Sonia Sotomayor confirmed for Supreme Court

[Shawn Hopkins]

Let's not talk about the politics here, let's talk about the history. As far as I know, she's the first Latina to hold such a high office. I think it says good things about the US that our government is becoming so inclusive.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/06/sonia.sotomayor/

[stargirl]

YAY!!!I'M SO HAPPY!!!

[GWOtaku]

I don't disagree about inclusiveness being positive (who would?), although I think the inclusiveness of Government has been extremely well established by now. We've had diversity at top level cabinet positions for years, we've had Thomas on the high court since he was confirmed in 1991, and Obama was recently elected by a respectable margin. Miguel Estrada could have been the first Hispanic justice on the high court toward the beginning of the decade. So basically I appreciate the milestone, although it's not something that strikes me as truly groundbreaking historically. This is more like the end result of groundbreaking that's already happened in my book, with Obama being the ultimate symbol of that obviously.

[Shawn Hopkins]

It doesn't matter as much who might have been first, the important milestone is who is actually first.

And in historical milestone terms Sotomayor is a triple threat. Hispanic, a woman (only the third female justice) and from a poor second-generation immigrant background. If Sotomayor can start with learning English in a Bronx tenement and make it to one of the highest offices in the land, just about anybody can hold high office.

Except Muslims, I guess, we're still extremely prejudiced against them as a country. Just the suggestion that Obama was a "secret" Muslim was enough to be a drag on his campaign.

[sun]

Sonia Sotomayor has been confirmed for the Supreme Court.
Historically, when each minority group has gained a member of the Supreme Court, it has demonstrated an even greater acceptance of our disverse background. It is a good thing.

[stargirl]

I couldn't resist. There's something about this drawing by Lalo Alcaraz that is very powerful! And it's so CUTE!

[GWOtaku]

....awwww. That IS good. Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by Shawn Hopkins

Except Muslims, I guess, we're still extremely prejudiced against them as a country. Just the suggestion that Obama was a "secret" Muslim was enough to be a drag on his campaign.

Mmm, yeah, although I honestly wonder what would happen when/if we have a politician that is one, is honest about it, and takes after an Obama or a Mitt Romney or something. Speaking of Romney, a sizable minority of people figured they were less likely to vote for him since he was a Mormon, even though huge majorities said they had no problem with the idea of electing one that was well qualified (source). And of course JFK was our only Catholic President...it's odd and/or interesting to me how we're selective like that, even though our collective approval of these beliefs and the reasons we do or don't approve of them vary considerably. This has some interesting data here and there, although I'd love to find something really current and comprehensive about that topic.

Oh, and also, point taken on the triple threat comment.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Originally Posted by GWOtaku

Mmm, yeah, although I honestly wonder what would happen when/if we have a politician that is one, is honest about it, and takes after an Obama or a Mitt Romney or something.

The closest thing we've had is Keith Ellison, the first Muslim congressman, although Ellison is a black Muslim with some Nation of Islam ties (not actually a member of it), not someone anyone (rational) could accuse of having ties to turrist countries.

Still, his career has featured several crapstorms anyway, I remember a big stink when he was sworn in using a Quran. I remember my Congressman at the time, Virgil Goode, a man I routinely interviewed for the paper, saying that doing so was a threat to traditional values and using it to push his xenophobic immigration policies. And Glen Beck once demanded Ellison "prove to me that you are not working with our enemies." And fellow Rep. Bill Sali said having a Muslim in the house threatened to remove the protective "hand of God" from the body.

And US Reps don't have that much individual authority, I think the people who like to gin up fear have ginned up so much fear of the Muslim as "the other" in people that the idea of one getting in a position of real high authority would cause irrational terror in many people. I just don't think a Muslim could become president in the current climate of fear. Like I said earlier, Barack Obama, an incredibly charismatic and scrupulously middle of the road candidate running after a very unpopular regime still had to spend a lot of his time proving he wasn't a Muslim to get elected. That was some people's primary reason for not voting for him.

As for Romney, I really do believe his Mormon faith hurt him a little, but it wasn't the key to his loss. There are a lot of other offputting things about Romney that drag him down that the pundits and conservatives that do support him seem blind to.

[Hobbes829]

i don't really care one way or the other about the sex, or ethnicity of the person in question, what i do care about are the ideas that they hold.