMPETE to be the best of the best. Sotomayor’s claim her background could expand the judicial experience base from which to form opinions is not an attack on others, but an argument on why she should participate. And it is a sound one.

If we call competition to be the best a racist crime then this nation is done. Conservatives used to be promoters of individual determination and self responsibility. We have a woman here who has done this and now it is a crime?

I think someone at the WSJ said it best this week:

But back to Sonia Sotomayor, which is my subject.

She is of course a brilliant political pick—Hispanic when Republicans have trouble with Hispanics, a woman when they’ve had trouble with women. Her background (public housing, Newyorican, Catholic school, Princeton, prominence) is as moving as Clarence Thomas’s, and that is moving indeed. 

Some, and they are idiots, look at Judge Sotomayor and say: attack, attack, kill. A conservative activist told the New York Times, “We need to brand her.” Another told me a fight is needed to excite the base.

Excite the base? How about excite a moderate, or interest an independent? How about gain the attention of people who aren’t already on your side?

These people do not care about the broader America because all they  really want is to contort America into the warped image they think is right. They cannot explore where America could go under a more diverse team leading the way, that is the path to hell as far as they are concerned. To them it is black and white – us verses the rest of the scum.

They have no subtlety. They madly wield hatchets when the skilled application of a scalpel is required. They swing on pendulums of anger without much thought or care.

And they are still destroying the GOP with their madness.

14 responses so far

14 Responses to “GOP Self Destructing Over Sotomayor”

  1. Toes192 says:

    I opine it might be a tad more productive if you made some attempt to bring “these people” towards your point of view instead of your juvenile rants you seem so fond of publishing… insults… name calling…
    .
    Were I on the far right [maybe I am & don’t know it?] and read your piece… I definitely would NOT join any group you were in…
    .
    Last comment on this subject from me…and… probably won’t bother reading stuff posted by the ugly, insulting Aj…
    .
    As opposed to the intelligent reasoned & logical Aj who is here most of the time…

  2. TomAnon says:

    Or at least fight a fight they can actually win.

    I pray that Judge Sonia Sotomajor remembers her faith.

  3. AJStrata says:

    Toes,

    Learn something important. I don’t put anyone person in any category. I simply note what kind of behavior is wrong and self destructive. You put yourself there. Don’t blame me for insults when you volunteered all on your own to accept the criticism.

  4. kathie says:

    I have only heard reason from the politicians who will decide which questions to ask the Judge. Radio commentators are radio commentators and nothing more. They express their own point of view.

    Just think of how small the Democratic Party would be if it was represented by Chris Matthews. He is more obnoxious then those who you say speak for the Republicans.

    I don’t buy your analogy AJ even though the Dems would love for you to be right. They say a gazillion times a day, listen to Rush, he is the voice of the Republicans. When did his name appear on a ballot? Never is the answer.

  5. Redteam says:

    Is Sotomayor a ‘racist’ for poking fun at white men – especially grumpy old conservative white men?

    She didn’t poke fun at white men. And I never saw where she mentioned ‘grumpy old conservative white men’.

    Was what she said ‘racist’?

    without any doubt.

    She, very clearly, said that because she lived life as a Latina woman she was better prepared to make a conclusion than a white man. That is a racist comment.

    Apparently ‘true moderates’ don’t know racism when they see it.

  6. crosspatch says:

    I believe her nomination needs to be opposed but for a very simple reason. She doesn’t rule according to what the law IS, she rules according to what she would wish the law to be. 2/3 of her decisions have been overruled. She just isn’t a very good judge.

    It isn’t wise to support someone solely on the basis of their ethnicity or gender. A bad judge can be of any origin, any color, and any gender. She is simply a poor judge and should be opposed on that basis alone.

  7. GuyFawkes says:

    crosspatch:

    “2/3 of her decisions have been overruled.”

    That is a lie.

    Three of her opinions have been overturned, which is 1.3 percent of all that she has written and 60 percent of those reviewed by the Supreme Court.

    Please attempt to learn what you are talking about, and do not repeat Rush Limbaugh false talking points.

  8. Frogg says:

    Well, this time you can blame “moderates” also, AJ. The first Republican to call for Sotomayor to “apologize” for her statement was Senator Lindsay Graham.

  9. AJ,
    .
    Fighting Obma’s “Queen of Hearts” SCOTUS nominee is a very good thing for both the Republican Party, and the
    Republic, on a number of levels, starting with heading off the destruction of America’s rule of law civic culture.
    .
    Steve Sailer makes the point here that Sonia Sotomayor is a “racial results” over “individual merit” judge, with all that implies for American justice.
    .
    When the facts don’t fit the racial results Sonia Sotomayor wants, she makes them up.
    .
    .
    http://isteve.blogspot.com/
    http://isteve.blogspot.com/2009/05/slate-well-actually-it-isnt-mystery-why.html
    http://isteve.blogspot.com/2009/05/sonia-sotomayor-v-frank-ricci.html
    .
    “”…Ricci’s claim is that the city’s effort to comply with Title VII is itself race discrimination (under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and under Title VII itself).
    .
    This argument would undermine an important part of modern civil rights law. Some of Sotomayor’s critics argue that, in the era of Obama, we no longer need such proactive policies to promote racial equality. But racism isn’t a thing of the past yet. In fact, we haven’t corrected the lingering effects of racism that is in the past. It’s precisely because overt racism is no longer the main impediment to racial equality that the law against inadvertent discrimination is arguably now the most important part of civil rights law.””
    .
    Another way of putting it is that there isn’t much actual discrimination going on anymore.
    .
    What there is a lot of these days, however, is below average performance by non-Asian minorities.”
    .
    and
    .
    “In other words, the law says that we should be suspicious of any fire department that looks for upper body strength in firemen, and we should force each and every fire department in America to prove, over and over, that being weak is a genuine detriment in fire fighting.”
    .
    .
    .
    .
    In short, the thing that counts with Judge Sotomayor is _what_ people are, not *who* people are, and how much power “_the what_” has.
    .
    I.e., all power to them that got the guns and the will to use ’em.
    .
    Saying that over and over again attacking Sonia Sotomayor will win the Republican Party a great deal.
    .
    But the DC Republican Party lacks the wit to use that attack because they are far more to similar to Democrats than they are to Americans.
    .
    To borrow from the internet movie data base to describe both Sonia Sotomayor and the DC politicos:
    .
    .
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043274/quotes
    .
    Queen of Hearts: Now then, are you ready for your sentence?
    .
    Alice: But there has to be a verdict first.
    .
    Queen of Hearts: Sentence first! Verdict afterwards.
    .
    Alice: But that just isn’t the way.
    .
    Queen of Hearts: [shouting] All ways are…!
    .
    Alice: …your ways, your Majesty.
    .
    .
    This is the path that leads to an American version of the Spanish civil War.
    .
    Fighting Judge Sotomayor is the act of choosing to remain American and avoiding that bloody path.
    .
    The sad thing is that Judge Sotomayor fits right in with the main stream “Rule of men, Not rule of law” SCOTUS thought represented by Jusice Anthony Kennedy.
    .
    Please see the SCOTUS Hamdan decision, _Kennedy v. Louisiana_ , the and Boumediene Decision.
    .
    http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/us-urges-new-hearing-on-death-penalty/
    .
    http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-supreme-court-flexes-its-muscles-in-wartime/
    .
    http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2008/06/12/it-will-almost-certainly-cause-more-americans-to-be-killed-is-the-us-constitution-a-suicide-pact/

  10. AJ,

    Fighting Obama’s “Queen of Hearts” SCOTUS nominee is a very good thing on a number of levels, starting with heading off the destruction of America’s rule of law civic culture.
    .
    Steve Sailer makes the point here that Sonia Sotomayor is a “racial results” over individual merit judge, with all that implies for American justice.
    .
    When the facts don’t fit the results Sonia Sotomayor wants, she makes them up.
    .
    .

    “”…Ricci’s claim is that the city’s effort to comply with Title VII is itself race discrimination (under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and under Title VII itself).
    .
    This argument would undermine an important part of modern civil rights law. Some of Sotomayor’s critics argue that, in the era of Obama, we no longer need such proactive policies to promote racial equality. But racism isn’t a thing of the past yet. In fact, we haven’t corrected the lingering effects of racism that is in the past. It’s precisely because overt racism is no longer the main impediment to racial equality that the law against inadvertent discrimination is arguably now the most important part of civil rights law.””
    .
    Another way of putting it is that there isn’t much actual discrimination going on anymore.
    .
    What there is a lot of these days, however, is below average performance by non-Asian minorities.”
    .
    and
    .
    “In other words, the law says that we should be suspicious of any fire department that looks for upper body strength in firemen, and we should force each and every fire department in America to prove, over and over, that being weak is a genuine detriment in fire fighting.”
    .
    .
    .
    http://isteve.blogspot.com/
    http://isteve.blogspot.com/2009/05/slate-well-actually-it-isnt-mystery-why.html
    http://isteve.blogspot.com/2009/05/sonia-sotomayor-v-frank-ricci.html
    .
    .
    In short, What counts with Judge Sotomayor is _what_ people are, not *who* people are, and how much power “_the what_” has.
    .
    I.e., all power to them that got the guns and the will to use ’em.
    .
    To borrow from the internet movie data base:
    .
    .
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043274/quotes
    .
    Queen of Hearts: Now then, are you ready for your sentence?
    .
    Alice: But there has to be a verdict first.
    .
    Queen of Hearts: Sentence first! Verdict afterwards.
    .
    Alice: But that just isn’t the way.
    .
    Queen of Hearts: [shouting] All ways are…!
    .
    Alice: …your ways, your Majesty.
    .
    .
    This is the path that leads to an American version of the Spanish civil War.
    .
    Fighting Judge Sotomayor is the act of choosing to remain American and avoiding that path.
    .
    The sad thing is that Judge Sotomayor fits right in with the main stream of the SCOTUS represented by Jusice Kennedy.
    .
    Please see the Hamdan case, Kennedy vs Louisianna and Boumediene case:
    .
    http://patterico.com/2008/07/29/justice-department-seeks-rehearing-in-case-ruling-death-for-child-rape-unconstitutional/
    .
    http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/06-1195.pdf
    .
    http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerkimball/2008/06/12/it-will-almost-certainly-cause-more-americans-to-be-killed-is-the-us-constitution-a-suicide-pact/

  11. GuyFawkes says:

    Trent:

    “When the facts don’t fit the results Sonia Sotomayor wants, she makes them up.”

    How ironic then, that the Ricci case you cite proves the exact *opposite* of that. She simply cited previous cases and precedents for the decision reached by the court.

    But you think it’s oh-so-horrible that some white men were treated “unfairly”, and you wished that she had, in your words, “made up facts and results” that better fit the decision you would like to see.

    In other words, you are arguing FOR the exact thing you claimed to be AGAINST: results-based legislation, rather than just applying the law as written.

  12. Guy,
    .
    We are in an age of “outcome based” SCOTUS judicial decisions that ignore the past rules, past regulation, past law and past judicial precedence. Where what the Supreme Court said the day before in its own decisions doesn’t mean a thing when it wants to change national policy to re-outlaw the death penalty.
    .
    That is why I mentioned Justice Kennedy in this link:
    .
    http://patterico.com/2008/07/29/justice-department-seeks-rehearing-in-case-ruling-death-for-child-rape-unconstitutional/
    .
    Go read it and consider what Kennedy and the liberal wing of the SCOTUS did to past judicial precedence to further the cause of outlawing the death penalty.
    .
    And with Judge Sotomayor, we are adding another justice that believes in more of the same.
    .
    In her own words this is a Judge that believes _what_ you are far more important than *who* you are:
    .
    “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.”
    .
    Read more: “White House urged to address ‘racist’ charge – Josh Gerstein – POLITICO.com” – http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/23053.html#ixzz0HDZ5joc2&A
    .
    Too the extend Judge Sotomayor opposes Martin Luther King’s vision of color blind society,
    .
    “…where the content of your character matters more than the color of your skin…”
    .
    …that is the extent that Judge Sotomayor is UNAMERICAN.
    .
    She should be opposed on that basis. Loudly, Openly and Often.