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Democrats differ on 'wise Latina' defenses
Politico.com ^ | June 1, 2009 | KENNETH P. VOGEL & JOSH GERSTEIN

Posted on 05/31/2009 4:57:36 PM PDT by kennedy

As Republicans continue to hammer Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor for a 2001 assertion that’s become known as the “wise Latina” remark, her backers are struggling to come up with a single coherent line of defense.

In the past few days, supporters confronted with the remark have offered a range of divergent tactics and tones, offering explanations that span from apologetic to defiant to suggesting Sotomayor may have been joking.

President Obama himself addressed the bubbling controversy, which is emerging as among the leading GOP lines of attack against Sotomayor, asserting on Friday Sotomayor “would have restated” the comment if given another chance.

But that message – which reaffirmed the official White House spin articulated earlier the same day by press secretary Robert Gibbs – did little to build consensus among Sotomayor supporters, who took to the Sunday show circuit with a cacophony of explanations for the comment, which Sotomayor made during a 2001 speech at the law school of the University of California, Berkeley.

In the speech, which was later published as a law review article, Sotomayor, a federal appellate judge who is of Puerto Rican descent, said: "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."

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bhojudicialnominees; defenses; democrats; differ; latina; latinas; obama; racism; soniasotomayor; sotomayor; whitemales; wise; wiselatina
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In order to get and hold onto power, Democrats have to lie about what they believe.
1 posted on 05/31/2009 4:57:37 PM PDT by kennedy
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To: kennedy

The “if a white guy said it” is deadly in this situation.

IMUS didn’t get a do over. Sotomayor disqualified herself. Icing on the cake is her flippant dismissal of the New Haven firemen case.

I hope the Republicans hammer her unmercifully.


2 posted on 05/31/2009 5:01:05 PM PDT by y6162 (uish..)
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To: y6162
I hope the Republicans hammer her unmercifully.

Hey you might get your wish, Lindsey Graham wants her to apologize.

3 posted on 05/31/2009 5:06:49 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: kennedy

Of course they lie. The media prints it.

As for Sotomayor, anyone capable of critical thought cannot buy the “I misspoke; I should have said something different.”

1. You said what you thought, you are stuck with it.
2. We expect you to write cogent legal opinions that have the force of law. You had better mean what you say in those opinions; there are no “do overs.”

Lack of precision in expression of thought is a professional disqualification for the nation’s highest court.


4 posted on 05/31/2009 5:10:58 PM PDT by henkster (The GOP is housebroken window-dressing displayed to portray the fiction of a Republic.)
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To: kennedy

Too bad we don’t have a judge who considers herself an

AMERICAN


5 posted on 05/31/2009 5:12:59 PM PDT by Carley (OBAMA IS A MALEVOLENT FORCE IN THE WORLD)
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To: henkster

Great point, and on top of that one of the guys at National Review pointed out that she read read her remarks from a prepared text. So they weren’t exactly off the cuff.


6 posted on 05/31/2009 5:15:53 PM PDT by Yardstick
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To: kennedy

There is no defending it. Racial supremecism is bad always.


7 posted on 05/31/2009 5:24:38 PM PDT by advance_copy (Stand for life or nothing at all)
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To: kennedy

“I am not a champion of lost causes, but of causes not yet won.”?

The above quote was selected by Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, as her college yearbook quote some thirty years ago. Because of its author, a few have attacked Justice Sotomayor as having “socialistic tendencies”. But, if you consider the content of the quote rather than its author, does it really suggest a socialist world view?

The author, by the way, was Norman Thomas, one of the leading Socialist politicians in the United States in the 1930s.


8 posted on 05/31/2009 5:41:43 PM PDT by NavVet ( If you don't defend Conservatism in the Primaries, you won't have it to defend in November)
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To: kennedy
President Obama himself addressed the bubbling controversy.......asserting on Friday Sotomayor “would have restated” the comment if given another chance.

Her comment was part of a law review article that one assumes she saw and approved. Apparently she lacks the ability to accurately express her thoughts in writing, since so many other people (like Obama) have to 'nuance' or 'interpret' them to coax out the 'true' meaning. I think it is a justifiable concern that she has or will write opinions with equal sloppiness.
9 posted on 05/31/2009 5:48:12 PM PDT by LostInBayport (I hope the Supreme Court overturns Sotomayor's incompetent 'opinion' in Ricci as hearings begin...)
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To: y6162

I hope SOMEONE hammers her! Unfortunately, the members of the legislative branch calling themselves Republicans have largely rolled over and played dead on practically every issue to date. I am pessimistic about the possibility of any of them offering more than token resistance to her confirmation.


10 posted on 05/31/2009 6:32:09 PM PDT by ChoobacKY
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To: ChoobacKY
I am afraid that the Republicans are a name only, without backbone and courage, they are qualified RINO’s.
11 posted on 05/31/2009 7:12:18 PM PDT by ANGGAPO (Leyte Gulf Beach Club)
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To: kennedy

She’s a racist, sexist and socialist.


12 posted on 05/31/2009 7:16:08 PM PDT by ViLaLuz (2 Chronicles 7:14)
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Appointing Sotomayor is like throwing
a 70-yard bomb on second-and-inches from
Elway to Rice one minute into the first
quarter.

There is no way to go wrong.


13 posted on 06/01/2009 12:12:20 PM PDT by Cyber Ninja (His legacy is a stain OnTheDress)
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To: Red_Devil 232

I think the firemen discriminated against want more than an apology. Shooting down her appointment along with her decision would be a good start.


14 posted on 06/01/2009 12:16:58 PM PDT by uncommonsense (liberals see what they believe and conservatives believe what they see)
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To: kennedy
Trent Lott says somethinh kind about Strom Thurmond's run for president, and he's called a racist because of Thurmond's platform in the 1940's.

Dick Durbin (?) Said something nice about Robert Byrd being good for the country at any time in history, but he's not a racist.

Is there a pattern here?

-PJ

15 posted on 06/01/2009 12:28:19 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (This just in... Voting Republican is a Terrorist act!)
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To: Yardstick; henkster
"one of the guys at National Review pointed out that she read read her remarks from a prepared text. So they weren't exactly off the cuff."

Technically, So-Toe-My-Ear did say she would "hope" that a Latina woman would make a better decision the a white man. So much for hoping!

16 posted on 06/01/2009 12:28:36 PM PDT by uncommonsense (liberals see what they believe and conservatives believe what they see)
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To: kennedy
Somebody should ask her what wisdom from her experience led her to conclude that the remark was okay to say?

-PJ

17 posted on 06/01/2009 12:30:48 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (This just in... Voting Republican is a Terrorist act!)
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To: Red_Devil 232

“apologize, and we’ll put you in the most powerful lifetime appointment position in America”

I don’t agree. DON’T ask her to apologize. Make it WELL KNOWN that this type of racism and racial spoils system is what Obama wants for us.


18 posted on 06/01/2009 12:34:02 PM PDT by MrB (Go Galt now, save Bowman for later)
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To: Political Junkie Too
Dick Durbin (?) said something nice about Robert Byrd being good for the country at any time in history, but he's not a racist.

Just checked, and it was Chris Dodd who said this.

-PJ

19 posted on 06/01/2009 1:23:19 PM PDT by Political Junkie Too (This just in... Voting Republican is a Terrorist act!)
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To: Political Junkie Too

Any judge who has a 60% reversal rate is in no way “wise.”


20 posted on 06/01/2009 2:56:02 PM PDT by Brucifer (Proud member of the Double Secret Reloading Underground.)
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