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Sotomayor
Topic Started: May 27 2009, 08:08 AM (322 Views)
Kenny
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Is it just me, or is there nothing exemplary about this Supreme Court pick, other than the fact that she is a woman and Hispanic?

Contrast this to 2005, when Bush's choices - whether you agreed or disagreed with their ideological bent - were indisputably brilliant jurists and legal scholars (Roberts and Alito I mean, not necessarily Miers). Sotomayor is a decidedly different story; there is absolutely nothing in her resume that shows her as an outstanding judge that sticks out from the rest.

If Obama wanted to consider politics as one factor in his decision - i.e., daring the GOP to oppose her and cause more trouble for themselves among women and Hispanics - that would have been fine, but speaking as an Hispanic American myself, at the very least he could have chosen an Hispanic woman with strong legal credentials while he was at it.

EDIT: oh, and what's with the insistence that her name be pronounced with a Spanish accent? so-toe-mai-YORE, as opposed to the standard anglicized SOD-o-meyer. It's like they really want to emphasize her Latina heritage. I think we get it already; she's Spanish.
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The Palentine
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Unfortunately, The Chosen One couldn't give a rat's ass about strong legal credentials. He wants Justices with empathy, insted of those that will look at cases with a cold, dispassionate eye. This should come to no suprise, as his actions in his first 100 days show that he has not read, or understand the Constitution.

If he wanted to nominate an Hispanic to the court, there might be one from the same court Sotomayor is from. There was one who wrote a dissenting point on the Fireman case going in fron of the Supreme Court now. the man is a Hispanic, and a Clinton appointee. That genlteman seems to understand Constitional law.

President Barry really needs to read Men in Black, by Mark Levin. Who knows, the Chosen One might learn something.
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Allech-Atreus
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Really? She's a solid judge with a centrist background, vetted by Clinton and appointed by Bush II, and she's well-liked by both the Republicans and the Democrats. Her record shows a non-partisan tendency in judicial decisions, and she's supported legal precedent on the appeals bench.

She's anything but radical, and she hardly qualifies as a reactionary. She's a solid judicial pick without ideological tendencies, which is just the sort of person the high court needs. The political reasons for Obama appointing her (woman, Latina) shouldn't cloud that.

Regarding how her name should be pronounced- I see no reason why her name shouldn't be pronounced correctly. She's not from Sussex, so why should she pretend she's got Recieved Pronunciation? It's just politicking to argue about it, just a wash.
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Cottia
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Who is this Sotomayor?

Kenny,May 28 2009
12:08 AM
EDIT: oh, and what's with the insistence that her name be pronounced with a Spanish accent? so-toe-mai-YORE, as opposed to the standard anglicized SOD-o-meyer. It's like they really want to emphasize her Latina heritage. I think we get it already; she's Spanish.

Perhaps they all learned how to pronounce Spanish surnames properly now. :lol:

Long story you can tl;dr: We also have Spanish surnames here. And I have a notoriously difficult surname to type and pronounce, even if it is short. (Clue, it has the Ñ.) And my middle name... I used to misspell it when I was a kid, and still can't pronounce it properly. Well, while I see they pronounce "Sotomayor" properly now (coming from a land of Spanish surnames, I did get it first time around. :lol:), hopefully they can also pronounce properly the surnames Grijalva, Peña, Echagüe, etc...

EDIT and OUT OF TOPIC: Is it just me, or is NS down? :o
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altan
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Sotomayor hardly seems radical to me, but then again, I rarely agree with y'all on what constitutes radical anyway. :lol:

As for the name thing, being Hispanic myself, I can assure you that nothing grates more on the ears of many of us than being subjected to the "standard anglicized" versions of Hispanic surnames. Admittedly, not all Hispanics feel this way, just the ones who give a damn about their origins. There are limits to this, obviously; I use the "standard" pronunciation for my own surname and the name of my hometown, rather than the "correct" version, because it just sounds like I'm trying to be pretentious otherwise and I get tired of having to explain to people that the "standard" pronunciation is just, well, wrong.

On a slightly tangential aside, I'm reminded of the pronunciation debate every day here in Austin. This town has several major streets whose names are derived from Spanish, yet the people here insist on pronouncing them in the most jacked-up fashion I've ever seen. For example, one of the streets near the University of Texas is "Guadalupe", yet the people here insist on calling it "Guada-loop". Hearing that makes me want to break things into smaller things. Same with another street, Manchaca, which the locals pronounce "Man-shack". It's probably an illogical irritation, but it still makes me grind my teeth into a fine powder sometimes.
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Zarquon Froods
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I watched BBC World News yesterday about the appointment and most of the commentators there beleive this was mainly a political move on Obama's part to stick it to the GOP. There was one video clip of her that has raised some controversy where she said something about making law from the bench. I'll have to hunt around and see if I can find it. Personally, I think it was mostly political.

One thing to note is he has two more picks coming later in his term, I think who he picks then will reveal what the master plan was.
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Kenny
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My mother wasn't from Sussex, either, and neither was my grandfather, but I don't recall either of them demanding that the Anglos pronounce their name vahl-DESS. The soh-toe-mai-YORE thing just seems a tad affected, like when Christina Aguilera declared herself "Latin," dyed her hair black, started dressing like Selena, and released a Spanish-language album. Come to think of it, why didn't Obama nominate Christina to the bench? She's certainly just as qualified...she too is an "Hispanic" woman. :P

EDIT, @ZF: two more picks this term? Who else is retiring? Also, I believe this is the video you were looking for.
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eco
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...and at the bottom of the page, an ad for 'Latin Singles'. Yes, that's precisely what we were talking about!
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Cobdenia
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Wait, I'm confused: does this mean I win because my mother IS from Sussex?
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Allech-Atreus
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No, it means you're Latino, apparently.
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Cobdenia
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1953 is the new 1932 for 2008
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:augh:
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Kenny
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Allech-Atreus,May 27 2009
04:56 PM
No, it means you're Latino, apparently.

Hey, A-A...

:deeznutz:
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Iron Felix
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The Southern Commonwealth,May 27 2009
03:12 PM
For example, one of the streets near the University of Texas is "Guadalupe", yet the people here insist on calling it "Guada-loop".

That's just Texans being jackasses. I'm from Arkansas and I pronounce it Gwad-a-LOO-pay.
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Allech-Atreus
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Kenny,May 27 2009
08:18 PM
Allech-Atreus,May 27 2009
04:56 PM
No, it means you're Latino, apparently.

Hey, A-A...

:deeznutz:

It's my snarky day, I'm owed at least one, aren't I? :D
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Zarquon Froods
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Kenny,May 27 2009
05:31 PM
EDIT, @ZF: two more picks this term? Who else is retiring? Also, I believe this is the video you were looking for.

That would be the one. As to the picks, I'm not sure who else is retiring. I just remember them saying last night on the BBC that he was thinking about his picks before the election was over because he was going to have to make one in the first year and two more later on. I'd hazard a guess and say John Paul Stevens is probably going to be one of them considering his age. I'd say Scalia or Kennedy will be the other. Of course they may have been counting on him serving 8 years. But I'd say for certain that he's got at least one more to appoint before this term is up.
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