Obama promotes Sotomayor, blasts critics
President Obama uses his weekly radio and Internet address to continue the hard-sell for his first Supreme Court pick, accusing critics of federal judge Sonia Sotomayor of unfairly painting a "distorted picture" and urging the US Senate to review her without "political posturing."
"There has not been a nominee in several generations who has brought the depth of judicial experience to this job that she offers," Obama says.
But, he adds, "There are, of course, some in Washington who are attempting to draw old battle lines and playing the usual political games, pulling a few comments out of context to paint a distorted picture of Judge Sotomayor's record. But I am confident that these efforts will fail; because Judge Sotomayor’s seventeen-year record on the bench -- hundreds of judicial decisions that every American can read for him or herself -- speak far louder than any attack; her record makes clear that she is fair, unbiased, and dedicated to the rule of law."
Sotomayor will begin making the traditional courtesy calls on key senators this coming week, when Congress returns from a weeklong recess. Obama wants Sotomayor confirmed before the Senate starts a monthlong recess in early August, so that she can prepare for the new Supreme Court session that starts in early October.
"I hope the confirmation process will begin without delay," Obama says. "No nominee should be seated without rigorous evaluation and hearing; I expect nothing less. But what I hope is that we can avoid the political posturing and ideological brinksmanship that has bogged down this process, and Congress, in the past. Judge Sotomayor ought to be on the bench when the Supreme Court decides what cases to hear this year and I’m calling on Democrats and Republicans to be thorough, and timely in dealing with this nomination."
Obama spends most of his weekly address extolling Sotomayor's record, including 17 years on the federal bench, and her up-from-poverty life story.
"It was hard not to be moved by Judge Sotomayor’s mother, sitting in the front row at the White House, her eyes welling with tears, as her daughter -- who had come so far, for whom she sacrificed so much -- was nominated to the highest court in the land," he says.
"And this is what makes Judge Sotomayor so extraordinary. Even as she has reached the heights of her profession, she has never forgotten where she began. She has faced down barriers, overcome difficult odds, and lived the American dream. As a Justice of the Supreme Court, she will bring not only the experience acquired over the course of a brilliant legal career, but the wisdom accumulated over the course of an extraordinary journey – a journey defined by hard work, fierce intelligence, and the enduring faith that, in America, all things are possible."
The full address is below, and be viewed here.
Weekly Address
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Washington D.C.
This week, I nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Court of Appeals to replace Justice David Souter, who is retiring after nearly two decades on the Supreme Court. After reviewing many terrific candidates, I am certain that she is the right choice. In fact, there has not been a nominee in several generations who has brought the depth of judicial experience to this job that she offers.
Judge Sotomayor’s career began when she served as an Assistant District Attorney in New York, prosecuting violent crimes in America’s largest city. After leaving the DA’s office, she became a litigator, representing clients in complex international legal disputes. She was appointed to the U.S. District Court, serving six years as a trial judge where she presided over hundreds of cases. And most recently, she has spent eleven years on the U.S. Court of Appeals, our nation’s second highest court, grappling with some of the most difficult constitutional and legal issues we face as a nation. She has more experience on the federal bench than any incoming Supreme Court Justice in the past 100 years. Quite simply, Judge Sotomayor has a deep familiarity with our judicial system from almost every angle.
And her achievements are all the more impressive when you consider what she had to overcome in order to achieve them. Judge Sotomayor grew up in a housing project in the South Bronx; her parents came to New York from Puerto Rico during the Second World War. Her father was a factory worker with a third grade education; when she was just nine years old, he passed away. Her mother worked six days a week as a nurse to provide for her and her brother, buying the only set of encyclopedias in the neighborhood and sending her children to Catholic school. That’s what made it possible for Judge Sotomayor to attend two of America’s leading universities, graduating at the top of her class at Princeton University, and studying at Yale Law School where she won a prestigious post as an editor of the school’s Law Journal.
These many years later, it was hard not to be moved by Judge Sotomayor’s mother, sitting in the front row at the White House, her eyes welling with tears, as her daughter – who had come so far, for whom she sacrificed so much – was nominated to the highest court in the land.
And this is what makes Judge Sotomayor so extraordinary. Even as she has reached the heights of her profession, she has never forgotten where she began. She has faced down barriers, overcome difficult odds, and lived the American dream. As a Justice of the Supreme Court, she will bring not only the experience acquired over the course of a brilliant legal career, but the wisdom accumulated over the course of an extraordinary journey – a journey defined by hard work, fierce intelligence, and the enduring faith that, in America, all things are possible.
It is her experience in life and her achievements in the legal profession that have earned Judge Sotomayor respect across party lines and ideological divides. She was originally named to the U.S. District Court by the first President Bush, a Republican. She was appointed to the federal Court of Appeals by President Clinton, a Democrat. She twice has been overwhelmingly confirmed by the U.S. Senate. And I am gratified by the support for this nomination voiced by members of the legal community who represent views from across the political spectrum.
There are, of course, some in Washington who are attempting to draw old battle lines and playing the usual political games, pulling a few comments out of context to paint a distorted picture of Judge Sotomayor’s record. But I am confident that these efforts will fail; because Judge Sotomayor’s seventeen-year record on the bench – hundreds of judicial decisions that every American can read for him or herself – speak far louder than any attack; her record makes clear that she is fair, unbiased, and dedicated to the rule of law. As a fellow judge on her court, appointed by Ronald Reagan, said recently, “I don’t think I’d go as far as to classify her in one camp or another. I think she just deserves the classification of outstanding judge.”
Congress returns this week and I hope the confirmation process will begin without delay. No nominee should be seated without rigorous evaluation and hearing; I expect nothing less. But what I hope is that we can avoid the political posturing and ideological brinksmanship that has bogged down this process, and Congress, in the past. Judge Sotomayor ought to be on the bench when the Supreme Court decides what cases to hear this year and I’m calling on Democrats and Republicans to be thorough, and timely in dealing with this nomination.
As President, there are few responsibilities more serious or consequential than the naming of a Supreme Court Justice. The members of our highest court are granted life tenure. They are charged with applying principles put to paper more than two centuries ago to some of the most difficult questions of our time. And the impact of their decisions extends beyond an administration, but for generations to come.
This is a decision that I have not taken lightly and it is one that I am proud to have made. I know that Justice Sotomayor will serve this nation with distinction. And when she ascends those marble steps to assume her seat on the Supreme Court, bringing a lifetime of experience on and off the bench, America will have taken another important step toward realizing the ideal that is chiseled above its entrance: Equal justice under the law.
Thanks.
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I thought Supreme Court Justices and, indeed, Appeals Court Judges were supposed to rule on matters of law. What difference does a person's past life experiences make when determining in the constitutionality of a law? Are we now granting that biases and prejudices should be behind the rulings? If that's the case, let's just toss out any semblance of the ideals set forth in the Constitution.
dumb
Why is it that the Liberal Democrats say that Judge Sotomayor is so unique? When you check her career, and educational background you see that it is very similar to Justice Alito's. How quickly the Democrats forget the mud and lies they slung at Conservative candidates to the High Court in the past. If a White male/female Republicane candidate would have said what Judge Sotomayor said , the Democrates would have run them out of D.C. by now.
So I don't remember any Dems applauding Clarenvce Thomas for his struggles in life. I belive that the Republicans should treat this nominee with the same respect that President Obama should judicial nominees during President Bush's administration.
So what is new here? The Democrats demonized every Republican nominee Bush made to the judiciary. This time Democrats get to protest loudly because some Republicans have injected race into the Sotomayor nomination. So what? No matter how bitter the debate over Sotomayor gets, both sides have a right to express their opinions. The Sotomayor statement regarding the superiority of a Latina woman over a white male is troubling, and that line of thinking should be probed at her nomination hearing. We need to know if the nomninee intends to use the law or her personal feelings as the basis for her judgements.
I am confuse. All of the sudden living in public housing project is a plus for your resume. Normally the people qualify for public housing is also qualify for welfare so why not add that as accomplishment to her resume? Am I missing something here? So I would not qualify for a job if I have not lived in public housing project? Next time when I am calling for jury duty, I will tell the judge that Jutice Sotomayor said that I can not make a good judgment if I do not have the expirence like the offender. I should get off the jury duty at once.
Why use "blasts critics" in the headline? He shouldn't, and he didn't, and it just adds to the partisan fire. I'm quite sure she'll get confirmed after a fair hearing and with due respect for her qualifications, something the previous two appointments did not receive because of partisanship.
Obama made the right choice!
After reviewing the many news stories and comments from the press and listening to President Obama recommend Judge Sotomayor, I feel most comfortable with his nomination. Our democracy has already hit a historical point in history with the president's election to office and why not keep making those historic strides. These next four years should be unprecedented on all levels of our political system. I am pulling for Judge Sotomayor and I think all Americans should be too.
Why does Obama always push Congress to fulfill his agenda in an expedited timeframe? It's because he doesn't want people looking closely at the very serious flaws his policies and nomination all have.
I remember an "article" that was written about Judge Sotomayor in the past that added up to her being a radical judge with a demeanor of the same quality as to what her ideas...statements and judgments were about. This makes me feel uneasy regarding the President's choice.
Sotomayor: "A female Hispanic judge would often reach a better decision than a white male judge." Obam: "I'm sure she would have restated it," Yeah, like allot of people would want to recast their vote from '08. The fact remains that the quoted statement by Sotomayor is clearly racist and disqualifies her out of the gate. A basic qualification of a Supreme Court Judge is the good judgement to not openly spew personal opinion to the public. Sotomayor has shown factually that she is NOT Supreme Court material by her own actions.
Sotomayor: "A female Hispanic judge would often reach a better decision than a white male judge." Obama: "I'm sure she would have restated it," Yeah, like allot of people would want to recast their vote from '08. The fact remains that the quoted statement by Sotomayor is clearly racist and disqualifies her out of the gate. A basic qualification of a Supreme Court Judge is the good judgment to not openly spew personal opinion to the public. Sotomayor has shown factually that she is NOT Supreme Court material by her own actions…not to mention her affiliation with La Raza.
Oh, I get it. It is OK for Democrats and Liberals to rip apart Judge Bork in ugliest confrontation ever in the history of judicial vetting. It's OK to heavliy critize and bash any nominee selected by a Republican. But it is not OK for Republicans and Conservatives to even mention Obama's darling, despite her statements and rulings that clearly indicate her racist and gender bias. How stereotypical! Pick on a white male any day, but by all means, spare women, especially those of color.
Sotomayor has made racist comments. She believes that gun ownership has been illegal since the ratification of the Bill of Rights. She is pro-choice and Catholic. She is a mess, politically, socially and if she were not a protected, favored minority flavor of the month, she would not have been nominated for dog catcher, much less, Federal Judge.
Miguel Estrada anyone? Two faced democrats wanting their pick to get a free pass but if the latino isn't a member of good standing on the leftist plantation then he/she doesn't deserve to be on the bench.
Oh, and these should be cause for concern;
“court of appeals is where policy is made.” (No it isn't. This is the Judiciary taking on powers not afforded it under the Constitution. )
“our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging.” -(The Constitution is your only standard. Everything is the judge making it up and that's tyrannical.)
“And I wonder whether by ignoring our differences as women or men of color we do a disservice both to the law and society.”(All persons must be seen as equal in the eyes of the law. To grant people different standards is the seeds or racism.)
“Personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see,” -(If they choose to. What matters is what the Constitution says, not what an unelected and unrecallable jurist thinks.)
on the "race statement" lets look at the end where, in my opinion she is balanced and fair in her statement: "white male that hasn't lived that life". she can so wrap her mind around equality that she understands even a white male may be raised and live in conditions equal to any hardship she may have felt on her own or may see represented. i still don't understand why a drug induced man with more use of 24/7 care than a national radio talk show is listened to and followed in such a way as to do anything but thank the president for compassionate choices he must make for us,,, Americans,,,,, where's America when you need her???? she finally has a commander and chief that is willing to take her by her shoulders and express the care she so long has been denied. the care needed and taken to learn and live by that will hold true another president's statement. "America isn't a place,,, it's a state of mind".
from one born with an incurable syndrome which about a thousand people in the world are living with and more on the way,,, half as rare as conjoined twins; for the choice made for the highest court of our land,,, THANK YOU MISTER PRESIDENT, SIR!!!! and to the judge; what a lovely mind,,, just proves some can't see fair and balanced when it's dancing on their nose,,, as a country we are very fortunate to have you and i feel honored by you presence,,, approved or not,,,, just knowing your there some place in our land at work for folks like me... thank you.
According to the American Bar Association, Judge Sonia Sotomayor is listed as a member of the National Council of La Raza, a group that's promoted driver's licenses for illegal aliens, amnesty programs, and no immigration law enforcement by local and state police.
Literally translated "the National Council of the Race," this overtly anti-white (and, strangely enough, overtly anti-Semitic) organization has ties to Hispanic groups hoping to overthrow US control of the American Southwest and politically realign the area with Mexico. This afiliation alone should disqualify her to join the court.
I am very disturbed by the selection of Sonia Sotomayor for Supreme Court. Obama ran on the platform of transcending race, yet he selects a nominee who makes judicial decisions based on the color of one's skin. Obama is the nail in the coffin for the United States.
I think the Obama administration is way distracted and squandering precious money, resources, and time. Apparently our Congress and Obama are only interested in dismantling the power of the United States! That, and nutty ideas about social experiments, appearances and stupid rock concerts! Meanwhile, the DPRK and Iran may well pull off a nuclear version or Pearl Harbor! That will certainly kill more of us than the enormous debt our government has been creating for us! Will my President stop his wordy lofty speechs and actually do something about the nuclear threat we all face now from North Korea and Iran? We need more than jut talk! Mr. Gates, Do Something Sir....
Ah, the new standards for judicial nominees listed by the critics here!
1. Do not say your background influences your decision making, even if in the same speech you even say that one has to overcome one's background. Well, guess we'll have to remove Justice Alito from the Supreme Court, as he said in his confirmation hearing that his background influences his decisions . . . apparently it even gives him empathy!
2. Among people of your ethnic group, don't brag too hard about your ethnic group, or else you're a racist. Guess that knocks out anyone who's ever said, "The Poles are better than anyone else." (Substitute other ethnic group as appropriate.)
3. Don't belong to an ethnically-based group if your ethnicity includes groups that engage in violence or promote dubious political goals. Given the likely overlap in membership, your group, no matter how innocuous, will be seen as "having ties" to the radicals. Guess that prohibits anyone Irish from being a Supreme Court justice, given how many Irish groups "had ties" to the IRA during the violence of the last few decades.
@Adriene Ploss
You actually believe that it is historic to nominate and elect people based on their race? We should be pulling for minorities to populate every rank of government? I don't care what color someone is, if they are qualified above the others in the field they should be nominated. But leave race out of it. Your thinking typifies liberal "reasoning" in that there is no reasoning going on. Just affirmative action to right some wrong you perceive has been done.
SOTOMAYOR SHALL BE AN ASSET TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT!
_____________________
SCANDAL! SCANDAL! SCANDAL!
EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!
George W. Bush continuously criminally stalked Margie Schoedinger to the point that she could not get away from it, and she committed suicide in desperation to escape: he murdered her.
“In her suit, Margie Schoedinger states that George W. Bush committed sexual crimes against her, organized harassment and moral pressure on her, her family members and close relatives and friends. As Schoedinger said, she was strongly recommended to keep her mouth shut. . . . Furthermore, she alleges that George Bush ordered to show pressure on her to the point, when she commits suicide” (blog of drizzten).
“One of those ‘very leasts’ [was] George Bush’s personal complicity in the death (murder to be precise) of my friend Margie Schoedinger in September of 2003. Determining the exact whereabouts and contacts of . . . George Bush on September 21 thru 22, 2003, should be entirely lacking in difficulty” (Leola McConnell—Nevada Progressive Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010).
McConnell is correct: Bush applying pressure (continuously criminally stalking Margie Schoedinger) purposefully to force Schoedinger to commit suicide does in fact constitute murder where it culminated in her death.
Bush is a racist hate criminal and hates black people (please feel free to see my “GEORGE W. BUSH IS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY” blog). (Schoedinger was an African-American woman.)
BEWARE: If the president of the United States hates one—for whatever reasons—he can continuously criminally stalk one to the point that one cannot get away from it, and one ultimately commits suicide in desperation to escape. He can murder people in this way.
Bush is getting away with his murder of Schoedinger—with no sheriff, prosecutor, or court willing to uphold the rule of law.
Bush’s method of murdering Schoedinger cannot exist in a vacuum: he must have murdered other people in the same way.
Bush should confess, come out with the names of all of the people whom he murdered in the disgusting way he murdered Schoedinger, undergo execution, and accordingly find himself at the intersection where he would be free.
(There are thousands of copies of the information above on the Internet. It exists very extensively in all major search engines. Please feel free to go to any major search engine, type “George W. Bush continuously criminally stalked Margie Schoedinger to the point that she could not get away from it, and she committed suicide in desperation to escape: he murdered her” or “Bush applying pressure (continuously criminally stalking Margie Schoedinger) purposefully to force Schoedinger to commit suicide does in fact constitute murder where it culminated in her death,” hit “Enter,” and find innumerable results.)
_____________________
Andrew Wang
(a.k.a. “THE DISSEMINATING MACHINE”)
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993