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why all the pointless questions? My guess is to get the right to get their undies in a bunch. The left doesn't care about resonable firearms just like the right doesn't care about the lefts ...wow,can't think of a thing. The right tends to judge . The left tends to react to the judgemental, after they listen. Call yourself what you want, try listening to yourself first. If you were at all caring "individuals" you would see that we all want whats best for us "all". Keep your guns... If your worried about your guns... You've got bigger problems than the average american.

Every once in a while I agree with the fringe-right on something. Here it is: I say not only do we have the right to bear arms we have the responsibility to. So on this one I am with the strict constitutionalists and the gun lobby. Of course we must realize that the "muskett" is what we have a right to bear. It is a fine weapon and it does eveything you could want to have a gun for:
1. It will take down a moose deer, bear or elk. You have to be a good shot but isn't that the point?

2. It is great for target practice

3.Given it's size and blasting power it is perfect for self defense and as a deterrant to home intruders.

It has the added benefit of being a chore to reload. Going "postal"? you will get tackeld before to can get the powder in. You must be sure of your target . Is anyone going to lug these things around for random acts of violence.

Drive by shootings? not on your life. Best of all it is hard to conceal. Never understood the idea of a "concealed weapon" if you got one let the bad guys see it!.and the bigger the better.

So go out everyone and "get thee a muskett" and keep you powder dry.

Under the provisions of the tenth amendment, the individual right to bear arms is not left to the states to decide. The constitution clearly states that the individuals right to bear arms shall not be infringed upon by the government. The tenth amendment states that powers not specificaly granted to the fed are the domain of the states, however by stating that individuals have the right to bear arms that power is clearly reserved for the fed. Nobody has the authority to strike that fundimental right from the constitution no matter what. Until the people of this country decide to trust the government with their very lives and turn over their guns willingly, as well as change the constitution this is a non issue. Any waffeling on this point is political speak and should be regarded as a weakness of character as well as a fundimental failure to understand the roll of the constitution in the interaction between fed and state.If this jurist "hasn't made up her mind" then she has no buisness on the bench, there is nothing to think about. The second amendment is the reason we enjoy the level of freedom that we have in this country, anyone who doubts that should remember Tienamen Square.

But of course she says that now because she wants the job. Wiht a lot of things she has said she is clear on this we have no rights to guns in her eyes. In fact if you are a white male you are stupid and have no rights.

Really can we put some like this on the bench I know of a lot very good womne that could have been a better pick but, that is not the plan.

She's not very bright after all is she...

"She explained that the word "fundamental" in legal terms refers to whether a federal statute applies to the states."

Absolute and total BS! A thoroughly transparent sophistry reflecting her thorough contempt for the intelligence of the Senate.

This woman is squirming like a stepped-on snake!

Sotomayor is a vast mass of prejudices for which she uses the euphemism "empathy." Prejudices against white men, prejudices against guns. Her mind is made up and she has no interest at all in being confused by the facts.

Waste of time and our money. Minds are already made up. Nothing she can say or do will change the vote. She has sat at the table and said things that should scare some of our "leaders" to death, but what does it matter. Politics rule. Fairness? Are you kidding me? This woman could not be fair if her life depended on it, and she has told us that already!! Move on.

The truely wise don't often claim that title, especially when putting race and gender in the same sentence..

So..., is the right to free speech "fundamental" in her legal opinion??

that way only the criminals have them, that will fix the problem

Ugh. Again Republicans trying to make a deal out of nothing.

Does it really matter?

She is replacing a liberal judge. She is going to always side with the liberal judges. That 5-4 ruling on hand guns isn't going to change because of Sotomayor.

However, what does matter is Obama's judgment. He could have picked anyone and he went with her. She has some very questionable decisions. From fire fighters to "wise Latina"....this is the best they could find?

Not a solid pick....But that's Obama's fault.

Again, the "sound bite sally's" make sour notes. Sotomayor continues to prove her salt and worth., I just wish that the inquisitors would ask a question worth the tax payers dollars that they are supposed to be earning doing a job of lawmaker in our country. I hope the whole lot of them are voted out in the coming elections to make room for citizens who actually WANT to do a good job for the country. Poor Judge Sotomayor, she must be bored to tears with all the stupid questions and spin she has to put up with . What a bunch of hoooey!

Past records speak for themselves. This woman should not be confirmed just because of where she came from.

Senator Sessions is once again showing the idiocy that kept him off the bench. When Sotomayor ruled that the 2nd Amendment didn't apply to the states, that was pre-Heller. Pre-Heller, the Supreme Court had not addressed the issue. There was no binding precedent. Now there is, and just like every other judge in the country Judge Sotomayor will conform her decisions to Heller. That's how it works. Judges don't recuse themselves just because the law changes.

Based on Sessions logic, any judge who, pre-Roe v. Wade, held that a state could prohibit abortion would have to recuse himself from any subsequent abortion case.

I know if I lived in DC I would sure want a gun. People who think that any kind of gun control keeps them out of the hands of criminals are idiots.

obama will be out in 3.5, but his wise latina puppet will still be there

Sotomayor is doing a fabulous job. She is not allowing the GOPers to rattle her. Well done, Sonia.

-Sarah Palin is a pig. She has oinked her way from one side of the country to the other spreading lies and "pretending" she's intelligent.

-Sessions is also a pig. This is the same guy who told another white lawyer that he was a discredit to his race (because he represented black people). So cut to 2009, this same pig is prejudging Sonia Sotomayor and saying she's a racist. What nerve.

Obama/Biden 2012
Sonia Sotomayor on the Supreme Court in October

To assert that one of the Bill Of Rights does not apply to the states contradicts the 210 year history of the U.S. Constitution. This woman uses pretzel logic at best, at worst she is as activist as Dear Leader himself would be were he a Supreme Court Justice. If our founding documents don't say what they mean, and mean what they say, then we may as well scrap them and let the Supremes dictate law to us.

governments who have seized the peoples arms,and their results: Uganda; 1970-79; 300,000 Christains executed. Cambodia; 1956-1977; 1 million executed. USSR; 1929-1953; 20 million executed. Germany; 1938-1945; 1,3 million executed. China; 1935; 20 million executed. Guadamala; 1964; 100,000 Mayan Indians executed. in the 20th century, 56 million defenseless peoples were executed. Switzerland, issues every adult a rifle, with training; they have the lowest weapons related crime in the free world. governments who want to seize the peoples right to keep, and bear arms, are wanting a lot more. You can protect your freedom, by voting for men and women who have the Consitution of these United States in mind..

From accounts that I have read about her ,she will probably be a advocate for gun control and an adversary of the second amendment. She has said nothing yet to make me think she will be good for this country. She may say she's not biased but her track record disproves this.

If the right to keep and bear arms is a fundemental right, no state could outlaw any weapon.
Gentlemen start your tanks, rocket launchers and nukes, we're going squirrel hunting.

Every american has the right to keep and bear arms. Let's get off this topic

And oh by the way. Too bad you have never read the 4th Amendment to the Constitution. Boy do Republicans hat that one!

Judge Sotomayor said in a ruling that the second Amendment is a state right and yet it is clear when it says “the right of the people to keep and bear arms” not that a state or government can tell them if they can, why else would it say “shall not be infringed”? It is the bill of rights for the people not any government, by her thinking free speech, the right of the people to peaceable assemble, The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures or any other of the rights of the people are at risk. It was written over two-hundred years ago and in plain language so that the people could understand what it said, now we have Judges telling us that we don’t understand the meaning and they must tell us what it says?
Are we less intelligent then we were then or is the government with the help of the courts attempting to become dictatorial and domineering over the people and leave us without away to defend ourselves and families from criminal and the Government? The Second Amendment is the corner stone of the Bill of Rights if we let that one go they will take the rest. She does not belong on the SCOTUS and her and many others should not be judges. The Second Amendment is a fundamental right of the people she should know that!

Let's face it. The extremists in the Party of No are not going to vote for anyone President Obama nominates, regardless of their qualifications. All they can do is grandstand and make points with their base, and everyone knows you can't get any more unqualified for rational thought than their "base." So blather on, Senators Coburn, your good friend from Alabama Senator Sessions, and the rest of you 19th Century pundits. The train is leaving, and you will forever remain in the station, with your back water friends. Whining! Ain't life grand!

i think this woman is crafty. i would not want her to be against me in an argument, thats all im sayin'

She has done nothing more than distance herself from herself...

Be afraid America, another of the chancellors liars.

Sessions has been completely prejudiced against Sotomayor from the day she was nominated. Case in point:

When asked about whether intenational law can be used to decide US law, she responded, "American law does not permit the use of foreign law or international law to interpret the Constitution. That's a given and my speech explained that, as you noted, explicitly. There is no debate on that question. There's no issue about that question."

And yet, Sessions later goes on TV, claiming that he has serious doubts about when Sotomayor as a Supreme Court Justice would use international law when interpreting the Consitution.

Why did Sessions do this? Because he, like the rest of the GOP, are pandering to their "base," which is dumb and paranoid enough to listen to their "leaders" instead of listening to the confirmation hearings and thinking for themselves.

The GOP has no shame!

Senator sessions is the penultimate example of a racist who barely covers it up. I lived in Alabama for over 3 years and they are fine people. However, pockets of ex-Klan supporters exist. I can think of no better argument for all Americans to ask themselves if Sessions is a person that speaks for the real majority or for the dwindling group of right-wing wacko's (Graham is also included here). Time to grow up folks.

God, what is WITH the GOP...Sessions is a proven bigot, and he is bitter because he wanted the "candy" and he was not approved for the bench. Why, oh why don't they just goooo awaaaaayyyy

I've been watching some of the hearings, and it strikes me as being more of a witch-hunt than it is confirmation hearings. I don't know how Sotomayor has been able to sit so silently and calmly as jerk after jerk spews their rhetorical, politically-driven, accusations and assumptions at her. What a joke.

If you ask me Sen. Jeff Sessions has a made up mind about Sotomayor and nothing she says will make much difference. He is still going to keep hammering at her on something.

In answer to a question on a closed article about Franken's Perry Mason question, according to the Hamilton Burger entry on Wikipedia, Burger beat Mason twice: once in "The Case of the Terrified Typist" and again in "The Case of the Deadly Verdict".

Senator Sessions is showing his true colors. That is his RACIST colors!

Thank God he was confirmed as a US District Court judge eons ago!

Pre-judging? Well, I suppose the GOP would know it when they see it, having perfected it and all...

Judge Sotomayor, is making (jeff sessions) look like ,what he is a (I dont have prayer and i am a foolish ,fool.) The gun control issue is ,does not apply to the law. Now here we have a (JUDGE) who has been on the lower courts for 17years,and knows the law of the land very well. And this (I DONT HAVE A CLUE WHAT AM TALKING ABOUT)to ambush this appointee, with dumb (Qand A)...(SESSIONS) needs to either go back to (SCHOOL) or study before he (QUESTIONS) this bright and intelligent choice for the(SUPREME COURT) . SHE is tough and has put (sessions in checkmate).Alabama needs (Charles Barkley ) to run for (senate) in the next election for senate in ALABAMA, he would win...(SESSIONS needs Political Steriods) he is so (south). HE cant stump (Judge Sotomayor ) on gun controll, and is making himself look like the (BIGOT) he is.....PREDICTION.. south will turn more blue in 2012.

sessions has been a joke.

Coburn mocking this phenomenal woman by say 'you got some splainin' to do' (Ricky Ricardo of I Love Lucy.) How racist!!!!!!

Then Sessions the biggest racist of all time with his calling a Black lawyer 'boy'. Then he mentions how another judge voted the opposite of Sotomayor and he was Puerto Rican! What the heck is going on?

The Republicans are stuck in the 1940's and 1950's.

Another gun-control freak.. I wonder how many more revelations
there will be before our "leaders" see what she really is about,
and that is to be in the Supreme Court.. no matter how much
she has to lie. omo

Sessions is my Senator and believe me he's as backerds as they come. Too bad most of his type are merely defending their manhood which they associate with guns. Not their right to have them. Their gun takes place of what their lacking in the privacy area. Abortion is their pedestal, to make them 'feel' like they're one with God and that they are protecting human life. One piece of advice for them, 'don't have an abortion' and don't force anyone else to have one. One sentence for these Pharisee's faking as Christians: try loving the living regardless of race, creed, color, sex, or religion.

How sad when she has to explain to him the legal definition of fundamental. Why would someone recuse themself based on a prior ruling? The Supreme court selects cases to hear based on whether there is a new precedent to look at. So for instance, since they ruled on a case involving a sweeping handgun ban in D.C., they wouldn't rule on such a case again. There would have to be a different component to a case involving hand guns for them to rule on it. By the way, the Supreme Court has ruled that abortion is legal, and that the second ammendment gives US citizens the right to bear arms. Isn't it interesting that the Repubs refuse to recognize the first ruling, and embrace as eternally unchangeable the second.

What a waste of time this all is. She is beyond qualified and she's "IN" anyway, so lets move one with it. . . UP OR DOWN VOTE, like the Republicans always loved so much.

Justice S can deny it all she wants–but conservative independents know the deal already. Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done to stop her confirmation. As this is the case, why do we have to watch a superfluous and false hearing when the outcome is predetermined? We already get it–SCOTUS has one less vote for guarding our Constitutional rights. She's an Equal Opportunity success story who knows which side of the aisle paid her way. She will never allow TV inside the Supreme Court because the Justices want to preserve the one day a week they all get naked and go crazy–just kidding.

Anyone else find it ridiculous that the man who FAILED HIS OWN confirmation hearing (Sessions) due to blatent racism is even in this committee.

Sotomayor will be a great asset to the Supreme Court. She should be approved without any problems.

I am sick of Sotomayor saying she was following precedent or other courts. Her job is to follow the CONSTITUTION!

she needs to do what the constitution says, not what other judges say.

the US Constitution provides a guarneteed right to own guns PERIOD. I do not own a gun or will never own a gun but will fight for the right of any American to own any gun they wish to own.

If you believe in the Constitution, you will agree. If you only believe in HATRED, such as much of the folks who post irrational comments about President Bush, then you will disagree.

Try opening your mind

Give her this, she makes the GOP senators look like buffoons and idiots. Of course, that isn't that big a feat. They're kinda "unarmed" in a mental dual with Sotomayor.

HRH Obama, Prince Reid, Princess Pelosi and Sotomayor would all like to take our guns away because they know........an armed citizen is the best neutralizer against an abusive government...

Sessions is an idiot, no wonder this very committee turned him down for a federal judgeship, a much lower one too. sessions should recuse himself from the senate. I feel sorry for the state of Alabama.

If we were still in need of compiling people for a militia then the 2nd Amendment would still be relevant. If people can shoot animals without use automatic weapons, then OK.

Most profits that are made from this antiquated "right" are benefiting the corporations, not the people in our society.

People can have guns to hunt, but let's take the automatic and hand guns off the streets so we don't have to be labeled with the dubious honor of having the most gun deaths than the top 7 industrialized countries COMBINED!

I'm not a lawyer, but if Sen. Sessions ran for a Federal seat in the past, shouldn't he know legal jargon?

Jeff Sessions: bigot, failed Superior Court nominee, lazy thinker, lazy speaker....why is this guy around? Who in the world wants this kind of representation?

This guy is making the U.S. of A. look like a nation of dunces!

Senator Coburn sure has some "splainin" to do after his badgering of Sotomayor as if she were some human piñata. I guess Coburn sees political benefits of beating up on the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court.

Senator Sessions is making a fool of himself. His questions and his demeanor appear to try to demean Ms. Sotonmayor. He's probably still hacked about his failed attempt at a federal bench. The "Party of No" should pull him aside and say "Enough". "NO more grandstanding!"

This nomination proves that lib dems like Obama don’t care if things are offensive to white males. If this had been reversed and a white man had spewed that crap would Obama have nominated him?

It is becoming crystal clear that there is no room for white males or Christians of any race or sex in the new dem party.

Many of you dems that are social conservatives and moderates need to wake up…the far left is here.

Dear God, please deliver us from these sanctimonious republicans who care more about gun rights than health care for all Americans! I could NEVER be a republican again and I only hope that God forgives me for the misguided years i voted as one.

Wow. I am sure that she consider the "Right to Privacy" to be fundamental although it is not found in the Constitution. But she can't definitively say that the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights is fundamental?

I would like to question her logic... but there is NO logic to her reasoning. You can't have an expansive view of what is and isn't a fundamental right based solely on whether or not you politically like those rights... even a wise Latina with rich experiences should know that.

All republicans care about is war, guns and money. They claim to be small gov yet they want to tell what to do and not to do with your body and whom you can and cannot marry. They claim to be pro life yet support the death penalty, war, support gun rights and hunting. How dare they try and force this woman to do anything what gives them the right other than their own self righteousness?

Sotomayor perjured herself repeatedly in the confirmation hearings. I don't believe anything she says.