“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.”
The judge said that in 2001 at a UC-Berkeley conference on Latinos in the judiciary. For that utterance she has been called a racist, asked by Newt Gingrich to withdraw, compared by Rush Limbaugh to David Duke, the Ku Klux Klanner. The resulting furor has caused some conservatives (Charles Krauthammer, Sen. John Cornyn) to protest the name-calling. Others sought moderation. Some have gotten angrier.
The White House, instead of defending her remarks, said (per Press Secretary Robert Gibbs) that it was a poor choice of words. In fact, her words were meant to be inspiring to her audience and reflect the reality of racism on the bench. The President and Mr. Gibbs should have stood by these remarks and Judge Sotomayor’s “wisdom” and “richness of experience” instead of caving to the predictable response on the right.
In their desire for consensus, the Obama folks sometimes get carried away. Of all people, Sonia Sotomayor doesn’t need their reinterpretation of her clear statement.
Comments