Wise Latina On Her Way

Yesterday marked the beginning of Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court. On May 26th, President Obama had nominated Sotomayor to become the first Hispanic Justice on the Supreme Court.
Most of the negative comments surrounding Sotomayor have come from the right wing of the Senate, in response to a quote from the nominee dating back to 2001 in which she stated that "a wise Latina women" would reach a better conclusion than a white male. This quote, taken out of context, has incited conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich to call her a racist. However, out of fifty cases involving claims of discrimination she heard on the 2nd circuit, she found discrimination in only forty-five of them. A recent case, Ricci v DeStefano, in which white firefighters were denied promotions because no minorities passed the exam, has been made into proof of her prejudice by Republicans. However, the American Bar Association has called her a political centrist, and she was confirmed to the 2nd circuit by a Republican Senate in 1998.
The bottom line here is that Sonia Sotomayor will be confirmed. Furthermore, there will be no change in the court because she is replacing a liberal justice anyway. Yet, Republicans have seemingly turned their full arsenal on her. They claim that she was an affirmative action selection, and that belies Obama's true intentions to radicalize the court. Basically, they have wasted all of their fiery rhetoric for a fairly centrist justice that will ultimately be confirmed. Now it is up to Obama to pick a true liberal for his next appointment to the court, and when Republicans react the exact same way they have to Sotomayor, then everyone will have the impression that the new pick must be just another centrist.