Now, at the start of the review process for Sonia Sotomayor's position on the Supreme Court I was fully confident in her qualification to be a judge. Her record is examplary; the American Bar Association gave her a unanimous rating of approval. Her "Wise Latina" comment, I am sure, is simply a matter of an accident of speech. She is fully smart enough to know that if she had said those words intentionally they could easily end her political career. Thus, I assume that it's an accident rather than racial bias. Even the firefighters case makes sense: she was simply following supreme court precedent.
This is where the trouble begins. Supreme court precedent. Following supreme court precedent is laudable in a circuit judge. In fact, this is exactly what they are supposed to be doing. However, for a senator to accept such a response shows a lack of thought. Yes, this is the perfect quality in a circuit judge, but the supreme court sets precedent. If her attention is to go into the supreme court and "Stay the Course" she's going to be attempting to lock them into the year 2009. I expect to see more skepticism on the part of both Republicans and Democrats in the next couple of days.
