GOPer's war on latinos and women

[Newby]

I wonder what Clarence Thomas has to say about her statement regarding her ethnicity and judgment.

I seem to recall Chuck Schumer stating that there is no need to rush through the vetting process with Alito. I see no reason to switch feet now. This person who may impact all of our lives for the next 3 or 4 decades should be properly examined and, if found wanting, shouldn't prompt the gender or race card backlash. I mean, I know it's not in fashion to be a white male these days but we were ONLY the very people who created this nation.

There is no reason to rush through the vetting process. But nor is there a reason to condemn her because shes latina, or knows that shes latina, or has experiences racism because she is latina and has pointed that out.

Its not in fashion to be a white male? I know...we are just so underprivileged these days. We barely have anyone in the Senate, or in the House, barely control any governorships, barely have anyone on the USSC, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

Yeah, she went to Yale Law School from what I understand, became a federal judge and is now nominated to the SCOTUS, I can see where racism has hampered her life and her career. Give me a break.

 

[Ravi]

nothing he said was wrong, why don't you be honest and post the whole thing, you bitch all the time when someone posts something out of context....

"Without doubt, Judge Sotomayor's personal life story is truly inspiring. I congratulate her on being nominated. As the U.S. Senate begins the confirmation process, I look forward to looking closer at her recent rulings and her judicial philosophy.

"Of primary concern to me is whether or not Judge Sotomayor follows the proper role of judges and refrains from legislating from the bench. Some of her recent comments on this matter have given me cause for great concern. In the months ahead, it will be important for those of us in the U.S. Senate to weigh her qualifications and character as well as her ability to rule fairly without undue influence from her own personal race, gender, or political preferences."

Did he wonder if Alito would be able to rule fairly without undue influence from his own personal race, gender, or political preference?

stop playing stupid, you've won the game....

she made race an issue, NOT the senator....she made her race a factor and said she was better able to make a decision than a white male....

That's not what she said. Talk about taking something out of context, you've gone over the edge and out and out lied.

 

[Newby]

Oh noes...she talked about the fact that she was latina once. This somehow opens up the door for someone to say her race unduly influences her? Thats quite a stretch there, dumbshit.

It goes beyond that. She talked about the fact that her being a latina and female gave her better judgement over a white male. Why a white male? Why not a black male? Why not a white female? She opened the door with her comments. If, God forbid, a white male had made those exact same comments about another ethnic group and it came out the day after their nomination, they'd be finished.

Let me guess. You haven't read her full comments.

Are they posted? If so, I missed them. I heard her say them in her own words earlier today, was there something I missed that would cause a totally different interpretation of what she said?

 

[Nik]

I wonder what Clarence Thomas has to say about her statement regarding her ethnicity and judgment.

I seem to recall Chuck Schumer stating that there is no need to rush through the vetting process with Alito. I see no reason to switch feet now. This person who may impact all of our lives for the next 3 or 4 decades should be properly examined and, if found wanting, shouldn't prompt the gender or race card backlash. I mean, I know it's not in fashion to be a white male these days but we were ONLY the very people who created this nation.

There is no reason to rush through the vetting process. But nor is there a reason to condemn her because shes latina, or knows that shes latina, or has experiences racism because she is latina and has pointed that out.

Its not in fashion to be a white male? I know...we are just so underprivileged these days. We barely have anyone in the Senate, or in the House, barely control any governorships, barely have anyone on the USSC, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

Yeah, she went to Yale Law School from what I understand, became a federal judge and is now nominated to the SCOTUS, I can see where racism has hampered her life and her career. Give me a break.

She grew up in the projects. That didn't that stop her, so its little surprise that racism or sexism was unable to stop her.

 

[Yurt]

And funnily enough, nobody has quoted the full remarks from her. Hell, you didn't even quote the full sentence.

and this has what to do with HER opening the door to race....um, nothing, just a strawman distraction becuase of your epic fail

Oh noes...she talked about the fact that she was latina once. This somehow opens up the door for someone to say her race unduly influences her? Thats quite a stretch there, dumbshit.

moron....she said her race influences her....thus, it is not a stretch to see her comments as possibly interfering with her ability to be impartial....

let's see the full quote, i guarantee you it was her that brought race into the picture, she opened the door, you have no clue what you are talking about

 

[Newby]

There is no reason to rush through the vetting process. But nor is there a reason to condemn her because shes latina, or knows that shes latina, or has experiences racism because she is latina and has pointed that out.

Its not in fashion to be a white male? I know...we are just so underprivileged these days. We barely have anyone in the Senate, or in the House, barely control any governorships, barely have anyone on the USSC, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

Yeah, she went to Yale Law School from what I understand, became a federal judge and is now nominated to the SCOTUS, I can see where racism has hampered her life and her career. Give me a break.

She grew up in the projects. That didn't that stop her, so its little surprise that racism or sexism was unable to stop her.

Exactly my point. Anyone with ambition can do anything they want with their life. Social status, race, religion, sex, etc... will not make a difference if you have the drive and ambition. Not only that, if you are poor, a minority, a female, etc... and you have ambition and intelligence, you have easier access to funds and opportunities that others do not.

 

[Nik]

It goes beyond that. She talked about the fact that her being a latina and female gave her better judgement over a white male. Why a white male? Why not a black male? Why not a white female? She opened the door with her comments. If, God forbid, a white male had made those exact same comments about another ethnic group and it came out the day after their nomination, they'd be finished.

Let me guess. You haven't read her full comments.

Are they posted? If so, I missed them. I heard her say them in her own words earlier today, was there something I missed that would cause a totally different interpretation of what she said?

Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, a possibility I abhor less or discount less than my colleague Judge Cedarbaum, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging. Justice O’Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O’Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, 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.

Let us not forget that wise men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice Cardozo voted on cases which upheld both sex and race discrimination in our society. Until 1972, no Supreme Court case ever upheld the claim of a woman in a gender discrimination case. I, like Professor Carter, believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group. Many are so capable. As Judge Cedarbaum pointed out to me, nine white men on the Supreme Court in the past have done so on many occasions and on many issues including Brown.

However, to understand takes time and effort, something that not all people are willing to give. For others, their experiences limit their ability to understand the experiences of others. Other simply do not care. Hence, one must accept the proposition that a difference there will be by the presence of women and people of color on the bench. Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see. My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.

I also hope that by raising the question today of what difference having more Latinos and Latinas on the bench will make will start your own evaluation. For people of color and women lawyers, what does and should being an ethnic minority mean in your lawyering? For men lawyers, what areas in your experiences and attitudes do you need to work on to make you capable of reaching those great moments of enlightenment which other men in different circumstances have been able to reach. For all of us, how do change the facts that in every task force study of gender and race bias in the courts, women and people of color, lawyers and judges alike, report in significantly higher percentages than white men that their gender and race has shaped their careers, from hiring, retention to promotion and that a statistically significant number of women and minority lawyers and judges, both alike, have experienced bias in the courtroom?

Each day on the bench I learn something new about the judicial process and about being a professional Latina woman in a world that sometimes looks at me with suspicion. I am reminded each day that I render decisions that affect people concretely and that I owe them constant and complete vigilance in checking my assumptions, presumptions and perspectives and ensuring that to the extent that my limited abilities and capabilities permit me, that I reevaluate them and change as circumstances and cases before me requires. I can and do aspire to be greater than the sum total of my experiences but I accept my limitations. I willingly accept that we who judge must not deny the differences resulting from experience and heritage but attempt, as the Supreme Court suggests, continuously to judge when those opinions, sympathies and prejudices are appropriate.

There you go.

 

[Nik]

and this has what to do with HER opening the door to race....um, nothing, just a strawman distraction becuase of your epic fail

Oh noes...she talked about the fact that she was latina once. This somehow opens up the door for someone to say her race unduly influences her? Thats quite a stretch there, dumbshit.

moron....she said her race influences her....thus, it is not a stretch to see her comments as possibly interfering with her ability to be impartial....

let's see the full quote, i guarantee you it was her that brought race into the picture, she opened the door, you have no clue what you are talking about

She said everyones race influenced them.

 

[Fraulein Hilda]

There is no reason to rush through the vetting process. But nor is there a reason to condemn her because shes latina, or knows that shes latina, or has experiences racism because she is latina and has pointed that out.

Its not in fashion to be a white male? I know...we are just so underprivileged these days. We barely have anyone in the Senate, or in the House, barely control any governorships, barely have anyone on the USSC, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

Yeah, she went to Yale Law School from what I understand, became a federal judge and is now nominated to the SCOTUS, I can see where racism has hampered her life and her career. Give me a break.

She grew up in the projects. That didn't that stop her, so its little surprise that racism or sexism was unable to stop her.

Those would have been public housing projects.

Funny how liberals dreamed them up, than years later point to them as somehow holding the very people back they were intended to help.

 

[Nik]

Yeah, she went to Yale Law School from what I understand, became a federal judge and is now nominated to the SCOTUS, I can see where racism has hampered her life and her career. Give me a break.

She grew up in the projects. That didn't that stop her, so its little surprise that racism or sexism was unable to stop her.

Exactly my point. Anyone with ambition can do anything they want with their life. Social status, race, religion, sex, etc... will not make a difference if you have the drive and ambition. Not only that, if you are poor, a minority, a female, etc... and you have ambition and intelligence, you have easier access to funds and opportunities that others do not.

Right. It just so happens that people who are born in poor areas lack the ambition just because they happen to be poor. Or something.

If one is smart, lucky, and skilled enough one can overcome hurdles. Sotomayor was. Not everyone has those capabilities.

 

[Yurt]

Did he wonder if Alito would be able to rule fairly without undue influence from his own personal race, gender, or political preference?

stop playing stupid, you've won the game....

she made race an issue, NOT the senator....she made her race a factor and said she was better able to make a decision than a white male....

That's not what she said. Talk about taking something out of context, you've gone over the edge and out and out lied.

ravi, i suggest you back up your comments and show how i lied. if you do not, it will clearly mean you're full of meadowmuffins....

 

[Newby]

Yeah, she went to Yale Law School from what I understand, became a federal judge and is now nominated to the SCOTUS, I can see where racism has hampered her life and her career. Give me a break.

She grew up in the projects. That didn't that stop her, so its little surprise that racism or sexism was unable to stop her.

Those would have been public housing projects.

Funny how liberals dreamed them up, than years later point to them as somehow holding the very people back they were intended to help.

Great point. What's the matter with the projects? Isn't that the utopia that the left wants for everyone?

 

[Shogun]

I wonder what Clarence Thomas has to say about her statement regarding her ethnicity and judgment.


I seem to recall Chuck Schumer stating that there is no need to rush through the vetting process with Alito. I see no reason to switch feet now. This person who may impact all of our lives for the next 3 or 4 decades should be properly examined and, if found wanting, shouldn't prompt the gender or race card backlash. I mean, I know it's not in fashion to be a white male these days but we were ONLY the very people who created this nation.

That's the problem Shogun, they don't like this nation the way it is, and seek to mold it into what they think it should be. Their practice of pitting minority groups against the mainstream and each other is going to backfire on them at some point. You can't make all of the people happy all of the time, and this 'guilt' trip that they're always trying to pin onto the majority is starting to get old and flat, mostly because it's bogus. People are getting tired of it.

Don't get me wrong.. I appriciate the pluralistic nature that we've come to be and, accordingly, our supreme court SHOULD be reflective of the range of people that comprise this nation. I wouldn't like living in an all white whitey world on 1940s either. That being said, I'm more interested in her ability to rule in accordance with the Constitution rather than play the role of a token judge. Of course her race and gender will play a role in her perspective and decisions. no shit. We HOPED that was the case when O'connor and Ginsberg replaced dudes. I don't have a problem as long as she is fair.


Again, i'm curious to know what Thomas thinks about her media attention thus far and, specifically, if he agrees or disagrees with her take on the influence of race and gender.

 

[Nik]

Yeah, she went to Yale Law School from what I understand, became a federal judge and is now nominated to the SCOTUS, I can see where racism has hampered her life and her career. Give me a break.

She grew up in the projects. That didn't that stop her, so its little surprise that racism or sexism was unable to stop her.

Those would have been public housing projects.

Funny how liberals dreamed them up, than years later point to them as somehow holding the very people back they were intended to help.

Wow...you are really fucking stupid.

Public housing projects are good things and they help keep people off the streets. Being in public housing is a lot better than being on the street. But its still a HUGE detriment to success.

 

[Yurt]

Oh noes...she talked about the fact that she was latina once. This somehow opens up the door for someone to say her race unduly influences her? Thats quite a stretch there, dumbshit.

moron....she said her race influences her....thus, it is not a stretch to see her comments as possibly interfering with her ability to be impartial....

let's see the full quote, i guarantee you it was her that brought race into the picture, she opened the door, you have no clue what you are talking about

She said everyones race influenced them.

why don't you man up and post the full quote...scared?

 

[Nik]

moron....she said her race influences her....thus, it is not a stretch to see her comments as possibly interfering with her ability to be impartial....

let's see the full quote, i guarantee you it was her that brought race into the picture, she opened the door, you have no clue what you are talking about

She said everyones race influenced them.

why don't you man up and post the full quote...scared?

Try 8 posts ago, moron.

 

[Newby]

She grew up in the projects. That didn't that stop her, so its little surprise that racism or sexism was unable to stop her.

Exactly my point. Anyone with ambition can do anything they want with their life. Social status, race, religion, sex, etc... will not make a difference if you have the drive and ambition. Not only that, if you are poor, a minority, a female, etc... and you have ambition and intelligence, you have easier access to funds and opportunities that others do not.

Right. It just so happens that people who are born in poor areas lack the ambition just because they happen to be poor. Or something.

If one is smart, lucky, and skilled enough one can overcome hurdles. Sotomayor was. Not everyone has those capabilities.

And those 'capabilities' have nothing to do with social status, sex, race, religion, etc... And it has nothing to do with luck, opportunity is there for those who want it.

 

[Nik]

She grew up in the projects. That didn't that stop her, so its little surprise that racism or sexism was unable to stop her.

Those would have been public housing projects.

Funny how liberals dreamed them up, than years later point to them as somehow holding the very people back they were intended to help.

Great point. What's the matter with the projects? Isn't that the utopia that the left wants for everyone?

No. Its not. Of course I'm sure you know this, you are just being dishonest.

 

[Nik]

Exactly my point. Anyone with ambition can do anything they want with their life. Social status, race, religion, sex, etc... will not make a difference if you have the drive and ambition. Not only that, if you are poor, a minority, a female, etc... and you have ambition and intelligence, you have easier access to funds and opportunities that others do not.

Right. It just so happens that people who are born in poor areas lack the ambition just because they happen to be poor. Or something.

If one is smart, lucky, and skilled enough one can overcome hurdles. Sotomayor was. Not everyone has those capabilities.

And those 'capabilities' have nothing to do with social status, sex, race, religion, etc... And it has nothing to do with luck, opportunity is there for those who want it.

The capabilities, at base, have nothing to do with any of those things. The hurdles one faces doe. And facing more/different hurdles would make one have more/different capabilities.

 

[Ravi]

Let me guess. You haven't read her full comments.

Are they posted? If so, I missed them. I heard her say them in her own words earlier today, was there something I missed that would cause a totally different interpretation of what she said?

Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences, a possibility I abhor less or discount less than my colleague Judge Cedarbaum, our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging. Justice O’Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am not so sure Justice O’Connor is the author of that line since Professor Resnik attributes that line to Supreme Court Justice Coyle. I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement. First, as Professor Martha Minnow has noted, there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, 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.

Let us not forget that wise men like Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice Cardozo voted on cases which upheld both sex and race discrimination in our society. Until 1972, no Supreme Court case ever upheld the claim of a woman in a gender discrimination case. I, like Professor Carter, believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group. Many are so capable. As Judge Cedarbaum pointed out to me, nine white men on the Supreme Court in the past have done so on many occasions and on many issues including Brown.

However, to understand takes time and effort, something that not all people are willing to give. For others, their experiences limit their ability to understand the experiences of others. Other simply do not care. Hence, one must accept the proposition that a difference there will be by the presence of women and people of color on the bench. Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see. My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.

I also hope that by raising the question today of what difference having more Latinos and Latinas on the bench will make will start your own evaluation. For people of color and women lawyers, what does and should being an ethnic minority mean in your lawyering? For men lawyers, what areas in your experiences and attitudes do you need to work on to make you capable of reaching those great moments of enlightenment which other men in different circumstances have been able to reach. For all of us, how do change the facts that in every task force study of gender and race bias in the courts, women and people of color, lawyers and judges alike, report in significantly higher percentages than white men that their gender and race has shaped their careers, from hiring, retention to promotion and that a statistically significant number of women and minority lawyers and judges, both alike, have experienced bias in the courtroom?

Each day on the bench I learn something new about the judicial process and about being a professional Latina woman in a world that sometimes looks at me with suspicion. I am reminded each day that I render decisions that affect people concretely and that I owe them constant and complete vigilance in checking my assumptions, presumptions and perspectives and ensuring that to the extent that my limited abilities and capabilities permit me, that I reevaluate them and change as circumstances and cases before me requires. I can and do aspire to be greater than the sum total of my experiences but I accept my limitations. I willingly accept that we who judge must not deny the differences resulting from experience and heritage but attempt, as the Supreme Court suggests, continuously to judge when those opinions, sympathies and prejudices are appropriate.

There you go.

Wow...she doesn't sound like a racist to me, thanks for posting that.

Perhaps it is only acceptable to be proud of your roots if they are WASP roots...it gets confusing.

I believe one of the Republican party's biggest mistakes (beside their support of Bush, of course) has been their overt disdain for minority groups. Many of their talking points on illegal immigration were insulting to latinos and it certainly has driven the latinos away from the party.