More Republican Nonsense?

Japanese horror writer
publishes latest story
on rolls of toilet paper.

What kind of nonsense will the Republicans put us through now? Obama has nominated Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court to replace David Souter. She is Hispanic (Puerto Rican), raised in the Bronx. In spite of her difficult beginnings she graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and went on to edit the Yale Law Review. She is divorced with no children. She has thirty years of experience in the legal profession at all levels. Twice she has already been confirmed by the Senate for judgeships. She is, in general, highly regarded by her peers . All in all she has way more experience than any currently serving Supreme Court Justice. We have to assume she has been carefully vetted by the Obama administration. Her record is crystal clear. Unless there is some strange secret that we know nothing about, there is no reason she should not be confirmed. But don’t think for a moment this will stop the Republicans from raising doubts about her. They will look for one or two decisions she made they do not agree with and try to make an issue out of a molehill. They will claim she is not “intellectual enough,” as if any of them had any intellect at all (you don’t graduate summa cum laude from Princeton, or edit the Yale Law Review without some intellectual abilities). They will claim she is a liberal (this will prove hard to demonstrate, given her record). Mike Huckabee, that intellectual giant who doesn’t believe in evolution, has already said she comes from the “far left,” for which there is no evidence whatsoever. They will claim she is an “activist,” also hard to prove from her record. Some will say she is an uninspired choice who will not be able to make an impact on the court (like Clarence Williams, for example?). There is no reason she should not sail through her confirmation quickly and easily, but don’t bet on it, Republicans, having no shame at all, will do whatever they can to hold it up. It will all be utter nonsense, a waste of time, but it will no doubt allow some of them to demonstrate their shallow but newsworthy opposition for their few moments in the spotlight. The idea that they would attempt to filibuster this appointment is so stupid it would just prove their inability to do anything other than just get them even deeper into their hopeless pit of shame. Of course they will also claim this is just a cynical Obama trick to keep the Hispanic vote (thus implying that she is not qualified for the court, which is absurd). I think she is a fine choice, certainly for the moment, a Hispanic, a woman, and a wonderful example of “the American experience.” And don’t forget, Obama may have a chance to appoint two or three more. Of course Obama is a politician, and he is also shrewd. With this appointment he has forced on them a true Hobson’s choice – either vote to anger the Hispanics, or vote to anger the Republican base. There certainly is no reason we should not have an Hispanic on the court, and there is every reason we should have another woman. As the old saying goes, Republicans would bitch if they were being hung with a new rope.

The California Supreme Court has come up with an interpretation of the California Constitution that may well be legal, but at the same time demonstrates the lack of common sense so characteristic of those who cling to the rules no matter how ridiculous their position may be. They have decided in their wisdom that Proposition 8, banning gay marriages in California must stand as is. But at the same time they decided that the 18,000 gay marriages that occurred previously are legal. To people with minds as simple as mine, this is obviously absurd, and may, I suppose, even be unconstitutional, as it discriminates against those who did not marry previously. I guess the best thing one might say about it, is that it opens up the possibility for endless litigation, and possibly new voting, to make right what never should have been made wrong in the first place. At times I find the American political/legal system little more than a bad joke.

LKBIQ:
The men the American public admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.
H. L. Mencken

TILT:
Some species of tapeworms can grow to 100 feet in length.