Suddenly it's OK to call a judicial nominee a racist

[spanone]

When the nation learned in 2005 that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito had belonged to a Princeton University alumni organization that advocated a cap on the number of women and minorities allowed at Princeton, the news media quickly circled the wagons to protect the Bush nominee.

When Alito was asked by Senate Democrats about his membership in the organization -- which he touted while applying for a job in the Reagan administration -- the media denounced them for going too far. The merest hint of a suggestion of an implication that Alito was a member of a racist organization was shouted down as an unfair slander; Democrats were pilloried for making Alito's wife cry with their inappropriate questions (though Mrs. Alito didn't actually start crying until Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham took to the microphone).

Gloria Borger, for example, said that the pertinent question was not whether Alito agreed with the Concerned Alumni of Princeton's clearly racist and sexist stance on university admissions, but "whether the Democrats took this a step too far today." Katie Couric added: "Too much to take: Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's wife driven to tears after Democrats question his integrity. Did they go too far?" The media consensus that Democrats went "too far" in questioning Alito continues to this day. Fox News' Megyn Kelly recently claimed that during Alito's confirmation hearings, his wife was "crying hysterically after Ted Kennedy made her cry."

http://mediamatters.org/columns/200905290032

[baldguy]

1. It's OK to call a (Democratic) judicial nominee a racist - but only when they're not.

When a (Republican) judicial nominee is an actual racist, it's something that cannot be mentioned.

[JerseygirlCT]

9. Oh, that would be in very bad taste, don't you know? nt

[Solly Mack]

2. I've actually heard a republican say

That the election of Obama proves Democrats are racists because they wouldn't vote for the white man (McCain)

and that he expects racism (as he defines it: not voting for the white man) from everything Obama does because of that

and I think the latest round of bullshit from the right ( about Sotomayor) is a reflection of that kind of thinking

Racism and what it is has been twisted around in their minds...so much so that they consider it racism if anyone other than a white person is nominated or elected.


Said republican is a civilian contract employee living here.

[spanone]

3. we were once a civil nation.....no longer

[Solly Mack]

4. I turned to my husband told him to "get me away from this person"

We were on a group trip (day cruise) a couple of weeks back with a bunch of people and this person decided to get on his soapbox....and out comes that gem.

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. Thank talk radio/TV for that.

They've turned hate speech into a national pastime.

[shadowknows69]

6. All I know is I'm getting more and more convinced that a Scotus appointment is for life

Was not one of the founder's better ideas. It's like a potentially bad tattoo you got while drunk one night. Stuck with it. Ok, I'm older and that analogy made more sense when there wasn't simple tattoo removal surgeries with fricken lazer beams.

[old mark]

7. Well, we did refer to him as "machine gun Sam".....

and Lindsey Graham makes me cry, too - and worse :puke:

mark

[JerseygirlCT]

8. Good points

It's amazing how they've had all this ammo ready - almost as if it was all created to fit any chosen nominee... gee, I wonder? :sarcasm:

[RDANGELO]

10. Diversity insecurity.

There is a substantial segment of the the population that is insecure with the fact that the US is a diverse nation. Most of them are Republicans. They want to see an America that looks and acts like them. Anything that promotes the notion of diversify begets a paranoid reaction - lashing out.

Hence you have the reaction to one sentence from Sotomayor, the insistence that America is a Christian Nation ,whatever that means,and the obsession with affirmative action.

[kestrel91316]

11. Just one more example of RW projection. They ALWAYS call liberals

those things that they know themselves to be, as a means of insulating themselves from legitimate charges of things like, in this case, racism.

[TexasObserver]

12. Can Mrs. Alito sit behind Sotomayor when the judge testifies before the Senate?

Can she turn on her tears and cry for this nominee?


This is one more reason why I hate the GOP. They are not only racists, but they are so racist they think anyone who doesn't agree with them is racist. Why don't they just call themselves the White Christian Wall Street Party and be done with it?!