Judge Sotomayor's "Racist" Comments

Does context mean anything? FUCK, YES! The GOP bandwagon to attack Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor has boiled down to one sentence made in a speech in her 2001 address at the 'Raising the Bar' symposium at the UC Berkeley School of Law.

The quote: "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."

Not only have the right wing operatives taken that quote out of the context in which it was used, they've even parsed it further, usually omitting the ending, "who hasn't lived that life." Pat Buchanan even goes ahead and argues the plight of the white man.

Pat Buchanan: "...she thinks "Latina women," because of their life experience, make better judicial decisions than white men, that discrimination against white men to advance people of color is what America is all about..."

Oh, the white male has had it hard in these United States, haven't they? The affirmative action claim Buchanan makes is based on his interpretation (or lack of) of Sotomayor's ruling in the New Haven firefighter case which, I'm sure if you asked him, he would categorize as being an "activist" ruling not realizing that the basis for the three judge panel's decision was due to past precedent as well as upholding the District Court's decision.

But no matter. She said "white male" in a speech eight years ago and the white males are crying "RACISM!" while their scrotums shrivel up. After all, she's a "brown woman" according to Tom Tancredo. Lordy, we can't have that on the bench.

Keith Olbermann does a great job here in not only putting the quote into context, but debunking the "racist" poo flinging from the actual racist monkeys on the right, while at the same time employing a scorched earth policy taking on Karl Rove, Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, CNN and Tom Tancredo.

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In that CNN segment, Tancredo also likened the National Council of La Raza to the "KKK without the hoods and the nooses." What the fuck?

From their website:

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) – the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States – works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans. Through its network of nearly 300 affiliated community-based organizations (CBOs), NCLR reaches millions of Hispanics each year in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia. To achieve its mission, NCLR conducts applied research, policy analysis, and advocacy, providing a Latino perspective in five key areas – assets/investments, civil rights/immigration, education, employment and economic status, and health. In addition, it provides capacity-building assistance to its Affiliates who work at the state and local level to advance opportunities for individuals and families.

Founded in 1968, NCLR is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization headquartered in Washington, DC. NCLR serves all Hispanic subgroups in all regions of the country and has operations in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Yeah... sure sounds like a lynch mob to me. Does the KKK have a lobbying firm in Washington, DC? Perhaps the National Rifle Association? I kid, but you get the point. What an insufferable, racist douche, that Tom Tancredo. And you can quote me.