Posted by
KsReaganite on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 8:01:44 PM
Let's take a deep breath in reflecting about the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor.
First, it was very unsurprising. The President, being a believer in ethnic and gender politics, couldn't have found a pick more likely to cover the two main identity constitutencies of his base, namely liberal women and Hispanics. Second, it was a brilliant political move. Already tarred with the brush of of being too white and too masculine, the GOP will be extremely hard pressed to oppose the first Hispanic female nominee to the SCOTUS. Third, it could have been much worse like, say, a full fledged bigot like Diane Pamela Wood whose hatred of Christians is astounding even by normal liberal standards.
Now, to be blunt, Judge Sotomayor's even handed application of criminal law does not negate her outright and well proven hostility to colorblind justice or to the Second Amendment. Her remarks about courts making policy are also very unnerving. Nonetheless, Republicans and the larger conservative movement will make a huge mistake in trying to oppose her on the basis of her being a 'liberal'. That won't fly in this environment, specially with the numbers that exist in the United States Senate.
Any opposition to her will have to be based on finer points, specifically the Second Amendment. Painting her, rightfully so, as a clear and present threat to the Second Amendment is the only outside chance that some Senate Democrats from the Mountain West and South (I am thinking Nebraska, Montana, Louisiana, and the Dakotas) just may vote against cloture. It is a slim chance, but the only one there is. Bluntly put, only the NRA has any outside chance of stopping the confirmation of Judge Sotomayor.