Despite the recent hullabaloo surrounding her weight, Big(ish) Girl Sonia Sotomayor has been nominated by President Barack Obama for the Supreme Court of the United States.
Now when someone equates fatness with stupidity, we can point them here.
(PS Francesca thinks that Sotomayor bears a striking resemblance to Francesca’s friend Judi, except older and more serious and lawyer-ly. Hi, Judi! Hi!)
And there are still some on the right who are trying to portray her as unintelligent, because in their view, if you are not a white male, then you can’t possibly be the best person for the job and only got where you are because of affirmative action.
Personally, I’m looking forward to her proving them all wrong and leaving them reeling. Go get ’em, Sonia! I’m going to sit back, make some popcorn, and enjoy the show.
Comment by La Petite Acadienne — May 27, 2009 @ 11:16 am
Petite, as a right leaning big girl I’m insulted by your insuation. I don’t thing that Ms Sotamayor is right for the court, not becuase she’s a female or Hispanic, but because of her positions. Not to mention the fact that nearly every time a ruling she has made has gone to the Supreme Court they’ve overturned it (the one time they didn’t rule against her they discussed her lack of logic and the fact that her opinion had nothing to do with the law or the case before her).
Your comment shows how futile it is to try and have a rational debate with regards to politics anymore. Most likely you’ve already discounted me as a racist, so you don’t have to listen to anything I say.
Comment by dr nic — May 28, 2009 @ 7:03 pm
You may want to consider re-reading my post and addressing the point that I actually made, if you’re not too busy addressing all of the things that I didn’t actually say.
I mentioned nothing of her positions or her rulings. I only mentioned the fact that there are some people on the right who are saying that she is unintelligent, and that she only got where she is due to her being a minority and a woman and benefiting from affirmative action.
Obviously, that is utterly ludicrous. Even if Ivy League universities were open to every D-student minority who wished to stroll through the doors, the last time I checked, one still has to have a substantially functional brain in their head to graduate Summa Cum Laude from Princeton and to become editor of the Yale Law Journal.
So, any “insinuations” were entirely of your own creation.
But, if you do wish to address her reversal rate, here are a few facts: in her 11 years on the appeals court, she wrote 380 majority opinions. Of those 380 opinions, the Supreme Court heard 5 of them. Out of the 5, they reversed 3, or 60%, which is actually LOWER than the overall Supreme Court reversal rate for lower court decisions (which was 71%). To put it in context, Samuel Alito had had 2 of his rulings considered by the Supreme Court, and BOTH were overturned, leading to a reversal rate of…100%.
I don’t doubt that there are some legitimate criticisms out there about the Sotomayor appointment, but it’s very disheartening to hear criticisms based on falsehoods and assumptions.
And do I think you’re a racist? No. Why would I? Do I think that you need to research your arguments a little more thoroughly? Absolutely. And I think that when one ends a statement with “Well, I can’t have a rational debate with you because you have already written me off as a racist”, then that really does make it more difficult to have a rational debate, because you’re automatically assuming that I’m not arguing in good faith.
Comment by La Petite Acadiene — May 28, 2009 @ 8:16 pm
Well…that was deep ladies. All I can add is Go! Sonia Go! You rock!!!
Comment by Peaches — May 28, 2009 @ 9:30 pm