Verum Serum's Morgen summarizes the Sotomayor hearing to date:
She could have stuck with her initial line of defense based around her 17 year track record as a judge, and simply said that she regretted her choice of words. In doing so she would have put the burden on her Republican questioners to demonstrate somehow that her record as a whole reflects any sort of gender or ethnic bias. (It does not.)
But whether based on pride, or perhaps a sense of empowerment due to her near certain confirmation, she chose to claim that her speech was not a statement of her beliefs regarding the positive impact of race and gender on judicial decisions. And it defies any sort of reasonable explanation – other than that she is just simply not telling the truth.
Morgen also linked to this AP story detailing Pat Leahy's attempt to cover Sotomayor's lies with a lie of his own:
In endorsing Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy did some creative rewriting of history. And he put quote marks around it.
Trying to head off criticism of a controversial comment, Leahy misquoted Sotomayor's own words in kicking off the second day of her confirmation hearings.Sotomayor's public comments are as much a part of the hearings as her lengthy judicial record. Here's a look at some of the claims made Tuesday about those comments, and the facts.
LEAHY SAID: "You said that, quote, you 'would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would reach wise decisions.'"
THE FACTS: If that's all Sotomayor said, the quote would barely have mattered to opponents of her nomination. The actual quote, delivered in a 2001 speech to law students at the University of California at Berkeley, was: "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."
Leahy's revision dropped the controversial part of the phrase, the part that has attracted charges of reverse racism.
A liar will be confirmed as a SCOTUS judge. Put there by liars.
Seems fitting.












Recent Comments