Patterico's Pontifications

8/6/2009

Sotomayor Confirmed

Filed under: Judiciary — DRJ @ 1:27 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Today the Senate confirmed Sonia Sotomayor as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court:

“Democrats praised the 55-year-old Sotomayor as a mainstream moderate. But most Republicans voted against her, saying she’d bring personal bias and a liberal agenda to the bench.

Senators took the rare step of assembling at their desks on the Senate floor for the historic occasion, rising from their seats to cast their votes.”

The vote was 68-31. Nine Republicans and two Independents voted to confirm Sotomayor, and Senator Edward Kennedy was absent.

— DRJ

23 Responses to “Sotomayor Confirmed”

  1. Senator Kennedy is routinely absent these days.

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  2. I read that the Administration believes Kennedy won’t be able to vote on health care reform, which is why they need at least one Republican vote to get to 60 in the Senate.

    DRJ (8d138b)

  3. To be perfectly honest, I don’t expect Sen. Kennedy to ever perform his job again, and I think he has a duty to the people of Massachusetts to resign.

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  4. Well, they need to focus on convincing all their own people if they really want health care ‘reform’.

    I’m glad Sotomayor was confirmed. I can’t stand her, but she isn’t a criminal. We all know what she stands for. She was vague and probably dishonest in the committee hearings, but those things are farcical.

    Obama won his election, and he was going to get a racist on the court. That’s what we were voting on, and that’s what won the day.

    Juan (bd4b30)

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  6. her nomination and subsequent approval is a mistake. while she is replacing another liberal, i’m looking forward to the days cj roberts, j scalia, alito, thomas wipe her off the plate because she’s so stuck on race-related issues.

    ktr (e4fcbd)

  7. ktr, why should we not have approved her?

    It’s the president’s decision. It came out in the hearings that she’s pretty stupid, a bigot, and sloppy ethically (not in the serious way, but in the lazy way).

    Sotomayor is Obama’s decision to make. We all knew he was going to select someone like this. The voters won, and for the senate to Bork her would have been as much a travesty now as it was when it happened to Bork.

    Juan (bd4b30)

  8. Certain kinds of racists are okay.

    JD (979402)

  9. I think we could have done worse with an Obama appointment, and probably will. She is unlikely to convince anyone who is wavering through the brilliance of her argument.

    It’s just too bad that Miguel Estrada, who has a far more impressive life story, couldn’t have been the first Hispanic justice. He will make more money in his high powered legal practice, something that Sotomayor would be utterly incapable of doing, but it demeans the Hispanic achievers to see such a mediocrity being elevated.

    Such are the ways of affirmative action. Elevate the undeserving. I’ve already recounted the story of my friend whose application to medical school was rescued by asking to be treated as non-Hispanic. God knows what criteria they might have been applying other than aptitude for medicine.

    Mike K (addb13)

  10. DRJ : I may be wrong but I believe that it the traditional way for the Senate to vote on a Supreme Court Justice in this manner. All the Senators available for the vote are present and seated at their desks before the vote is taken. Each Senator, when called, rises and announces either Yea or Nay.

    Longwalker (996c34)

  11. What better symbol can there be of the politization of the Supreme Court than this woman? How brillant Jefferson was in predicting what the courts would become.

    Thomas Jackson (8ffd46)

  12. A sad day for America.

    Tug Spedman (b2907a)

  13. Senator Kennedy is routinely absent these days.

    Yes, but isn’t it wonderful he is getting such top-notch medical care at his age?

    Dana (57e332)

  14. I think he has a duty to the people of Massachusetts

    Kennedies don’t have duties. They have staff.

    Official Internet Data Office (76029e)

  15. Longwalker,

    I don’t recall how they vote but I found this memo from Senator Gordon Smith discussing the Roberts and Alito confirmations. He talks about “standing to vote” for their confirmation so I think you might be right.

    Good catch. I’ll send this to Bradley Fikes for his AP Watch blog.

    DRJ (8d138b)

  16. tonight i am truly proud of my country:

    only in America could an admittedly racist and self avowed bigot be appointed to the highest court in the land.

    i can’t tell you how proud this makes me.

    i really can’t.

    redc1c4 (fb8750)

  17. i’m proud too. only in america could such idiocy be freely spoken

    JEA (9f9fc9)

  18. Perhaps, to obama, she is brilliant. After all, we have now had 7 months of obama and let’s admit it, we are not impressed with his intelligence.

    J (0f2b1a)

  19. Senator Kennedy wants all senior citizens who need health care to have few hours of air in the river like Mary Jo Kopechne. Senior citizens will not get the care Senator Kennedy is now getting under a private plan that he choose. ( no one from congress will be in the government plan)
    Ted Kennedy to this day does not open a car door for woman.

    Jim (1afea2)

  20. As many people have said, Benjamin Cardozo is the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice. Sotomayor is merely the first female Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.

    I assure you, Benjamin Cardozo could have legally checked the ‘Hispanic’ box on any government form listing race you care to mention.

    luagha (5cbe06)

  21. In terms of health care, though; Sotomayor may be the first diabetic Supreme Court Justice.

    I was reading recently that diabetes expenses are some 30% of some quantity of our health care expenditures because they involve continuing medication as well as continuing complications.

    When we cure diabetes, that 30% will just go away the same way that Polio just went away with Salk’s vaccine.

    I leave it as an exercise to the reader as to whether or not it was wise of Obama to choose a diabetic for a supreme court justice. It definitely lowers the likely upper range of service. Then again, he may not be planning to have a Supreme Court by that time.

    luagha (5cbe06)

  22. Cordozo was a Portuguese-American.

    lc (cbca47)

  23. Yes, and as a Portugese-American, he would be considered both ‘Hispanic’ and ‘Latino.’

    luagha (5cbe06)


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