CNN

@DRB #19: Thank you for your eloquent and thoughtful argument supporting same-sex marraige!
Hey sniffit: getting some bad press here, I see. Well, if some ignorant bozo isn't calling you names, it wouldn't be America...

Lately, I've been reading these comments a lot. All anyone who posts here seems to do is throw bricks at the other side. So many people here have already made up their minds about the nominee, yet who here has read a single decision that she has written?
I'm also surprised nobody has mentioned her comment about the appeals court being where policy is made. Anyone who has any legal training knows that judges create law all the time. It's part of the process. And it is always in cases were legislation is missing or vague.
I admit that I have not yet taken the time to read a decision of hers yet either. I'm also not judging her yet.
I really hope the issue of judicial activisim gets discussed. Maybe then, lawmakers in Wasington and in the state capitals will learn that the best way to fight judicial activism, is to write laws that follow the constitution, are not vague, and most of all, keep the interests of the people of this nation as the FIRST priority!

[...] was looking for someone with the ability to win over Justice Anthony Kennedy, the crucial swing [...]

It's really sad that the most important qualification to be on the supreme court is that it has to be a policically correct choice rather than the best choice. I have no doubt she is a fine judge. I do doubt she is the best judge. I have not finished my research on her, but so far I find very little in the way of tough cases she has presided over.

I am struck by how few comments in this blog are actually related to President Obama's historic pick. I am floored by the insensitive, ignorant, ideological, and inappropriate comments made by several people within the blog, who clearly only want to bash President Obama and glorify the likes of Bush, Cheney, and Limbaugh.

The article is about the strategy of selling Sotomayor to the American people and the Congress, and about the White House's strategy to use her as a force of persuasion within the Supreme Court's ranks. I think the President made an excellent choice, and I expect to see many great decisions decided through her vote and her ability to sway the swing judges.

If it's about winning over the vote of an aging white male, he might as well have nominated Beyonce instead! Justice picks should be based on experience and competence, not race or politics! The last justice to be picked based on those was Clarence Thomas and he turned out to be the laziest, most partisan, most incompetent judge on that court ever!

Barack Obama is a tricky guy with no experience. Anyway this drama will be over soon. watch out. This lady cannot be in Supreme Court.

Such a big deal is made over her race, but it seems to me, Obama made a political pick on totally different grounds. He found someone with a strong record, loads of experience and quality credentials who rules narrowly, is a moderate, and was previously picked by republicans, so has at least something that appeals to conservatives as well. Sotomayor is an OLIVE BRANCH, not an extreme pick at all, which Obama could probably cram down the throats of the 46% of the country who didn't vote for him, but he takes his pledge seriously to try and be the leader of the whole country. No one in the Senate is seriously skwaking about this pick, only the hysterical radio/talk show contingency.

Sorry, all you right wing lug nuts, this is America. You lost the election. An intelligent, thoughtful President just nominated the most experienced, intellectually capable person to be so honored in 70 years and all you can do is spew venom. This woman's experience and legal education exceeds every current member of the court at the time of their nomination. She will make a great justice.

That sounds about right for a lawyer who hates the constitution.

Only an intellectual lightweight like obama would think her opinions are careful and rigorous. They are not. If anything, she is the exact opposite. She's a result-oriented idealogue who is intellectually lazy and doesnt really care about the logic or reasoning of her opinions. She's also a loudmouth. She's the latin thurgood marshall in both regards. Anyone who thinks that these "attributes" will favorably influence kennedy is delusional.

" to balance out the court" ?????? I thought the Supreme Court Justices were to interpret the Constitution, not balance out anything...if the Constitution says it's wrong, it's wrong. There shouldn't need to be a balancing act....well unless you are an ILLEGAL ALIEN

I think it is great that the only reason someone is picked is because of their race and gender........I also noticed how a lot of people who write on these message boards cannot spell or don't use the
correct word(s).......America is truly the land of the sheep following the dumb.

The RepubliCONs on this post seem to be going all out trying to rewrite history. Just a bunch of whining losers.

I don't know alot about her just what i've seen and ready lately but I do know how her comments are already being skewered by the right... Plus, the fact Bush Sr. appointted her is also a benefit.. Imagine voting for her back then and know claiming she's unfit?? What jurist on the SCOTUS doesn't use thier own interpertations in making their rulings.. As usually the Repugs don't have a leg to stand on.... Keep up the misrepresentation of statements in the end you'll look like the fools that you are..

Steve-Mich

Fan of Common Sense May 27th, 2009 4:56 pm ET

She was chosen for three reasons and three reason ONLY: She's a woman, she's hispanic and, more importantly, she's anti-consitution (just like Obama).

Never mind she is a reverse racist, never mind that she doesn't understand (or care) the intended purpose of supreme court justices, never mind that she has lousy jurisprudence.

Non-Sense–the talking points have been distributed to the lemmings!

So Obama picked her to persuade someone else? Interesting. I'm sure Anthony Kennedy feels great about Obama wanting someone to try to get him to think a certain way about the constitution.

I doubt very seriously that any white man can speak from a womans issue, I doubt very seriously that any women can speak from a man's point of view, I doubt very seriously that a hispanic man can speak from a hispanic women's point of view etc....

I don't think a court should be empathetic. I want the law dispersed fairly. I always thought justice was supposed to be blind. The nominee sounds as though she doesn't truly believe that. I have a problem with that line of thinking.

dreamer May 27th, 2009 4:34 pm ET

Flip-flop oboma caved to politcal pressure,He nominated someone that is polor opposite on affermitive action.

========================================================

What political pressure? That was political pressure, right? You should learn how to spell. Sonia Sotomayor is extremely qualified, and to anyone who says that she isn't obviously hasn't read her opinions and resume.

But you crazy Pubs think Harriet Myers was qualified.....

So it's OK if Alito believes in expanded executive power, and was chosen by Bush because of that, but it's not OK for Obama to choose a very qualified female minority candidate. What bothers conservatives more, that she's Latino or female? She's one voice on the court. One.

Sotomayor is a racist

Republicans losing more votes ..How much more are the Republicans going to sink them selves..Rush Limbaugh eats lots of cheeseburgers..

"Without Affirmative Action…..Sonia who? If she were white…Sonia who? If she were the most qualified individual, but not hispanic or female….Sonia who?"

Sonia Sotomayer: B.A. Princeton (summa cum laude), law degree from Yale (also editor of law review), successful in private practice as Intellectual Property attorney, nominated to federal bench by George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton.

And you?

Doug @ 4:56

"Like every other lib he is morally irrelevant."

Thanks again Doug for showing us how you and your fellow right wingers take the high road on these blogs. All I ever hear from you guys is bunch of whining about all the horror people who do not agree with you are doing. And what exactly has your ilk done for us? War? Poverty? A complete disdain for the poor and the oppressed? Abandonment of our cities? Anything else?

Obama picked Sotomyer because she is a liberal, a woman and someone of latin dissent PERIOD! Her qualifications were totally secondary to winning Spanish support for future elections AND to continue to have yet another loon like Souter on the bench!

Wonderful to see all of the right wing legal scholars on here.
Plus the bonus of TCM's inane rant of the day.

Sotomayor has not reached her current position by being unqualified. You might not agree with her but I don't agree with Clarence Thomas either.

Dear USA,
Winning presidential elections does have its privileges. Better luck next time.

Why should the GOP be worried about how the hispanics will look at them if they object to the appointment of sotomayer – 2/3 of the hispanics are illegals. If I remember correctly voting is only allowed for legal American citizens. Is sotomayer legal? If her mother is still living is she legal. Oops, I forgot how acorn (acorn is a nut you know) gives everyone the right to vote – dead or alive, cartoon character, illiegal aliens, aliens, cats, dogs, fish, birds, wild animals, domestic animals, statues, criminally insane, totally insane, deathrow inmates, etc.

Obama, move a pion, and let the enemies ( Republicans) destroy themselves. Priceless!

@ USA.............. Honestly! How pathetic can you be????????????!

Your comments are vile. Blogs are about debate, intelligent debate, if you HATE Liberals SO much you will be in trouble since........... 62% of AMERICANS approve of our president!

AND........ USA......... you do realize that name calling is exactly why many Americans have left the GOP!

ONLY 21% OF AMERICANS claim to be GOP........ that says it all!

Perhaps we could stay on topic instead of degrading this to a mudslinging contest. Personally, I think that the traditional Republican concept of limited government is a noble ambition and, ultimately, their only hope of reforming the party. Currently, I believe Republicans are too polarizing because of their incompromising push to hold all of America to their own religious views (gay marriage and abortion obviously being the main factors).

I believe in having strong moral values, but I believe a lot more that religion has no place in government. Since Republicans are typically so unyielding in their religious principals, they end up alienating people who might otherwise belong to their base.

How many white men on the Supreme Court?

How many catholics on the Supreme Court?

Anything lopsided about the Supreme Court?

I love it when conservatives try to sound smart and they just come off as dumb as door knobs. kinda like Bush, thinks he's cool but the whole world laughs at him.

Carlos Mencia said it best "Dee Dee Dee"

Scalia doesn't need balancing, he needs to be in the nut house.

Obama was just looking for someone to match the Democratic Party's Affirmative Action targets.

Competence is irrelevant. She might be a very good judge... but all that matters is her sex and ethnic background, and she knows it.

USA, I do know the ideas that live wildly in your head are vague and confused, but can you write a comment that actually makes sense. Thank you.
A reader who wonders if you can bring anything intelligent to a discussion.

Seriously, is this chick just about the ugliest bean you have ever seen? I mean, SHOCKER she's not married. Given the choice of banging her or a goat, I would get a serious boner over the goat.

The 2nd Amendment NEEDS to be repealed. Failing that, AMMUNITION (manufacture, sale) needs to be STRICTLY regulated. Gun nuts are just that: NUTS.

Bush and Cheney should be in Jail.

Bush mislead the Americans on WMDs of Iraq. Intelligence reports were manufactured to mislead Americans and the Congress to get support for Iraq war. Bush admitted this in his farewell address that intelligence report about Iraq WMDs was a **MISTAKE**

4200 US Troop have died and 46000 US Troops have been injured due to the unjust War.

Our Economy is in shambles because of the cost of war.

Who's the hate monger? Go back to the 1930s germany where your views might actually hold water. Maybe you might have forgotten what makes America great – the ability to have different opinions. Stop moaning because an immigrant came here, worked hard, and was successful.

Democrats are American Al Quaeda. – President Obama is infinitely more qualified than gwb who ruined this country.

Republican Presidents Ronald Regan and George H.W. Bush and CIA supplied weapons to Taliban and other Muslim separatists to Disintegrate USSR in the 1980s and 1990s. These weapons were used in Bloodshed of thousands in Kazakhstan Tajikistan Uzbekistan Azerbaijan So now Russia is supplying weapons to Al Quida to Attack US.

Who is a bigger threat? Russia or these Guantanamo Detainees?

Hey liberal USA I think it is pretty cheap to utilize another name just because it is the only thing you can spell and also a country you hate. Try to find another name. Since you lack intelligence I will list 5
1. Communist
2. Marxist
3. Socialist
4. Unemployed
5. Hate Monger

I'm going to use painkillers with Rush now

Former Bush Attorney General Gonzales: "I have no questions in my mind about her qualifications in terms of education, experience. A president is not required to nominate the most qualified person to the court. I think he's obligated to nominate someone who is well qualified, and I think by any measure she is well qualified.

I think there are legitimate questions about her judicial philosophy, and again, that will be something that ... will be examined in the confirmation process."

Reading these posts makes me think there are too many men out there with too much time on their hands. What a bunch of drivel. Are you folks like sniffit incapable of saying anything contentful. You sound like kids in junior high school.

Randy please go away. You are a complete fool. Why don't you go home and watch your DVR recordings of Keith Olberman and Al Jazeera.

I need to waterboard myself – I dodged the draft like my heroes Bush, Cheney, and Limbaugh

To suggest that she is not qualified and assume that she does not have experience (when, in fact, she has a substantial amount of relevant experience) seems to suggest that you are basing your opinions on something other than her abilities.

Randy May 27th, 2009 5:39 pm ET
War in Iraq was Bush's greed for oil. Bush never protected America. Bush made more enemies of America than Friends.
------------------------------
Then why did the dems in congress approve the war in the first place?
Funny you want to see Bush in prision but you are fine with Sadam who butchered 100s of thousands of civilians. Liberals make no sense at all!

We saved lives in Iraq!

Randy you may be the dumbest person living.

A highly underqualified President nominates a highly underqualified person for the Supreme Court.

Is anyone surprised?

The fact of the matter is that representation is a major factor that should be considered in the review of law. Sotomayor is definitely correct in stating that her experience and struggles, which are certainly unique to her heritage, while help her formulate and reach decisions that are both different than a white male's and fair to the average American. Obviously, she has more judicial experience than most supreme court picks, so I find it hard to beleive that she does not have the merits to have been nominated anyway. Honestly, I feel comfortable with the fact that Obama's decisions are consistently based on helping the average American, which has changed drastically over the last generation in both racial and economic terms.

Haha!

I would hope that a wise white man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a female Hispanic who hasn’t lived that life.

War in Iraq was Bush's greed for oil. Bush never protected America. Bush made more enemies of America than Friends.

None of the 9/11 Terrorist were from Iraq.

Brillant strategy and logic again by the President!

It's more important and pragmatic to chose someone who may be able to persuade Kennedy than to balance Scalias' medieval rhetoric.

Well done Mr. President!

Yes we did!!!

Hooray, let's put another communist on the Supreme Court! Hooray!

Tomorrow CNN will run a Ticker ..".Bristol Palin calls on Judge Sonia Sotomayor to withdraw! " Creating news is much more fun and profitable than just reporting it huh?

Charlie in Maine – Get a clue. Her public staements CLEARLY show otherwise.

James M. Holmes – So the GOP created all the problems in this country? Have you even been paying attention the last 30 years? The Democrats created the housing crisis and accept no responsibility for it. You need to wake up and smell the coffee.

GOP can't block Sotomayor with Maine's Snowe and Collins on her side.... All GOP can do in the Senate is made rude noises.... what else is new?

GOP = PARTY FIRST, COUNTRY SECOND

I have no idea why pple are commenting on the statement racist. She was explaining that no one can make correct judgements all the time. But a person with enough education and experience can make more wise judegements than a person who does not have it.

The best thing about Sotomayor is that she is NOT the radical that the right-wingnuts will try to make her out to be. Once the country sees this it will seem like they are just idiots.

J S Ragman – So you think nobody's benefited more from affirmative action than Bush? Are you really trying to be that stupid?

Fan of Common Sense – you sound more like a fan of something else, but just so you'll know, PRESIDENT Obama is a Constitutional Law Scholar. Stop listening to rush, hannity and newt so much and you just might sound intelligent for once.

PETE when another attack happens to the USA you will be the first to blame BUSH you hypocrite. Your lover Mr Clinton could have killed OBL but didn't want to. Also your new lover Barry doesn't want to waterboard the mastermind behind 9/11 you dink.

The last three Supreme Court confirmed nominees were all conservative Republican activists.

How else do you explain the coronation of King George the Bush, by-passing 225 years of history including the US Constitution, the Revolutionary War, all of the wishes of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and the Federalist Papers that they are so fond of quoting?

Democrats-get her confirmed and if you don't vote for her, expect to see your opponent get some votes.

Mark Pryor needs to look how many voted "Green" in the last election where he had no Republican opponent since he is a DINO to the locals. Blanche Lincoln, better hope no Green runs against you.

Doug, New Jersey May 27th, 2009 4:56 pm ET

Your stupidity is showing.
again.

No Ben, I think Bob Evano has an excellent point.

Maybe you and Obama victim are really roommates

He was very struck by how thoughtful she was, but he didn't seem to notice she is ignorant of the law and is overturned about 60% of the time.

GOOD CHOICE!!!

Ken Sales – Just like every other Lib you miss the point entirely. You seriously think shes competent? What are you smoking? Her opinions clearly have racial overtones. If you don't see that, you're not paying attention.

Scalia should Retire. Scalia supports Feudalistic ideology.

To TCM. If not for affirmative action (good ole white man network) everyone would be saying George W. who! Nobody has ever benefitted more from affirmative action than our recent Clown President. Do you really think the average person could have gotten into Yale with a C average? Don't think so pal! Get you head out of your rear-end and face the reality that affirmative action has been in play for generations. It's called "Being born into a lucky gene pool".

Bush had a "thriving economy"? Check the stats, during the first six years of his administration, Bush's record of creating jobs during economic growth was the WORST in modern history. It was anemic growth, exacerbated by borrowing several trillion dollars from China to finance a war of choice.

By the way, you guys have a lot of stones praising Bush for "keeping us safe" when 9/11 happened on HIS WATCH.

She is also anti 2 amendment.
have a great day while you can.

Interesting.

If this is true - and more importantly, if he's right in his assessment that she might be able to swing Kennedy - then Obama has once again proved he's the "smartest man in the room" - certainly way ahead of all the pundits yammering on TV, the hysterical knee-jerk reactions from the right, and some of the fretting on the left that Sotomayor is "not liberal enough".

@John why don't you go back to the Daily Kos and join your friends and talk about how bad our country is. You are a typical liberal freak like Sniffit that would blame Bush for everything bad that happened. He kept us safe after 9/11(Let me guess inside job by Cheney and Bush), a thriving economy up until the subprime mess(thanks to Barney F), incomes were up, the market was up, and life was good for most people.(except for you since your space under the bridge became more packed over the last 6 months because of the economy). Also hate is a strong word and a typical feeling by you and your fellow Al Jazeera watchers. I will keep enjoying my time even though I disagree with this administration. You can continue to hate republicans and enjoy your miserable life.

Scalia is a fascist.....

Obama – always a step ahead of the GOP...

That is why the few remaining members of the GOP are so frustrated and angry... Not that they need help looking stupid, but Obama is running rings around them...

The GOP has done NOTHING but throw everything they can make up at Obama and NOTHING sticks. His approval ratings are as high as ever... You would think at this point they should try something new like.. ummm I dunno... try to help get this country back on it's feet again and try to actually fix some of the problems the GOP created... but no, it's just cry, whine and complain... It's getting old NeoCons!

Bob Evano – Buddy you are so frggin' cluless it's not even funny.

Democrats are about to understand what political juijitsu is.

The MORE information that comes out against Sotomayer – the HARDER dems will push to get her approved.

There are THOUSANDS of judges in America... yet the democrats will become beholden to "Obama's 1st Choice".

They don't want to upset their dear leader. While independent-minded Americans will see the complete disregard for concerns over this nominee and see this scam for what it is.

You people are idiots a bunch of Caucus-Asians afraid that the status quo you lived for so long at the suffering of people of color is going to end with one Opinion from the Bench. Please get real and get over yourselves.

If Jesus was nominated by Obama, people would still voice their disagreement saying he is too liberal, I mean the guy hung out with prostitutes and thugs..LOL People are too caught up on themselves.

Sotomayor is not going to end the world with her Opinions on the bench. And she's not going to say its okay for the Slavery of white men women and children to commence nor is she going to say its okay give back all the land white people stole by violence and coercion from the Native Americans back to the Native Americans

And CNN is nothing more than a progressive tabloid spewing forth whitehouse.govs talking points.

I keep hearing about all the reasons why this woman was picked....her lifestory, the need to diversify the SC, the political conundrum it puts Republicans in, and now the need to influence another justice on the court. Is it just me or has Sotomayor been nominated for all the wrong reasons?

Here's a thought: imagine if the names and backgrounds of all the candidates being considered were omitted from their resumes, and the decision had to be made strictly upon experience and competence rather than ethnicity and philosophy. Do you think Sotomayor would have been chosen? Doubtful!

Let's consider Sotomayor's decision about the police department promotion exam on which Blacks and Hispanics scored lower than whites. First, to me, the potential bias on the test would depend on the test. If the questions were job specific, then it doesn't matter what color you are. If the questions were general knowledge, then educational background and other race related factors might bias the test. (I speak as someone who always gets a higher score on standardized tests than he deserves. I am a terrific test-taker.)

That aside, what did Sotomayor support? She supported a branch of local government that was applying local community standards to its decision. Conservatives, on the other hand, are arguing that a federal judge should have overruled a local government decision. Just like they did with the 2000 elections.

How can you libs condone the hurtful racist statement by Sotomayor?
Obama by selecting her is dismissing racism for political advantage. Does he want white male Republicans to face off against Hispanics for his political advantage. He had to know this would happen!

The president considered Sotomayor's opinions to be "rigorous, precise, not overly flamboyant." ???

Journalism is obviously dead in America.

First Judge Sotomayor is a brilliant and competent judge worthy of being a Supreme Court Justice. Having met that criteria providing balance to the Court by placing a woman of diversity on it is absolutely the right thing to do. In what way does any other member of the court have superior credentials?

"a precision that impressed Obama, who is looking to turn narrow decisions his way."

This is AMERICA – I take a stand on the 14th Amendment and so should every American including the President!!! Equal protection for ALL Americans. Obama has ZERO RIGHTS to "turn decisions HIS way." There is but ONE rule of law that we all live under in America and it is NOT the Presidents laws but rather our United States of America CONSTITUTION that is to be applied equally and fairly to all citizens. This is treason and tyranny against America!!!!

Article states,

"He was looking for someone with the ability to win over Justice Anthony Kennedy, the crucial swing vote."

Does Kennedy have a thing for ugly latina women?

Is Kennedy so incapable of formulating an opinion that he needs other people to do it for him??

What exactly does that mean..."to win over Justice Anthony Kennedy"?

She was chosen for three reasons and three reason ONLY: She's a woman, she's hispanic and, more importantly, she's anti-consitution (just like Obama).

Never mind she is a reverse racist, never mind that she doesn't understand (or care) the intended purpose of supreme court justices, never mind that she has lousy jurisprudence.

Yes Sniffit is a great name for him, since his life long dream is to give Obama a colonosphy.

Like every other lib he is morally irrelevant.

She wont win over Kennedy since he already knows that she believes that as a white man, he is inferior to her.

Webster.com libs, sorry nothing about an ideological clause in the defintion of racism, no double standard that says critiquing Sonia's own words is racist while saying Clarence Thomas is not an African American is a tolerant statement.

Another victory for Obama! 2012 is a foregone conclusion.

Check. And Mate.

See ya rethuglicans, wouldn't want to be ya.

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, Goodbye! And good riddance.

@ USA May 27th, 2009 4:39 pm ET
Sniffit is a communist and a hater of everything American.
____________________________________________

Go learn the Definition of Communist. Sniffit hates Republican, because they screwed up America in the last 8 years.

I think you too are a Republican.

But America is not all about Republicans.

I agree with your comments USA, sniffit is on here over and over and his comments are awful

Why doesn't Obama just pass a law saying we have to do whatever Santermyer says? That way she can be on the Supreme Court, case closed. Otherwise, I would definitely not want her on there.

she will do fine.
No matter what people throw at her.

Thoughtful. Sounds like a great characteristic for a justice, or a President. What a change!

Rhetorically speaking, both Newt Gingrich and Rush " Tokyo Rose " Limbaugh should commit suicide....

President Obama has proven to this country time and time again that he is a brilliant man! This choice is just another example of it.

dreamer – you are a part of a dying breed of rethuglicans that i am proudly no longer a member of.

Without Affirmative Action.....Sonia who? If she were white...Sonia who? If she were the most qualified individual, but not hispanic or female....Sonia who? Basically, this move was either payback or future payment for hispanic votes. It's a shame to see so much support for someone who's so into their own agenda, and so anti-American values. Liberalism is a disease. The cure's coming in the fall of 2010.

Obama picks conflict, and gets it every time. But it will not save him in the long haul. It will all backfire on him.. To much Conflict kills the Drama.

dreamer, you are as lazy as George W. Bush. Try a spell-checker next time.

Every nail the Republicans hammer into their own coffin is a good nail. Just keep knocking them in there, Newt. Sotomayor is no radical.

Sniffit is a communist and a hater of everything American.

Flip-flop oboma caved to politcal pressure,He nominated someone that is polor opposite on affermitive action.