Wise Latinas and Foolish Honkies

Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings for her Supreme Court appointment begin today, and although Republicans lack the votes and power to stop her, they hope to gain some political clout with the American people by depicting her as a judge out of the mainstream and prone to decisions that place her out of sync with the American public.

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is still irked by her "wise Latina" comment. "She has criticized the idea," the dumb cracker said, "that a woman and a man would reach the same result. She expects them to reach different results. I think that's philosophically incompatible with the American system."

Republican opposition to Sotomayor is now being seen as less based on her Hispanic background, however, than her moderate, slightly left-leaning judicial philosophy. As E.J. Dionne explained in his column today, the right is now emboldened by a conservative majority now on the Court bent on overturning years - decades, even - of judicial precedent in favor of an agenda that favors wealthy and powerful interests. Sotomayor will not change the balance of the Court, but in the possible scenario of a conservative justice retiring or dying, the GOP wants to make opposition to Sotomayor a test run for stopping an Obama Supreme Court nominee who really could upset the balance of power against the right.

Dionne has noted that the "conservatives" have made radical breaks with precedent, while Sotomayor's rulings on the lower courts reflect a desire to conserve it. Maybe a wise Latina would, in some cases, reach a better decision than a white male. She certainly would reach a better decision in any case than a black male if the black male in question is Clarence Thomas. But this fight the Republicans are waging is not about suspicion of Latina judge. It's about fear of more wise judges like Sotomayor, regardless of race, ethnicity or gender, joining the Court and stopping the current Gang of Five from turning the judiciary into a pocket of the vested interests that make America a meaner place for the rest of us. The GOP wants us to believe that their radical right-wing judicial agenda is good for the country, and they hope to use these hearings to persuade more people to buy that.

As for Jeff Sessions, his gripes are more likely personal than political; I only need to remind you that he's likely still bitter about his failure to get a federal judgeship when, after appointed to one by Ronald Reagan in 1986, he was rejected by the Senate. When Sessions finds offense in Sotomayor's assertion that a wise Latina would make a better decision than a white male who hasn't lived the same life, he's the hypothetical white guy she's most likely talking about.)