Is it wrong that the Sotomayor hearings start tomorrow, and I just do not care at all. I have no intention of watching them at all, and I have watched every confirmation since watching Clarence Thomas while on leave from active duty. It just doesn’t matter- there is no drama whatsoever and she is going to get confirmed.
Yes, the Republicans will probably say some stupid things, and that will probably be matched by effusive praise from some suck-up on the Democratic side. Yes, the Republicans will try to turn this into a race riot. But I still don’t care.
Unless Sotomayor screws up and reveals our secret plan to force everyone to have an abortion and then be sent to the FEMA Muslim re-education and political correctness camps (HAHAHA, JOKES ON YOU GLENN BECK! You thought they were concentration camps! SUCKA!) and gives Evan Bayh and Joe Lieberman the vapors, she is going to get confirmed by about 75-25 or better.
So who cares?
Just Some Fuckhead
I’m sorta hoping they figure out a way to shoot down her nomination. Too many Catholics on the high court already and she’s rumored to be secretly pro-life.
General Winfield Stuck
I would love it if she did like my Aunt used to do to me when she thought I was being a little shitass, which of course was frequent. Get up, walk over to Cornyn, or Sessions, or any deserving wingnut, take both hands and pinch the daylights out of their puffy little cheeks.
evie
OK, you’re in a mood. I think I’ll check in with you later in the week.
JK
To liven up the hearings, I wish the Sen Judiciary Committee would allow Actor’s Studio host James Lipton to question Sotomayor.
I’m dying to know Sotomayor’s favorite word, favorite curse word, favorite sound, and what God would say to her when she reaches the pearly gates.
You Don't Say
You need a vacation.
NutellaonToast
Who cares, ever? It’s always a circus anyway and then they go through. Maybe someone gets called a little bit slutty along the way but I don’t see the point in paying attention.
Tell me who my new leader is and I’ll go back to making fun of people on the ineternet.
I’m growing fond of my typos.
Ash Can
It might be somewhat entertaining when the Republicans call their witnesses to testify and the Dems make them (and by extension their GOP ringmasters) look like perfect stoonads. Other than that, I agree, the results are a foregone conclusion.
General Winfield Stuck
It will be like all the other confirmation hearings.
“Senator, I don’t want to answer that question cause it would be prejudging a potential future case on said question.”
Violet
I don’t care either. She’s going to get confirmed. If they Republicans wanted to have a say in this, they should have gotten their act together last election and won a few more seats. But they didn’t and elections have consequences. They don’t have a say and I don’t care to watch their circus.
Although if someone does something hilarious enough that it’s worth watching, I’ll be happy to catch a clip later.
JK
I’m guessing the vote is closer to 63-37
Downpuppy
Careful, John!
You could be one of the tribe of people* who loses 95% of their interest in politics when more or less reasonable people are in charge & there’s no immediate threat to the constitution.
*aka “The Sane”
General Winfield Stuck
This is normal.
NutellaonToast
No threat to the constitution, downpuppy? But what about the birth certificate! It says right there “natural born citizen with a vault copy!”
The Grand Panjandrum
I am sure that by the end of the hearings the Freepers will all be convinced that she will legislate from the bench and make Spanish our official language before the end of Obama’s first term. So yeah the real entertainment will be reading the reactions of the wingnuts. The hearings will be a mere sideshow to the main event in Wingnuttia. I just wonder how Krauthammer is going to go off the deep on this one?
D-Chance.
Amen. Substituting one liberal for another… big deal.
This has zero impact on the SCOTUS. Other than providing some fodder for the AM talkers and the assorted denizens of Bloghastan, it means nothing to Real America.
BTW, we can now choose Thai girls instead of just Filipinas?
Just Some Fuckhead
what’s up with the starving asian girl ad? it is for some humanitarian charity?
John Cole
@Just Some Fuckhead: Beats me.
JK
OT
Clueless Teen Girl Falls in Open Manhole While Texting, Blames DEP for Leaving Hole Unattended
http://wcbstv.com/local/texting.manhole.raw.2.1081403.html
Kryptik
I’m not quite so optimistic about the vote, though I do think she’ll pass through.
I probably won’t watch the hearings either, but I find myself utterly frustrated in general about the tone of the Sotomayor debate. I’ve actually heard people justify the accusation of her being racist against whites by saying ‘she’s hard on white collar criminals, who are usually white!’
Laura W
@Just Some Fuckhead: John has mentioned several times that he likes ethnic women. Witness now the Christian Filipina Brides ad and now the unfathomably wonderful Thai women ad.
I blame John. For pretty much everything.
John Cole
@JK: Well, technically this is true, it is the DEP’s fault, but collectively it is nonsense.
God, I love that phrase. We need to popularize it.
AhabTRuler
@John Cole: It’s so cute to see you play when you have a new toy!
mb
I gotta say I share Just Some Fuckhead’s fear. Bill Donohue has said that he’s “quietly rooting” for her. And he NEVER gives a potential baby-killer a pass. That gives me some unease regarding her ascendancy — which seems inevitable. It’s my understanding that she has no record of rulings in the area of abortion rights. It’d be a sad irony if, by replacing Souter, she becomes Obama’s “Souter,” i.e., not what we want or expect from an Obama justice just as Souter was an unpleasant surprise to the right. In addition, most of her rulings have been described as moderate to conservative — again kind of concerning to me.
All that said, I think it’s more or less a lock that she’ll be on the Court — and I sincerely doubt the hearings will clarify her positions on any areas of concern for liberals. Not much to be done but hope that Obama did his homework and isn’t handing the anti-Roe faction a 5th vote.
Just Some Fuckhead
I think Balloon-Juice should sponsor some of these starving asian girls.
AhabTRuler
@mb: The real question is will she impose her religious beliefs on her judicial philosophy? I believe that it is possible for someone to personally oppose abortion without supporting a judicial philosophy that overturns Roe v. Wade.
JK
@John Cole:
Jonathan Turley says on his blog that the law is on the side of the teenage girl. To quote Charles Dickens, in this particular instance, “The Law Is An Ass”. Yes DEP was negligent, but this girl was a fucking moron and NYC is going to get screwed because of our fucked up tort law.
In certain circumstances, such as this manhole incident, it should be incumbent on individuals to take personal responsibility for their actions and not be able to win millions of dollars in court despite acting like cretins.
OT
Yes. The NY Yankees enter the All-Star break on a 3 game losing streak.
mb
@AhabTRuler — agreed, but when Donohue is for a justice, I’m usually agin ’em. And if I believed abortion was the murder of an innocent, I know I’d take any action possible to stop it. Furthermore — I’ll wager that no Senator will question her vis a vis her inclination (or not) to allow her religious fervor (if such is the case) to influence her rulings. I doubt the issue will be raised or, if raised, answered in any straightforward manner.
JGabriel
Laura W:
Change “John” to “Ayn Rand”, and that pretty much sums up my philosophy.
.
AhabTRuler
@mb: I think that it is easy to be cynical because the Republicans are always looking for ideologues; I doubt that Obama is that clueless as to the underlying judicial philosophy of his first SC nominee.
Martin
But Ricci is going to show up and tell Congress how constant litigation is the only way for a white boy to get ahead in this country, and the GOP will be all over his right to sue incessantly.
JK
Can’t wait to see what Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert do with Sarah Palin, John Ensign, and the Sotomayor hearings. They’re finally back from vacation tomorrow.
mb
@AhabTRuler: My faith in Obama diminishes daily. But it’s not his lack of judgment that I fear. IMO, the future challenges to Roe will not be frontal attacks but will be more of a degrading incrementalism that chips away at the issue of reproductive rights. If, indeed, she is anti-choice and has any degree of integrity regarding her position, I’d be shocked if it didn’t impact on her rulings — especially where the issue of precedence is a bit cloudy.
anonevent
@D-Chance.: On the ad (clicked to help John, yeah) they promise:
I’m not sure my wife would be too happy though if I go Thai.
MBSS
of course no one cares about sotomayor, shes a centrist for gods sake. what could be more boring?
Anne Laurie
In my old neighborhood, which was not far in either time or distance from where Sotomayor grew up, we had the Irish Jumpstart: Stand in front of clueless moron; put your left hand over his right ear; cup your right hand & swing it in a wide arc ending at CM’s left ear. Done correctly, it produces a nice sharp popping noise and makes the CM’s eyes bug out. No, it usually can’t improve the actual ‘thinking’ processes of the CM in question, but it does measurably increase the attention span of the CM’s near companions. I guarantee that if Sotomayor has the wise Latina experience to perform this maneuver on either the first hostile witness or (better yet!) Chief Justice Roberts, then the rest of the hearings will proceed much more expeditiously — and Little Nino will ask for her autograph, too.
Turgidson
@mb:
My faith in Obama is ticking back up with reports trickling in that he’s going to authorize an investigation into the Afghan massacre, will NOT be indefinitely detaining anyone (though that news is still very murky…seems like they’re just saying “we want to detain someone indefinitely, but haven’t found any big winners yet”, which is…not overly reassuring.) Plus, Holder might investigate torture (though Tim F.’s recent post on that topic poured some cold water on that.)
on Sotomayor and Donohue, I think it’s wishful thinking on his part, and that what he’s really saying is that Sotomayor is not as much of a bleeding heart commie pinko judicial activist as he might have thought Obama would appoint. I suspect, in a private meeting, Obama or one of his advisors asked her point blank about abortion and she gave a satisfactory answer.
I also think, despite the pearl-clutching that still ensues when it’s discussed, that abortion as a legal topic has become somewhat settled law and only judicial extremists would vote to overturn the Roe body of law. Fortunately, we only have 4 right wing extremists on the Court. Even though I wonder if she’ll be as liberal as I might like, I doubt Sotomayor will join their ranks. Plus, as much of a right-wing nutbag as Roberts has already proven to be, he seems to prefer to avoid controversy. So there might not even be the necessary 4 votes to grant cert to an abortion case, should one make it that far.
jcricket
Normally this whole thing would be a zero change kind of event. But because Republicans have decided to bring their hatred of Latinos to the forefront (smart strategery, you know), this non-event has become a Republican self-mutilation.
Fine by me. Obama should keep doing this stuff. Do something moderate and centrist, that involves a minority somehow, and Republicans go ape-shit and alienate everyone that doesn’t already love Sarah Palin.
Steeplejack
@D-Chance.:
Er, I thought I could have one of each. Oh, dear, have I misread the ads?
Just Some Fuckhead
@Steeplejack:
The buy one get one free offer was only available on the Ann Coulter/Greta van Susteren deal.
Steeplejack
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Oh. Then I’ll pass, thanks. And I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
tavella
If she was replacing one of the right wing five, I’d definitely cheer — even if she’s fairly moderate to conservative, she’s certainly not crazy right wing, and she brings perspectives that would definitely help balance the court: female, non-white, non-privileged upbringing.
As a replacement for Souter, there’s a good chance she’s more conservative, so not entirely thrilled, though still glad of the perspectives.
Wilson Heath
If I weren’t working tomorrow, I would watch with the hope of witnessing the Sessions-driven train wreck that locks the GOP out of Florida for the foreseeable future and makes everyone realize what has been clear to the observant for a few years–Texas is in play for the Dems if they want it. And that pea-brained little dipshit will have made it all possible. That’s kind of worth seeing.
Mike G
The usual Repig simians flinging poop and hooting, and thoroughly disgracing themselves. Seen this movie too many times.
Allan
@Mike G: In other words it will be the opening sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with Judge Sotomayor as the monolith.
inkadu
@General Winfield Stuck: I haven’t heard a a toddler being referred to as a “little shitass” since my days in Missoura. Where you from, boy?
If Sotomayer is Catholic, watch out. Religious people seem very reasonable, until you start to get to the religious areas. Then they don’t make any sense at all and there’s no point trying to talk sense into them.
It’s kind of like talking to some hip liberal Jew, and you bring up Palestine, and they suddenly turn into Glenn Beck… ya can just never know.
I am looking forward to today’s hearings, mostly how badly the Republicans are going to mangle hispanic stereotypes. “Judge Sotomayer, how is your tradition of sleeping siesta going to impact the court’s schedule? When did you become a US Citizen, and how did your parents get you across the border?”
bob h
I think the Republicans will not be able to help themselves, and there will be some real nastiness that will rebound on them. The Republicans will find a way to mess this up.
feebog
DiFi is up to bat right now. She is droning on about some case or another while Sotomayor sits patiently…….Sorry, dozed off a little there. I can’t believe this woman is my Senator.
bago
I tried watching, but the opening remarks were painful at times. Chuck Grassley is just a moron, but Listening to Kyl hurt, because he obviously had enough command of the language to understand that what he was saying was bullshit, but insisted on grandstanding on the bullshit anyways.
4jkb4ia
I will listen for the sheer entertainment value of Sheldon Whitehouse being given half an hour to ask questions.
4jkb4ia
What is this “Home Run Derby” that you speak of?
4jkb4ia
@JK:
That was only because they had to play Anaheim, but the Red Sox will happily take it.
ken adler
Yes it’s wrong, because i come to this site and not others because I respect your insight and opinions. I also like your take on things as per your growth over the past 5 years from rethug to dem. (And I live in China and it’s one of the few sites the government hasn’t blocked)
So that I don’t have to watch them, you must.
Ken (now in Bali)