"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. " -Helen Keller

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Scattered and Random

A quick shout out to my fellow geeks, Ms. GeekByMarriage, my BeautifulMess, and the SmartOne. I had a blast playing Scrabble with y'all the other night. We need to do it again soon. I have a friend who can stand in if one of you is busy.

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Have you been following any of the talk about Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be our next Supreme court justice? I'm just not sure how I feel about her as a justice on the Supreme Court. There are two really good articles, one in the Huffington Post and one in the New Republic, that really give a balanced view of the pros and cons of her appointment.

When I read about her major decisions, I get the sense that she is into the politics of feelings rather than a strict interpretation of the law and constitutionality of the situation. This bothers me greatly. It also bothers me that people talk about her as a liberal voice on the court. I truly believe Supreme Court justices should be constitutionalists and that their personal political beliefs should take a back seat. However, one of the major arguments againstt her has been a quote that said...
"All of the legal defense funds out there, they are looking for people with court of appeals experience because the court of appeals is where policy is made," she said

and the Court of Appeals does NOT make policy. They interpret law. However, her detractors have purposely not included the whole of the quote which said...
"All of the legal defense funds out there, they are looking for people with court of appeals experience because the court of appeals is where policy is made," she said, laughing a bit through the next part: "And I know this is on tape and I should never say that because we don't make law. I know. Okay, I know. I'm not promoting it. I'm not advocating it. I know."

The second part of the quote puts it in an entriely different light. It makes you think asbout what else might have been misrepresented about her. Following through with these quotes, I could really get behind her if I truly felt her decisions supported what she said in 1997...
Sotomayor spoke of her judicial philosophy, saying "I don't believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it."

But, I don't feel her published decisions and arguments support this supposed strict constitutionalist view.

And, the whole hullabaloo about her race bothers me. I think its fabulous that we may actually have a Latina on the Supreme Court. But, why is this so much more of an important step than when GW Bush selected Alberto Gonzales as his Attorney General. You didn't hear the media falling all over themselves about what an advancement that was for the Latino people. Was it because Gonzales was elevated to that position by a conservative? I don't know. But, the disparity of the responses bothers me.

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Liz posted a kick ass version of the song Careless Whisper (originally done by Wham). I absolutely love the remake by Seether. Take a moment and listen.


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I also have to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who came by and read my post about Dr. Tiller and abortion over the past few days. I was frankly expecting at least a few trolls to come out of the woodwork and I didn't get a single negative comment. Y'all rock.

I do have to say that I am extremely amused that (at least so far) my post about such a controversial topic skates by and my post about a turkey tetrazzini recipe brought out a snarky troll.

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And, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cave and agree to watch Bubba Ho Tep.

Have a great day y'all!

3 comments:

Beautiful Mess said...

But that's SO awesome that you didn't get any negative trolls! Maybe cause it's SUCH a touchy subject nobody wants to fan the flames? Either way, I love that you blogged about it. I think it was a courageous move and I'm DAMN proud of you!
*HUGS*

Emma said...

There is no explaining the internet :) I once saw a thread thousands of posts long - the issue of so much dispute? How many eggs to put in a quiche. It was epic!

I am glad no trolls came out to play, but you know you have a lot of supporters out here in the ether!

Fat Chick said...

Scrabble? Did someone say Scrabble?!?!

And excellent news on the no-troll front. Mine have seemed to have disappeared lately, too. Truth be told, I'm kinda bored without them and their drama.