Souter With A Salsa Beat?
That’s what the Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus called her, a little weirdly (So what’s that make Obama … JFK with rhythm?). But I’ve been thinking. All this squawking about her racist remarks, so dismissive of white males, and her odd opinion-free affirmative action ruling, concerns about her 2nd amendment stance, property rights, rampant greenism and all that. What if Obama is making a big mistake? What if she is his Souter with a Salsa Beat? You’ll recall Souter was, to quote John Sununu, George H.W. Bush’s “home run.”
Here’s Charlie Savage at NYT on the uneasiness of the abortion rights crowd.
WASHINGTON — In nearly 11 years as a federal appeals court judge, President Obama’s choice for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor, has never directly ruled on whether the Constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion. But when she has written opinions that touched tangentially on abortion disputes, she has reached outcomes in some cases that were favorable to abortion opponents.
Now, some abortion rights advocates are quietly expressing unease that Judge Sotomayor may not be a reliable vote to uphold Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 abortion rights decision. In a letter, Nancy Keenan, president of Naral Pro-Choice America, urged supporters to press senators to demand that Judge Sotomayor reveal her views on privacy rights before any confirmation vote.
“Discussion about Roe v. Wade will — and must — be part of this nomination process,” Ms. Keenan wrote. “As you know, choice hangs in the balance on the Supreme Court as the last two major choice-related cases were decided by a 5-to-4 margin.”
Because Judge Sotomayor is the choice of a president who supports abortion rights at a time when Democrats hold a substantial majority in the Senate, both sides in the debate have tended to assume she could be counted on to preserve the Roe decision.
Immediately after Mr. Obama announced his selection on Tuesday, leaders of several other abortion rights groups spoke out in support of Judge Sotomayor, and several conservative groups opposed to abortion rights attacked her, saying they were convinced that the president would not nominate someone who opposed abortion rights.
But in his briefing to reporters on Tuesday, the White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, was asked whether Mr. Obama had asked Judge Sotomayor about abortion or privacy rights. Mr. Gibbs replied that Mr. Obama “did not ask that specifically.”
… at this point, Judge Sotomayor’s views are as unknown as Justice Souter’s were in 1990, said Steven Waldman, the editor in chief of BeliefNet.com, a religious Web site, where he has blogged about her lack of an abortion rights record.
“Everyone is just assuming that because Obama appointed her, she must be a die-hard pro-choice activist,” Mr. Waldman said, “but it’s really quite amazing how little we know about her views on abortion.”
She may also be involved in a little soul-searching as she prepares for the grilling … not to mention the Supreme Court reversal … that she could be looking at over questions about whether her sentiments, and affirmative action policies in general, are fundamentally racist.
An unexpected shift is not what Ruth Marcus meant when she called Sotomayor “Souter with a Salsa Beat.”
And it seems unlikely, but imagine Sonia Sotomayor as a surprise vote with the conservatives on the bench. Just for laughs. Given who is making the appointment and who has the Senate majority, we could do a lot worse, and if she doesn’t go full Souter, there is the potential that she could go reverse Souter-lite, flirting with the right on this issue or that. What if Obama’s rhumba with Hispanics to solidify the Dems’ gains in that growing electorate goes badly wrong for his already increasingly disaffected lefty base?
It kind of works when you look at what’s happening with Obama’s Bush GWOT-lite, for example. It’s part of a grander joke in which the left’s annointed savior becomes their worst nightmare.
Well, whatever. Sometimes all you can do is dream, and enjoy the discomfiture in your enemy’s camp.
Gallup calls 47 percent “excellent” or “good” an positive reaction. I call that a failing grade.
HotAir: Top Senate aides say GOP’s ready to roll over.
Powerline Paul’s cousin makes a point:
Judge Sotomayor claims that a Latina judge can come to a better judgment than a white male because of her life experience. Using her logic wouldn’t a jurist who has been a parent have better insights on matters like abortion, marriage and divorce than a woman like Sotomayor who has never been married or given birth to a child?
Interesting thought.
About that illegal-loving racism, WorldNetDaily on Sotomayor’s La Raza membership. You know what, never mind everything I just said up there. I’m guessing La Raza and its driver’s license for illegals stance are going under the bus in the hearings, though.
Lawhawk, expect few fireworks … current fireworks notwithstanding. Says the opinion reversal rate is no big deal. There will be questions, but she’ll skate.
Off-topic, totally related. Surber: The Laughing Watchdog. Gibbs gets more yuks than his predecessors.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:02 am Comments (2) on Thursday, May 28, 2009
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May 28th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
[...] dictator: Jay Nordlinger on “hispanics,” “Latinos,” and pesky C-As Jules Crittenden: Souter With A Salsa Beat? NewsMax.com: Sotomayor Hostile to Gun Rights, Scholar Says Greg Gutfeld, Big Hollywood: Daily Gut: [...]
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:45 pm
[...] Talk Grand Rants: Sotomayor on Video (Sotomayor’s Outrageous Comments) Jules Crittenden: Souter With A Salsa Beat? and You Say Soto-My-YOR, I Say Soda-Meyer Leigh Scott, Big Hollywood: The Wisdom of the White Male [...]