Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

...Sonia Sotomayor
http://blogs.usatoday.com/.a/6a00d83...d339970b-250wi President Obama will nominate federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court this morning.
Sotomayor, 54, would be the first Hispanic and third woman in history to serve on the nation's highest court. There is currently only one woman on the nine-member high court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Sotomayor is based in New York City. President Clinton appointed her to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals back in 1998. She is a graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School.
http://content.usatoday.com/communit.../05/67273777/1



What you really need to know about her:

Judge Sotomayor’s Appellate Opinions in Civil Cases

http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/judge-s...n-civil-cases/

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

What is your opinion of Ms. Sotomayors?

The review that you linked reviewed some of her opinions that, after a quick scan, seemed well reasoned and fairly conservative. Which makes her an unlike pick for Obama in my opinion.

Maybe this review was a "cherry pick" for conservatives?

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

she is very liberal, my take, dt

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

I had never heard of her, so I am scanning her opinions to get an idea of where she is coming from. She was first put on the federal court by GHWB. then elevated by CLinton, so I suspect she is somewhat left of center but hopefully not a Ginsburg. I will update on my opinion after I have more info.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

This month, for example, a video surfaced of Judge Sotomayor asserting in 2005 that a “court of appeals is where policy is made.” She then immediately adds: “And I know — I know this is on tape, and I should never say that because we don’t make law. I know. O.K. I know. I’m not promoting it. I’m not advocating it. I’m — you know.”

“Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences,” she said, for jurists who are women and nonwhite, “our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/15/us/15judge.html

Leaning left or just being realistic? I think if these comments were heard in their original contexts she may be being more realistic than otherwise. I think we may find out though, because by picking someone that has already been appointed by a Republican it makes it tough for the Republicans in the Senate to oppose her too much. Where she seems to really lean left is in discrimination cases, but in criminal cases she seems pretty conservative from what I read so far. Besides she may be a Harriet Miers case where they throw someone out there and then switch directions after she gets destroyed, maybe we don't want the alternative.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Concerning the observation that President Obama's pick is a bit more Conservative than what would be expected...


President Obama is not as far left as Limbaugh and others would like to paint him, evidenced by his S C pick.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

What about the case regarding Frank Ricci? He scored the highest on the exam for promotion as a firefighter after paying someone to read textbooks onto audiotape because he is dyslexic, making flashcards and putting together a study group.

The results of that? The city canceled the results of the exam because there were no African Americans, in the group, who got top scores. He sued and when the case came to Sotomayor's court - she dismissed the case w/o argument.

That is racial discrimination. She is a believer in identity politics to the extreme!!!

What is her attitude toward race and gender?:
:thumbsdown :thumbsdown :thumbsdown

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

I'm not overly disappointed with his choice. I don't expect him to choose a conservative, and she seems less liberal than many other possibilities.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

President Obama is a bit more center than many folks want to admit.


It is a main tactic of the GOP specifically, to demonize those who do not fit with their ideology.

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Well, you know this is priceless - put her on the court! She fits right in with Obama's socialistic agenda...Go America!!! LOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfC99LrrM2Q

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

No doubt this was a strategic pick. By being appointed by GHWB and being a female Latino she fits the bill well. However Obama is no centrist. The subtle takeover of private industry and attempted expansion of presidential power, the control of capitalism through regulations, etc. marks him for what he is a a socialist, that is a social democrat not a Marxist.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

GWB started this whole govt take over stuff when the economy started to crumble under his Presidency.

On this very board I decried his actions as SOCIALIST leaning.

However, it was brought to my attention that the governments INACTION is what prolonged The Great Depression in the first place!!!!

And I was one of the few Republicans I know criticizing GWB's actions as Socialist leaning.


So the richest people and the smartest economic advisors are stating that the economy is stabilizing, that the actions of the government is what is slowing things down from further destabilization, but Democratic President Obama gets no accolades for his actions and the wisdom of his advisors!!!


Nope, he's called names instead.


I get it! There isn't anything this Democrat can do right simply because he is a Democrat!


And Heaven forbid we acknowledge his efforts to include Republicans in his Administration and his efforts to reach out across the aisle to Republicans around the country-- his efforts to unite us, somehow, on some common ground.



NO!

President Obama is a tax-raising, fag-loving, baby-killing, economy-destroying, work-ethic depleting idiot who was only elected because he is Black and anything good that he does is either not really him or simply suspect just because he is Democrat and his middle name is Hussein!


There are folks on here that still think our President is not American!!!

Get real, get honest with yourselves!

President Obama is not the demon that Limbaugh and others and are trying to make him out to be!!!

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Demonize? How about vehemently disagree? I strongly disagree with Obama's ideology, not just on a practical level, but on a moral level. I agree with the principles this country was founded on, and object to anyone who violates them, or even takes steps toward a direction of violation.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Your memory does not serve you well. Many folks criticized GWB for his bailouts HOWEVER, bailouts and takeovers are not the same thing.

Though there may be some that say government inaction was the reason for the depression, the policies that BHO embraces are also noted as having prolonged and deepened the depression. I will give him credit for not releasing the pictures, and even if he dresses it up differently he is slowly having to accept the fact that Bush was right on Gitmo, and the tribunals that he is choosing to keep. See headlines in the Washington Examiner " Obama following Bush lead on Terrorism."

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Really? I know of a lot of Republicans who were dissatisfied with GWB.

Hmmm. The economy has stabilized? Tell that to my husband, who was laid off from a good, steady job on April 13, and the other folks who made up 40% of the work force in the company--who were also laid off. Tell that to all the car dealership owners who are getting the shaft right now. Tell that to all those currently on unemployment. Stabilized???? Pfffffft. Please.

I am perfectly willing to acknowledge it if Obama makes a good choice. So far, IMO, he's just making a mess into a bigger mess.

He is raising taxes, he does support abortion (actively, not just passively), he is making a bad economy even worse, and he doesn't seem to give a rip about work ethics. Furthermore, he wants to socialize health care, which will be a BIG mistake.

Get real and get honest with yourself--just because things are going alright for you doesn't mean everyone else in America is having the same experience.

He's an American citizen, but he certainly doesn't live by the great principles our founding fathers put into place.

No, he's not a demon. He's just an unprincipled MAN.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

I say the economy is stabilizing because the experts are saying that there appears to be stabilization in the market now.



I just posted an article about a week or two ago that states that Warren Buffet agrees with the actions of the Obama Administration to fix the economy. If Warren Buffett words concerning economics aren't good, who's is?


It was established before his election that txes would have to be raised at some level to help correct the trillions of overspending done not so long ago.

He is not making a bad economy worse-- another "Limbaugh lie".

How does he seem to not give a rip about work ethics?


You and I both know that the government will NEVER completely take over healthcare. The Socialized Healthcare system accusation is another of a list of right-wing scare tactics used to demonize our President.


I can remember when it was considered unpatriotic to be so critical of our President during a time when our country is at war-- 2 wars at that!

Oh gee, I forgot-- that only counts if the President is Republican and if he mentions a hymn for affect during his public speeches!



Things are not going alright for me financially right this moment. But I will spare you my trials on this thread.


How is he not living (by this I guess you mean "governing") by the principles of our founding fathers
How is he unprincipled?

And how is your day going? :)

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

We are discussing grapes and raisins, not apples and oranges.

I think from the beginning there were noted similarities between Bush and Obama on a few topics, terrorism being one of them.

I have seen articles that delineate that not so clear differences between the 2 of them.

Let's not forget that President Obama has been compared to President Reagan on more than a couple occasions as well.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

The reality is Obama is being forced to realize Bush was right and the nonsense he spewed to get elected was deadp wrong, but he likes to pretend he is doing it different. But comparing Obama to Bush doesn't make him good. I disagreed with the Bush camp on spending. They tried to prove they could outspend a Democrat, Obama showed them they were wrong.

Obama and Reagan? One thought the worse thing you can hear is I am from the government and I am here to help, the other thinks that the statement is the answer to every problem.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Man, just google "Obama" and "Reagan" and you will see comparisons were being made months ago.



My comparing Obama to Bush is to draw attention to the fact that REPUBLICANS who are much more morally upright than their Demoncrat counterparts are not being so morally upright when they demonize our Democrat President.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

My day is going fine...how about yours? :D

I'm sorry for making an assumption about your financial status.

In the state of Oklahoma, unemployment rates steadily dropped during Bush's last term, and spiked almost as soon as Obama took office in Jan. 2009.

Nationwide, unemployment rates (as of April 2009) are 8.6%, with no similar statistic since 1992, and that being the highest unemployment rate since 1983.

In all fairness, unemployment was much lower during Clinton's administration than during the Bush administration. However, that could be attributed to 9/11, rather than the actual administration, and the dates do coincide with 9/11 rather than when Bush took office.

Unemployment isn't the only factor, but it's the only one I have time to address right now.

Buffet didn't offer an overly positive assessment.

Here's one quote:

"The current efforts to help revive the economy are likely to produce inflation that could be worse than what the country suffered in the late 1970s, Buffett said."

(Article)

He's optimistic long-term, but he is not stating that our economy is presently positive, or even presently recovering. In fact, he stated that it will get worse before it gets better.

So he then turns around and spends even more?

I hate to disappoint your stereotype, but I don't get my political views from Rush Limbaugh. :coffee2 I agree with him often, and sometimes I don't. About the same amount of the time I agree with Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Michael Savage and Ann Coulter. (With MS and Ann being my favorites!) :D

By rewarding people who don't work with income and benefits as if they do. I'm fine with contributing support to the elderly, and those who aren't able bodied. I am not fine with rewarding lazy people with free income.

The work ethic is simple--we teach it to our children--if you don't work, you don't eat. And when you work hard for something, you appreciate what you have earned. The work ethic is a character builder. It breeds strong, independent people.

I don't know that, actually. And I base my concerns on policies and legislation that the President has espoused for the future, or that which he has supported in the past. Whether there are enough dissidents to thwart such a move remains to be seen. I'm not so sure, with the current balance in Congress.

It was? That didn't stop a single liberal from beating Bush into the ground, did it?

I'm not sure there is much difference between the principles a man lives by and the principles by which he governs. I would imagine there would at least be some similarities, reflective of his character.

The list is too long for this thread's scope, and I need to make lunch for Hannah and me. :)

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

"President Obama has been compared to his esteemed predecessors - John F. Kennedy, FDR, even Abraham Lincoln. One president you don’t hear Obama compared to often is Ronald Reagan.
The two men stand at opposite ends of the ideological spectrum – and have become symbols of their opposing political parties."

http://www.nhpr.org/node/24536

Comparisons of high unemployment rates when they took office and the different responses other than that I am not finding your Obama-Reagan comparisons.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

lol!!!!




Brb

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/opinion/26cannon.html


A closer look suggests, however, that these two presidents are not as far apart as their partisans and critics believe. For all his thunder about the dangers of big government, Mr. Reagan during his eight years in office preserved the core of social programs that were the basic legacy of Franklin Roosevelt, his first political idol. Mr. Reagan’s high-risk budget director, David Stockman, tried an early maneuver that would have reduced Social Security benefits. After this plan backfired, Mr. Reagan named a bipartisan commission that proposed mild reforms that were embraced by the Democratic House speaker, Tip O’Neill, passed by Congress and extended the solvency of the system for a generation.

Conservatives urged Mr. Reagan to take another run at Social Security or other entitlement programs. He never did. As the columnist George Will observed, Mr. Reagan understood that Americans were indeed conservative, and wanted to conserve the New Deal.

In the early months of his presidency, to the trepidation of the left, Mr. Obama has given signs of being every bit as practical as Mr. Reagan....

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

http://irishspy.typepad.com/public_s...-obama-is.html


Was Reagan a better friend to gays than Obama is?
John T. Simpson gives a resounding "yes:"

As Prop 6 appeared to be gaining steam as the vote neared, with State Senator John Briggs stoking fears of gay teachers in the classroom with the full backing of California’s right wing, gays and lesbians were terrified that Prop 6 might actually become law. In their darkest hour, they turned to a most unlikely hero and savior: former California governor and conservative Republican Ronald Reagan, then gearing up for his 1980 presidential run.

After hearing the group’s concerns, candidate Reagan not only agreed with them, but became the bill’s most public detractor, even penning a scathing op-ed against it in the now-defunct Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, in which he said the following:

•“Whatever else it is, homosexuality is not a contagious disease like the measles. Prevailing scientific opinion is that an individual’s sexuality is determined at a very early age and that a child’s teachers do not really influence this.”
Ronnie also stated that the same laws regarding the safety of schoolchildren applied to ALL teachers in the state. How’s THAT for progressive thinking from a conservative Republican, in an America not eight years removed from the Stonewall Riots? With former two-time Governor Reagan’s stern and vocal opposition, Prop 6 lost by a million votes. And John Briggs lost his race for governor in the primaries.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Obama And Reagan: Different Ideals, Similar Tone
by Don Gonyea


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=100077084

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

The comparison is being politically practical not in their ideology, Reagan wanted to reduce government but concluded that once a program was began it was difficult to get rid of. Obama on the other hand finds resistance to his new programs and though he would love to institute all of them he realizes he can't because the people would toss him on his ear.

I can't read the whole article because it won't let me access it.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

The comparisons are superficial at best.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Sample blog from the many, many folks who have pondered the comparison between Reagan and Obama:


http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?...ollars-at-work






Magorn 2009-01-31 08:30:30 AM

Well, let's see:

They Both give a pretty good speech

Obama's a graduate, magna cum laude of Harvard Law School, where he was editor of the Law review

Reagan got a BS from Eureka College

Obama worked as a community organizer, organizing the most impressive GOTV Chicago's South side ever saw, Then as a private lawyer, then as a State and US Senator

Reagan was an actor and sports announcer, became president of the screen actor's guild; served a willing henchman of Sen. Joe McCarthy blacklisting members, made a name for himself in the 60's opposing civil rights and fair housing legislation as violating "states rights". Eventually became governor of California.

Both elected president by wide margins after both being considered a long shot when they began their candidacy

Obama enters office widely praised for his keen intelligence and active engagement on policy matters

Reagan entered office largely considered a Prop by his own staff, and may or may not have been in the first throes of a debilitating disease that destroyed his brain.

yep. No way Obama measures up, almost heresy to suggest it..





I think I have made my point that Presidents Reagan and Obama have been compared-- by professional communicators and commonfolk alike.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

sure, sure, sure-- a few posts ago, you couldn't find many comparisons between the two.


:)

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Obama and Reagan: Mirror Images, Mirror Ironies*
March 31st, 2009
Goto comments
Leave a comment If history does repeat itself, can it happen in a mirror image? Consider the strange similarity (in reverse) between Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. They are distinct mirror reflections of each other, and if that continues, we just might see a major Obama market rally - in about six years.



There are a number of minor mirror image attributes about Obama and Reagan. For example, Reagan was the oldest president in U.S. history while Obama at 47 is fifth youngest. And both were outsiders but in different ways: one because of his prior career as an actor and the other because of his race. But there are much more significant mirror attributes than those.

Read the rest of the article at this address:

http://www.deathoftime.com/2009/03/3...-under-reagan/

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Hey Baron,

This ref is really good!!!



Let’s move forward now to Ronald Reagan.


We won’t dwell on Reagan’s cut n’ run from Lebanon; instead

let’s talk about Iran. Iran had illegally siezed the American Embassy, kidnapped it’s American employees, and engaged in a very public campaign to humiliate America, terrorizing American hostages before mobs of screaming Iranian militants. Five short years later, it’s 1985 and Iranian terrorists have kidnapped seven American Hostages in Lebanon. Iran is at war with Iraq and needs arms. Iran made a secret request to buy weapons from the United States. Reagan had campaigned on not negotiating with terrorists. What did Reagan do? Reagan sold over 1500 advanced missiles to Iran and negotiated with the Iranian terrorists for the release of the hostages!

Can you imagine what the GOP would say if Obama sold arms to Iran??


source:
http://www.slate.com/discuss/forums/thread/2699583.aspx


Remember my point was that Reagan and Obama have been compared, by more than a few folks-- not necessarilly on positive terms, but nonetheless, compared.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

I haven't read that much about her yet, but my first reaction is that she is a very reasonable choice. She certainly doesn't seem to be a Ginsberg, I think she may be more comparable to perhaps David Souter.

I think her nomination shows how politcally shrewd Obama can be. He knows how to play the game and has already put the ball in the court of any Republican opposition by nominating a GHWB appointee. Like him or dislike him, Obama is a gifted politician with sound reasoning skills. Pretty much the polar opposite of GWB.

The first 4 or 5 days will probably tell the tale, but I'd be surprised if her nomination doesn't go relatively smooth.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

:thumbsup

Hello, Mike! :D :waving

Of course, still not happy with EITHER party, but just sayin'........ Didn't Charles nail that puppy on the head?! :D :toofunny

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Can ANYONE who watches the video of this woman saying policy is made from the bench (and then try to backtrack when she remembers she's on video) give her any, I mean any credibility. IF SHE WANTS TO MAKE POLICY FROM THE JUDICIARY BRANCH THEN WHY DO WE NEED THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH? I don't care if she was initially appointed by GHWB. That comment alone shows her disdain for the constitution. If you cannot see that we are in real trouble by her comment there is nothing that will convince you. She reflects the president. Neither care about the constitution.

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Yeah, everything President Obama does is bad, bad, bad!

Go Palin 2012... (typed yawning and with sarcasm).

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learn to live with it.
what some call reverse discrimination
others call affirmative action

Re: Obama's Supreme Court pick...
 

Is this a quote from Rush?

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I think she's just being a realist in that video.

Judges have been legislating from the bench for some time now.

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The Constitution does not say what we think it says.
The Constitution says what the Supreme Court says that it says.

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Here we go.
http://www.mediacomtoday.com/news/re...KNWC00L4_UNEWS