Rachel Maddow had Slate columnist Dahlia Lithwick on her show tonight to discuss the degree to which conservatives are trying to paint Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as an out-of-the-mainstream liberal whom Obama selected solely for her inspiring life story. Lithwick explaining that Sotomayor is a moderate judge who is eminently qualified to be nominated and that Obama has simply found a nominee who is well-qualified and has an uplifting life story.
Lithwick also highlighted a key point about the right's accusations concerning Obama wanting someone on the bench who has empathy. Lithwick said that this idea of empathy has been distorted to mean "bias," when really what it means is an ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes, to be able to listen to them and understand where they're coming from.
Watch Maddow's interview with Lithwick below.
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The Wall Street Journal has a nice article detailing how Sotomayor is well within the mainstream of Democratic judicial appointees, and that she doesn't adhere to strictures which always put her in opposition to business interests:
Her record in more than 4,000 cases, including those from 11 years on the Second Circuit, shows her occasional siding with corporate defendants or diverting from a standard liberal position...
..."There is no reason for the business community to be concerned" about Judge Sotomayor, said Lauren Rosenblum Goldman, a partner at Mayer Brown LLP who has represented businesses including Wachovia Corp. and Dow Chemical Co.