Sotomayor Day 4
A final sketch drawn from dispatches from TIME's Sophia Yan:
Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, pretty much summed up the week's confirmation hearings Thursday morning when he said the he could not envision filibustering Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, nor any of his colleagues doing so. The Alabama senator, one of Sotomayor's fiercest critics in two rounds of questioning, went on to predict a speedy confirmation before the August recess, a timeline he once opposed as far too short. And the panel hadn't even heard from the witnesses yet.
The last round -- Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy refused a third round -- of question and answers rounded out with a few now-familiar rounds of Ricci v. DeStefano, “wise Latina” and Second Amendment rights. The line of inquiry by the panel's last four Dems took on an also historic feel, so foregone seemed the conclusion. When asked by Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar what she'd like historians to say about her, Sotomayor responded: “I can't live my life to write history's story. That will be the job of historians long after I'm gone…. In the end, I hope it will say that I'm a fair judge, that I was a caring person and that I lived my life serving my country.”
Sotomayor, in a vibrant pink jacket, rose and bid, perhaps, her last farewells to the committee as a mere nominee. And then, the panel took pity on us fish and changed the water. The afternoon saw the beginning of witness statements, which will continue through Friday. This testimony was a hyperbolic contrast to the measured tones of the first 3.5 days. In this phase of the hearings both parties bring in the appellate judge's greatest supporters and greatest detractors to testify – a kind of Kabuki theater that has rarely impacted a judge's fate. The Anita Hill of Sotomayor's hearings was meant to be Frank Ricci,a baby-faced white New Haven firefighter who sued the city when his promotion was denied after not enough minorities passed a promotions test. Luckily for Sotomayor, Ricci was no Anita Hill and – barring a real shocker from a witness tomorrow – Sotomayor's hearings look to wrap up with the same air of inevitability with which they began.
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1
" .. And then, the panel took pity on us fish and changed the water. .."
Water for you, JNS.
Here and there, debonaire Sen Leahy stole - under color of law - enough hugs and kisses to last him for the rest of the year.
Lucky stiff!
[I bet that his camera was on AUTO all the while!
Perks - under color of law - for the chair of the law committee?] -
2
Coburn: "I'm a doctor, dammit! Why won't you guarantee my fundamental right to shoot people?"
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3
Nice work, Jay, sleep well (or go for it and watch retro TV subchannels all night + red bulls in the morning?)....
…late night madness… the Senatorial janitor is sweeping up the popcorn, and then pockets Sotomayor's candy bar wrappers for resale on eBay. Meanwhile, Sens. Sessions and Graham sit in despair at an all-night diner watching "I Love Lucy" over omelets. They resort to prank calls to Sotomayor and Leahy, but Franken busts them. They call Mark Sanford but he's tied up (literally, as punishment by his wife), then try Sarah what's-her-name. She can't fly to DC overnight but asks her witch doctor to cast spells over the committee. The two senators plan to TP the chamber after the janitor leaves. Hey, nothing else has worked…. -
4
…or will the committee have a Senate slumber party? First split into two wary groups, they reconcile over popcorn, pillow fights, and Twister. Late into the night they play truth or dare, and then practice kissing on pillows.
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5
This is a highly significant victory for the president in the midst of roadblocks for health reform and consistent criticism over the economy. This could be the start of a big Obama bump in the polls.
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6
JNS: Good job on the coverage. Pls keep the SS posts and tweets coming.
SwampGang: Good job on no-feeding Thursday. Same thing next week?
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6.1
It weren't easy! Readin' back o'er me posts yesterday, I be seein' a bit o' rantin' goin' on...I honest think I be needin' th' outlet o' tellin' you-be-knowin'-who t' go F 'imself t' relieve me stress!
Tha', an' I be sufferin a wee bit o' "wench" problems o' late
!Arrgh!
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7
She were al'ays goin' t' be confirmed.
It were all an opportunity fer grandstandin' self-indulgin' show fer th' folks back in port.
Tho' - I don't be thinkin' it be goin' t' turn out t've been quite th' show some o' 'em were hopin' fer when election time rolls 'round next!
Arrgh!
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8
So in the end ... it was a totally pointless exercise?
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8.1
Why, aye, I do be b'lievin' it were!
No' tha' there shouldn'a been hearin's - thar should! Bu' they could'a been shorter, more t' th' point, an' wi'out th' theater aspect - ye be knowin'... pr'fessional!
YARR!
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8.2
Well, Sessions' and Coburn's and Graham's constituents know that their representatives are just as ignorant today as when they were elected. They probably find that reassuring.
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8.3
Not totally pointless...I got my "I Love Lucy" recap / update without having to stay up really late to watch.
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9
Sotomayor ain't so hot. Here's another example:
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"I don't believe that's how I read the dissent. It may have to speak for itself, but I—Justice Ginsburg took the position that the 2nd Circuit's panel opinion should be affirmed; and she took it by saying that no matter how you looked at this case, it should be affirmed. And so I don't believe that that was my conclusion reading the dissent, but obviously it will speak for itself."
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Sotomayor makes an elementary mistake here. Ginsburg's dissent never says that her decision should have been affirmed. Rather, at one point (footnote 10)it says that if summary disposition were appropriate, here's why the City should win on the statutory issues. But the problem is that the plaintiffs also raised Equal Protection issues. And in order to get to "Second Circuit affirmed", Ginsburg would have had to deal with those. (N.B., the majority didn;t have to address the Equal Protection issues because it found for the plaintiffs on statutory grounds.) She didn't. Thus, Ginsburg's opinion cannot possibly be read as an affirmation of Judge Sotomayor.
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An elementary mistake about a case she wrote. Wow.
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MSM won't pick that up, though. -
10
And talking about "Here is Lucy":
Lucy wants to be a big movie star. She has a plan. She will go to the studio for an audition. The producer will be so impressed by her performance at the audition that he will jump up and yell "That girl! I want that girl!" And like that, a star is born. The rest is movie history.
That was the hal-LUCY-nation then.Move forward to 2009 and this is nothing to laugh at - with the following substitution:
Lucy/Sonya,
audition/hearings,
studio/judiciary committee chamber,
producer/ Americans,
girl/judgePretty uncanny, eh?
- jnsmall DesireeRogers 2 testify! Er, no. WH cites sep of powers. Cause she needs 2 b able 2 speak freely on social stuf 2 prez: http://tiny.cc/uluW3 - 23 minutes ago
- jnsmall @greebs the whole story was about cng reax to obama's speech! - 1 hour ago
- jnsmall @greebs also- if global warming's so urgent- why's the bill virtualy DOA in the senate? Noone thinks cap&trade'll pass b4 midterms, if @ all - 1 hour ago
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