Americanpolitics

As I watched the Confirmation Hearings today, I had a hard time focusing on the mission of the manifestation of our system of appointment instead I was more focused on the hypocrisy it involves. Without even knowing the background of each individual Senator that presented today, I found my stomach turning at the words some of them sprouted in their defense of the Constitution, equality, and the “intent of our Founding Fathers.”

From a black perspective, only being written into the Constitution, as a human being, by way of an Amendment and having suffered inequality, injustice, disrespect all the days of my life, I found those words hard to take. I had to keep swallowing just to keep my breakfast from spewing forth from my mouth.

When Senator Feinstein, in defense of Sotomayor, spoke of the ability of the Supreme Court Justices to overturn precedents and in fact how in many cases they had in their decisions, I wondered within myself how could they stand in judgment of any words uttered by Judge Sotomayor in her expressions of understanding and wisdom from a Latino woman’s point of view.

The Supreme Court is the last place you go to settle differences, the last place you go to get justice. Yet in past and present years, it has been a place of activism and personal agendas. Senator Secession acknowledged past agendas by Supreme Court Justices that may not have been aligned with the mission of the Courts, yet he has the nerve to verbalize concern for Sotomayor’s beliefs based on several comments she has made in the past.

Senator Kyl brings into play the concept of a judge having the ability to control any and all bias in their interpretation of the law. He cites this as the only important consideration in the final decision to confirm an appointment. Yet, the reality is that no human being is so removed as to be totally impartial.

This is just not the way mankind is wired, regardless of who you are, your life experience, your thoughts and feelings, your interpretations of right and wrong are going to have some influence on any and all decisions you make. Why should Judge Sotomayor be held to a different standard from any of those currently in the position of Supreme Court Justice? Why should she be held to a different standard of just being human?

Almost every one of those speaking brought into play Obama’s words of wanting an empathetic judge. However, the way they spoke of these words you would think empathy was a four letter word when it comes to justice. Personally, I believe racism is a more repulsive motivator and some of the decisions that have been made in the Supreme Court over the years have had racism at its core.

Judge Sotomayor has education, legal credentials, credibility, experience and a sense for fairness. As she sat there listening to the words that were spoken for and against her, she seemed a little nervous. She need not be however, because she has been through this twice before, she is an achiever and a strong Latino woman who is not afraid to say what is real. As I watched her, I felt an affinity towards her building inside of me and I could see that underneath the nervousness was a strong person.

When it was her time to speak, she smiled sweetly, went through her initial thanks and then she let the words that she could have “fidelity to the law,” I cracked up laughing because to me she showed her strength while sarcastically hinting at other things. She also verbalized her ability to apply the law by the laws at hand during any given situation because she understood that her task was not to make the law but to interpret the law and hand down a decision based on that law.

While the game of this confirmation hearing is to present yourself in a favorable light to those doing the interrogation, I feel that Judge Sotomayor will be able to show her strengths as well as her ability to handle what she needs to handle in the ways that coincide with the mission of the Supreme Court without compromising who she is as a person and that’s all that should matter. More to come as I watch this confirmation hearing for the next couple of days.

And that’s the way I see it!!!

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