thomascwaters.com

The attacks against Obama’s first Supreme Court nominee started even before anyone was named, but really took off once Sonia Sotomayor was named. There is much agreement, that she is likely to be confirmed and could be quickly given that she has been confirmed by the Senate twice before, but the attacks are nonetheless both extreme and intense.

The level of rhetoric, such as Limbaugh comparing her to a KKK leader, or Newt Gingrich calling her a racist, is telling and troubling. It demonstrates well the tactics of the Far right, which is to bully and dominate. The country has  a time-tested mechanism for picking a good Supreme Court judge- the Senate confirmation process. For all the rhetoric of “believing in America” it is a shame that the GOP and their thugs don’t work within the system. In fact their efforts can have the ability to undermine and destroy our democracy.

That this woman was first nominated by Republican Bush (1st Bush) and confirmed, and then nominated by Clinton and confirmed out to mean something.

It would be different if the attacks on her were based on her work as a jurist, and especially if they were trying to show how she has failed to be a fair judge. But that is impossible. She has been a very fair judge, so the personal attacks reign!

At a time when the GOP is trying to lure GLBTQ votes to the party, claiming tat we have a place there, no one should be mistaken. Can there truly be a place for GLBTQ people in the same camp with hate groups like the Council of Conservative Citizens who have called black people “retrograde species of humanity?”

The best thing we can do is not get caught up in all of the chaos and use these antics to be further evidence that the GOP is a party of irrelevancy. If the party continues to align itself so closely to hate groups, it can not offer much for the future of a country which must find ways to embrace diversity with respect.

Sotomayor Nomination Unleashes Furious Attacks | Hatewatch | Southern Poverty Law Center.