JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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yabits
Yes, Himajin, it is that -- and even more.
But I completely disagree that the Constitution is literally the highest law of the land. Rather, the Constitution derives from the highest Law; it does NOT contain it.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
Yes, it sounds very much like a sleazy politician who wanted a smooth and streamlined confirmation process for Alito and Roberts.
The nice difference is that President Obama, despite the Democrats' complete and utter thumping of the Republicans, isn't wagging his finger at Americans telling them about all the policial capital he's going to exercise -- a la Bush 2004.
Posted in: Obama calls for swift confirmation of Sotomayor
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yabits
Lest anyone misunderstand, I am referring to the bombings.
I am also opposed to capital punishment, but I can sympathize with the desire to bring some justice for such a heinous act.
Posted in: Iran publicly hangs three over mosque bombing
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yabits
This is a very sad story. My heart goes out to the victims of these tragic and misguided actions.
Posted in: Iran publicly hangs three over mosque bombing
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yabits
A wise Latino woman as a justice of the Supreme Court would certainly not be one of the flaws.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
I don't claim to be speaking for any faction. I am here to fully support and voice my agreement with Judge Sotomayor's remarks -- seeing that she presented the ideal of a wise Latina contributing to better decisions than what can be achieved by a team of white males. Especially if those white males are of the US elites.
There is no hatred of "limited government." Only the recognition that government has to be powerful enough to prevent and forestall a tyranny of the majority. After all, the founders didn't envision women like Sotomayor even having a vote, much less holding office.
This is very revealing. It shows the two-faced nature of those who claim to be for "limited government" while proclaiming that their country is an "empire." (And so it is.)
Since genuine freedom and justice is not likely to be found with in an empire, we hope that whatever Sotomayor does contributes to a weakened nation-state as it strengthens individual liberties. We pray that the constitution is not used to perpetuate the legacy of white privilege that the founders established, however inadvertantly. Because to do so would be to perpetuate INjustice.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
It is only absurd to those who do not understand what Justice is, and who believe that justice originates with the constitution, rather than the Truth: That Justice exists outside of constitutions, and that a constitution is nothing more than an attempt to realize the possibilty of Justice through the machinations of flawed and prejudiced human beings.
Ever read the Preamble to the Constitution? Before the constitution existed, the ideal of Justice was there. The authors of the US Constitution are plainly telling us this.
This is why the oath of office that Justice Sotomayor will likely take does not contain any language respecting the upholding of the constitution. Their duty under the constitution is to administer Justice. And because it is impossible for any written document to embody all Justice, contrary to conservatives' expectations and their limited understanding, a judge will often have to return to a theory of justice to apply a wise decision.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
Himajin, you have no basis whatsoever when you said this: "As a Supreme Court Justice she is supposed to uphold the Constitution."
The constitution does not say that the Judicial Branch's duty is to uphold it. There is no prescribed oath of office as there is for the chief executive. There is not even a requirement of US citizenship, as there is for executive and legislative branches.
These obvious omissions by the founding fathers can only lead one to the conclusion that they wanted as much leeway and independence as possible for the court to decide what is and what is not Law. The assumption made on your part above is the fatal one.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
Like Sotomayor, Obama has risen through very similar circumstances, and has certainly been exposed to various cultures as well as knowing the dominant Anglo culture intimately.
I assert that such a past provides a tremendous foundation for the ability to make "good" judgments. Since feelings of white supremacy are obviously alive and well in the US, one indicator of "good" judgment is how loudly those who hold those feelings squawk about an issue. The louder white supremacists squawk, the more likely it is to be a good judgment.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
And how you have expressed "the point" is how a white supremacist would express it. A white supremacist would make the claim that Sotomayor's upbringing as a Spanish-speaking woman in a Puerto-Rican housing project before rising by her own bootstraps to a very high level of success in predominantly Anglo institutions such as Princeton mean nothing, and therefore give her no advantage whatsoever.
And since between 20-30% of the American people are of Hispanic-Latin background, the white supremacist would assert that white people are as capable as any Hispanic-Latin at understanding what the Latin culture has to contribute to making wise judgments. In fact, the white supremacist would be on the lookout for any non-white who asserted that their background gave them any additional insights in a white-dominated society.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
The fact is that the policies that gave the approval and promotion to such practices, to the extent they existed, were not formed by wise Latinas. We do see, however, many unwise people putting forth the claim that the judgments of white men were not somehow primarily responsible.
This only reinforces Sotomayor's point.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
A white man who grew up in a Puerto Rican housing project would likely be very wise indeed.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
Rather than attempt to follow you off topic, we have to assume that our democracy allows a senator to serve because the people of his state send him or her there. If a certain senator is accused of the racism that Sotomayor is being accused of by conservatives, we would have to wonder about the racist tendencies of the electorate. I believe we would see those tendencies play themselves out in a highly visible election where a white male was pitted against someone who is not a white male.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
As for Sotomayor's words, take a look around:
We have an economy that was driven to the brink of collapse, as well as major auto, finance and banking firms going out of business or into bankruptcy. The people making the systemic disastrous decisions and judgments that led to this fiasco were 99% white males.
I think it is not saying too much that a wise Latina woman would do much better.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
Certain white people want to employ some sort of magic point system, or at least fantasize that one exists. Why not use some common sense?
According to estimates, there are well over 35 million Americans whose primary language is Spanish. I am just not too sure that there are many "white men" who have had the experience of growing up in a Puerto Rican housing project with Spanish as their first language.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
This is quite revealing. Because Americans have the freedom to form opinions, something that we are pretty sure that Sotomayor would agree with, an opinion about the Constitution not being perfect is interpreted by conservatives as "contempt."
One of the greatest jurists in American history, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., expressed his opinion that the US Constitution is a theory. "It is an experiment, as all life is an experiment." I suspect that Sotomayor would agree with that also. (And good for her!)
Although Sotomayor claims she chose a word poorly during her 2001 speech, their was not a trace of contempt in her words or in the sentiments she expressed. But just observe all the contempt coming from conservatives towards anyone who would dare form a different opinion about the Constitution than they have -- an opinion backed up by decades of study by the finest legal minds the US has produced.
It is also noted that conservatives are so filled with contempt, that they can do nothing else but to project it onto others. A real liberal does not feel contempt for someone who thinks the Constitution doesn't have serious flaws; we just feel they are wrong.
Regarding the Constitution's "prescience," we hope that Sotomayor does not put too much into that. After all, the flaws of the document led to the wholesale slaughter of tens of thousands of Americans barely 80 years after it was enacted.
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
As in "just say 'NO' to racism?" A campaign along that tactic sure ended the use of drugs in the US, didn't it...
If, on the bench, Sotomayor has had a tendency to favor one race over another, her record would show that. Because conservatives can't provide such a record, it must not be there -- because everyone knows they are looking through her record and scrutinizing it carefully.
When Sotomayor was nominated by President Obama, the immediate reaction from some conservatives was to say that she was chosen just because she was a Latina, and that somehow her experience on the bench didn't qualify her. That is very similar to the racism experienced by Sotomayor when some white recruiter told her he suspected that the reason she got into Princeton because she was Latina.
Now, how do we get conservative white supremacists to just "end" their racism?
Posted in: Sotomayor says she chose word poorly in 2001 speech
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yabits
And some people are just so worried about what "some" others are going to say about it that they can't do the right thing. Fortunately, most real leaders are better than that. Once they collect enough of the facts, they don't sit around wringing their hands and worrying what their critics will say.
When the US military is used to do the right thing, as was done by GHW Bush in Somalia, Clinton in Kosovo and Haiti, and GWBush in Liberia and after the tsunami in Southeast Asia, criticism is muted at best.
Unfortunately, the US military has all too often been used to do some very wrong things.
Posted in: Bush, Clinton appear on stage together in Canada
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yabits
What is very interesting about the AP story on Sotomayor that teleprompter quoted is this tidbit:
"Yet years ago, during a recruiting dinner in law school at Yale, Sotomayor objected when a law firm partner asked whether she would have been admitted to the school if she weren't Puerto Rican, and whether law firms did a disservice by hiring minority students the firms know are unqualified and will ultimately be fired."
Anyone want to guess about the ethnic background of this "parter?"
When Sotomayor, who graduated from Princeton with highest honors, talks about white men who "haven't lived the life," you can bet she's referring to incidents like this.
Posted in: No filibuster, but Sotomayor battle still looms
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yabits
LOL! No. Only MOST of it. And the neighborhood she moved to for Catholic high school was blue collar, lower middle class.
She's a real American success story, and an inspiration.
As for "her ethnic consciousness" being apparent, what doesn this mean outside of the fact that she spent a lot of time as a volunteer to help members of the Puerto Rican community? I guess that's something only a Republican could hate.
Posted in: No filibuster, but Sotomayor battle still looms