John Yoo: Obama Chose "Empathy Over Excellence"

John Yoo, who wrote memos authorizing torture for President Bush, has penned a reaction to Sonia Sotomayor's supreme court nomination. The lawyer, who could be disbarred for his role in detainee abuse, declares that President Obama's pick shows that "empathy has won out over excellence in the White House."

Yoo also writes that Obama picked Sotomayor not for her credentials, but for her race, in order to shore up the Hispanic vote. "Liberals have missed their chance to put on the Court an intellectual leader who will bring about a progressive revolution in the law," Yoo wrote.

President Obama's nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor shows that empathy has won out over excellence in the White House. Sotomayor has sterling credentials: Princeton, Yale Law School, former prosecutor, and federal trial and appellate judge. But credentials do not an excellent justice make. Justice Souter, whom Sotomayor would replace, had an equally fine c.v., but turned out to be a weak force on the high court.

Obama had some truly outstanding legal intellectuals and judges to choose from--Cass Sunstein, Elena Kagan, and Diane Wood come immediately to mind. The White House chose a judge distinguished from the other members of that list only by her race. Obama may say he wants to put someone on the Court with a rags-to-riches background, but locking in the political support of Hispanics must sit higher in his priorities.

Tellingly, Yoo went on to claim that Sotomayor would rely on "personal politics, backgrounds, and feelings" -- the same exact phrase that at least four Republican senators used to critique her.

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Comments

[littleblackcat]

john yoo wouldn't know excellence if it kicked his teeth in.

[sharkfeeder]

Right. He should have picked Yoo! A guy who doesn't even know what torture is. Someone squirt some Raid on these Bush/Cheney roaches.

[TheSystemWorks]

Besides all the partisan hype, doesn't the Sotomayor's suggested prejudices, like those not only from here infamous quote, but her positions, give you pause? (I checked to see if her quote about how a wise latina will, more often than not, reach better decisions than a white male, was taken out of context. It was not.

Sadly, Woo is right, it's the triumph of empathy over excellence.

[jazzman]

Yoo questioning someone else's excellence and criticizing them for engaging in 'results oriented' decisions.

Life is full of little ironies isn't it.

[okayigive]

Why do the media give people like Yoo a voice? He's just trying to legitimize his heartless approach to humanity by re-inventing the meaning of torture as a mark of excellence.

[1differentdrummer]

Yoo who?

[avshanbh]

I think after a little waterboarding John Yoo will understand empathy.

[booker52]

Says the man who wrote a crappy memo approving torture. I will bet that his credentials don't match Judge Sotomayor's.

[fleetw1978]

Every so often.......... an idiot republican says something that makes me want to slap the living daylights out of them. Recently it seems to happen every time they open thier mouths. John Yoo should really lay low, shut up, and hope everyone forgets his asshat name and face. It would be alot safer for him.

[ROinReno]

For John Yoo to comment on either empathy or excellence is humorous; for him to comment on both is hilarious.
Empathy is an interesting subject, everyone seems to express it but the fact is; until you have walked in another's shoes, expressions of empathy are a lot like telling a man with no legs you understand how he feels because you stubbed your toe.
John Yoo is totally lacking in either empathy or excellence yet he purports to be an expert on both.
I guess we need some humor from time to time and Yoo is providing it.

[harriscrl3]

Its better than chosing a power hungry id ot over Excellence.

Did he think his appointment in the Bush White house was about Excellence just goes to show you how much of an idi ot he is.

Carol

[rockyb26]

he makes my stomach hurt

[gaiasessions]

excellence in putting a towel on someones face and pouring water on them.

this yoo not only has put torture in every mind but has a tortured mind.

i can only feel empathy for his tortured soul and how it got to be that way.

PLEASE READ: FOR YOUR OWN GOOD< ALICE MILLER

[gcallaghan]

And we're supposed to care about Yoo's legal opinion this time? Why?

[deepfreezevideo]

But if it were JOHN YOO that Obama had picked, all that "empathy over excellence" would go flying out the window, right John?
Of course, with any luck we will not have to worry about John Yoo's future as an attorney at all, because he is in danger of DISBARMENT.
Memo to John Yoo: Consider focusing on your own future in the legal field before weighing in on the future of others, because your future is the one in doubt sir, and with damn good reason.