Sotomayor “Wise Latina” Comment NOT An Aberration

Obama and his men have tried to spin Sonia Sotomayor’s “wise Latina” comment, namely . . .

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.

. . . as a poor choice of words that she would say differently if she had a do-over.

There is a slight problem with that, um, explanation. It turns out she has said the same thing again and again and again. If it is a poor choice of words, it is a choice she has made repeatedly.

By the way, a partial correction of an earlier entry is in order. Sotomayor is not now a member of La Raza (“The Race”). She was a member from 1998 to 2004. . . which is kinda like saying someone used to be a member of the KKK. But anyway, no racism to see here. Move along.

Double Standards and Sotomayor

As Mona Charen well notes, the vetting of Sonia Sotomayor and past judicial nominees reveals a number of double standards. Like Ms. Charen, I doubt Sotomayor is a racist. However . . .

If a white male nominee had been discovered to have said something similar -- that he was better situated to judge due to his background and life experiences than a Latina woman -- he would be cashiered so fast as to induce whiplash.

Gosh, you think?

And Sotomayor, with her past statements and current associations, particularly her membership in La Raza (i.e. “The Race”), she has far more marks of racism than any number of past white male nominees attacked on the pretense of supposed racism. Charen reviews the Charles Pickering episode as one despicable example of such Democrat double standards and outright slander:

. . . Judge Pickering had been a friend to civil rights throughout his career. To its credit, the New York Times actually quoted longtime associates of the judge and members of the black community in Pickering's hometown who "overwhelmingly support his nomination . . . and admire his efforts at racial reconciliation." The black chairman of the city council told the Times, "I can't believe the man they're describing in Washington is the same one I've known for years." They recalled that as a young prosecutor in 1967, Pickering had endangered his career (and perhaps more) by testifying in court against the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. He was known for hiring black staffers at a time when few white Mississippians did. Pickering encouraged the chancellor of University of Mississippi to form the Institute for Racial Reconciliation and served on its board for many years. . . .

Yet, without blushing, John Kerry transmogrified Judge Pickering into "a forceful advocate for a cross-burner."

Yet these same Democrats are about to give a pass to the Supreme Court to a woman who openly thinks she can make better decisions than a white male because she is a Latina.

Second Thoughts on Opposition to Sotomayor

Last week I counseled Republicans to be very careful about opposing the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

I’m having second thoughts about that.

Of course, I don’t think Republicans should be reckless or nasty in opposing her, especially when the “mainstream” news media is so eager to lie twist the words of those in opposition.

But it has become clear that, even if she is not a racist as Rush Limbaugh has proclaimed or a sexist, her own words make it clear she cannot and should not be trusted to be fair in matters where race or gender crops up.

She said what she meant, and she meant what she said: "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."
No white nominee could get away with that statement's corollary in which a wise white man comes to better conclusions that a Latina. Nor should he.


And that fact is already resonating to the point where Obama has felt compelled to spin it. People don’t like racism no matter where it comes from, and Obama knows it.

I am also alarmed by her membership in La Raza. That’s Spanish for “The Race”, people. And, yes, that organization is as racist as it sounds. What if a white nominee belonged to a white power group called “The Race”?

So here we have the irony of a Black president appointing a Supreme Court justice based on race and gender. And that Latina nominee has shown the disposition to be racially biased and strengthen the racial spoils racket just after the election of said President has blown away the need for it.

The irony of that is already sinking in and Republicans should run with that. Obama’s nomination is brazen and certainly not “post-racial”, and, although he will succeed in getting her on the court, it should be opposed, and Obama should be made to pay a political price.

And, thanks to Sotomayor’s own words and choices, Obama can be made to pay a political price.