http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/opinion/29brooks.html?th&emc=th

It’s a desperation move and contrived as hell.

Sotomayor’s point is that she is offering (shock, horror) a minority perspective than differs from that of the White majority which sadly dominates the US court system.

But, maybe this is exactly the real reason why some people are throwing such a hissy fit about her comments.

Unfortunately, there are increasing examples of White people trying to “play the (reverse) racism card” and accuse minorities of being “racist” no less–all in order maintain White dominance and power.

The backlash against Affirmative Action is the clearest example of this cynical political strategy, where White applicants to universities claim to be discriminated against because of “racial preferences” given to minorities.

Never mind that the entire educational system from K-12 and college is largely stacked against minorities like Blacks, Latinos, etc. to begin with.

Haha…he’s logging in from different IPs. That’s why I highly recommend that people sign up at gravatar.com to break the dependence on randomly assigned pictures based on IP address. This way you can be “more than just a number.” You too can be an orange eye or a brown and white dog.

Robert,

Okay, I see what you’re saying. I think/hope that the majority isn’t standing behind Gingrich on this one.

“Gingrich’s accusations are just smokescreens to cover up for the fact that the white majority is seeing their advantage getting threatened and now they fear the possibility of fighting minorities on equal grounds.”

In my mind feeling threatened = fear no? fearing a possibility certainly = fear. Hence my addressing it in my response

I can agree with some of what you’re saying – and certainly the bit about non-partiality. My reference is more toward a judges role vs. a perceived role as lawmaker s. law interpreter. It’s all moot in my opinion, as I mentioned above, I have zero problem with her appointment.

Also, love your blog!

I think Leon was talking about White male majorities in general, rather than just specific to the court (he mentioned racist institutions, and the Court doesn’t create institutions either.). Also I don’t think he said White people were afraid of minorities; he was just referencing the fact that a Latina’s views would more than likely be different from the White majority given her background.

I disagree with you on the idea that interpretation should be “cut and dry.” Politics are not supposed to play a role in the Court, but by all practical real life measures, they do. This is why some judges are thought to be liberal, while others are thought to be conservative. If you look at Scalia, for example, he almost always votes as George W. Bush would vote.