By now, everyone who owns a television, radio, or computer has been beaten over the head with Judge Sotomayor’s hard-luck life by the 24/7 news media, so I will spare you from another force-fed biography.

Admittedly, I admire Sotomayor’s story- but that is where it ends.

First, I would like to address why Obama is a genius in his selection. Justice Souter couldn’t have picked a more politically perfect time to retire from the bench. The Democrats hold a majority in both Houses, the most liberal President ever (or since Jimmy Carter) is in the White House, and the country is swept up in a liberal love fest. So why Sotomayor?

According to Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, filibustering Sotomayor would be the only solution to stop her from acquiring the seat. With the GOP demographic shrinking, Republican lawmakers feel trying to filibuster the first Latina justice would alienate the population that helped George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004 elections- Hispanic male voters. With that said, Sotomayor’s confirmation is a give-in. It also reaffirms Obama’s own political ideology and campaign promise to bring more diversity to government. For Obama’s part, his choice was brilliant.

Sotomayor, the judge, does not at all embody equal justice under the law. In fact, many view her as a racist. This stems from her federal appeals court ruling against white and Hispanic New Haven, Connecticut firefighters who scored higher on promotion examinations than their African-American counterparts. The test results were thrown out after the black firefighters claimed the examination was unfair and biased against them. Ironically, the case is now before the Supreme Court, although Sotomayor, if confirmed, would not be allowed to participate in the proceedings.

Personally, as a side note, I believe affirmative action is disparaging to minorities. Imagine knowing you were selected for a position, school, or promotion based not on your qualifications, but the color of your skin? I would be embarrassed and ashamed, just as they should be. It is time to base all decisions truly on the contents of character, and not color of skin.

Sotomayor has also claimed in the past that female Hispanic judges are better decision makers than old, white male judges who haven’t experienced the same upbringing. What were to happen if a white male judge selected for nomination had made the same reverse claim? His nomination would not stand a chance.

Thankfully, Sotomayor’s seat will not change the balance of power on the Court…for now.

James was rather subdued and laid back compared to his usual pitbull aggressive rhetoric. Smiling, cordial and dropping the occassional one-liners as well as veering off subject.

Even Ann seemed to be reserved and holding back but was quick to counter James’ comments pointing out that once again selective racism is exhibited from the Democratic left.

“To understand takes time and effort, something that not all people are willing to give. For others, their experiences limit their ability to understand the experiences of others. Other simply do not care. Hence, one must accept the proposition that a difference there will be by the presence of women and people of color on the bench. Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see. My hope is that I will take the good from my experiences and extrapolate them further into areas with which I am unfamiliar. I simply do not know exactly what that difference will be in my judging. But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.”

“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.”
~Judge Sonia Sotomayor from a Judge Mario G. Olmos Memorial Lecture in 2001

Therein lies the problem.

Would that be a rich white male that has lived a life of wealth and privilege or a poor white male growing up in rural Appalachia? Certainly neither has anything in common other than they are white males. Where does the poor, oppressed, poverty-stricken white male fit into the racial hierarchy? The inference in the Judge’s statement is that all white males have lived a life devoid of hardships or “richness of experiences” and therefore unable to reach better conclusions than a wise Latina woman.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is going to be nominated to the Supreme Court, make no mistake about that. As Dick Morris so succinctly stated to Sean Hannity, “It’s a runaway truck and you better get out of the way.”

Should she bypass Senate hearings for confirmation? Absolutely not. Will she be subjected to the same abuse as Clarence Thomas? No nor should she be. But a fair and thorough confirmation hearing should be conducted to allow the American people to see for themselves exactly what kind of Judge is being appointed to the highest court in our country.

And as for Ann Coulter and James Carville, we expect a better show next time you two get together.