dagblog - Comments for "The Confirmation Game: Sotomayor Is No Fun"

Nice link. He really mined

DF — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:03:58 +0000

Nice link. He really mined that quote. I'm pretty sure Sessions was referring the GM situation. I, for one, am thankful that we don't live in a country where we have to worry about the reverse scenario. You know: Private companies buying out politicians. That would be a real shame.

You're not the only one:

Michael Wolraich — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:51:13 +0000

In reply to FWIW, one of my favorite

You're not the only one: http://jiminfantino.com/

I confess to having a difficult time parsing that sentence when I read it. I thought that he was referring to some scandal or court decision in which a politician broke some law by buying a company. Sometimes it seems like the right-wingers have their own private language.

FWIW, one of my favorite

DF — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:55:29 +0000

In reply to The Confirmation Game: Sotomayor Is No Fun

FWIW, one of my favorite moments was a seemingly passing comment by Sen. Jeff Sessions, lamenting that we've come to a place "where the constitutional limits on government power are ignored when politicians want to buy out private companies."

I'm really glad that in the wake of the biggest economic shake-up since the Great Depression, which has brought the revolving door between firms at the epicenter of the crisis, like Goldman Sachs, and the halls of government to the fore that courageous men like Sessions are willing to stand in the way of politicians who would buy out private companies.

I think that Senators should

Orlando — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:07:04 +0000

In reply to The Confirmation Game: Sotomayor Is No Fun

I think that Senators should get paid for the hours they use wisely and that we should all vote every six months or so on just which hours those were. Maybe then they'd either ask better questions or dispense with the hearings altogether. She already answered their questions in writing and met privately with the members of the Judiciary Committee. I've been trying to pay attention to the hearings, but they're freaking boring. And, I've been told now by more than one person, completely pointless.

A fair point. Maybe you

Michael Wolraich — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:28:07 +0000

In reply to If I were trying to salvage

A fair point. Maybe you should advise Cornyn. (Maybe he reads dagblog.)

Apparently they've been doing

scofflaw — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:23:33 +0000

In reply to Ergo, the GOP has become an

Apparently they've been doing a lot of yoga lately.

If I were trying to salvage

scofflaw — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:22:46 +0000

In reply to They're stuck. If they go too

If I were trying to salvage my appeal to Latino/a (or any other not-racist) voters, I think I'd steer clear of the "wise Latina" nontroversy altogether. That argument, no matter how delicately the non-Sessionses try to put it, comes across a lot like they're saying she's wrong to think that a Latina justice would have anything important to offer the court. Or that they're saying white men are unbiased, but we can only accept a Latina woman if she decides cases just like a white man. (Not a white man like Justice Souter or Stevens or Brennan or Blackmun, of course -- a white man like CJ Roberts.)

If I was a GOP Senator wanting to attack Sotomayor while trying not to alienate Latino/a voters, I'd probably stick to speechifying about abortion, property rights and the Second Amendment. Something that looks more like opposition on actual legal/political issues, rather than opposition to having a proud Latina on the bench.

Ergo, the GOP has become an

Michael Wolraich — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:18:54 +0000

In reply to Albatross? The right-wingers

Ergo, the GOP has become an albatross around its own neck.

Albatross? The right-wingers

scofflaw — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:14:51 +0000

In reply to They're stuck. If they go too

Albatross? The right-wingers basically are (what remains of) the party! :P

They're stuck. If they go too

Michael Wolraich — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:02:41 +0000

In reply to If all the dirt Republicans

They're stuck. If they go too easy on her, conservatives will hammer them for wussiness, as Glenn Beck has done. So most of the elected politicians try to walk a line of criticizing her while appearing respectful. It's not working very well. But I doubt that you'll find Republicans with large Hispanic constituencies going after her. McCain has been pretty quiet. Sen. Cornyn of Texas is interesting to watch. He repudiated Limbaugh and Gingrich and has been less aggressive than his colleagues but has kept after the "wise Latina woman" question. Today he said, "She seemed to kind of re-embrace those comments today...I think she just made it more muddled."

As for Limbaugh and friends, they've never shown any interest in expanding the GOP to include minorities which is part of why the right-wingers have become an albatross for the party.