Leahy To GOP: "Stop The Racial Politics" On Sotomayor

The two top officials on the Senate Judiciary Committee left niceties at the door when they held a joint appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday.

Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) accused the Republican Party of playing "racial politics" with the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Sonia Sotomayor, even declaring that the leaders of the GOP had called her a "bigot" and the "head of the KKK."

"I have no idea how many [Republican votes] she'll get in committee or on the floor," said Leahy. "But she will have Republican votes... She deserves it. Now, I understand [Sen.] Mitch McConnell and I've worked with Sen. McConnell on different things. But like the other leaders of the Republican Party, he came out very, very early against her and he doesn't want to change his mind. You had one leader of the Republican Party call her the equivalent of the head of the Ku Klux Klan. Another leader of the Republican Party called her a bigot. To Sen. McConnell's credit, he has not used those things, but the leadership of the Republican Party came out against her long before we ever had the hearing, long before they had a chance to look at her record. I think that's unfair."

"I hope we don't go back to the day when we used to put African Americans up for confirmation and say yes, but you belong to the NAACP so we're really suspicious of you," Leahy added later, refering to Republican concerns about Sotomayor's involvement with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund. "Come on, stop the racial politics," he said.

Leahy later explained that he was referring to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich when he accused the GOP of labeling Sotomayor a bigot.

It was a fiery segment, during which Leahy talked over the protests of his colleague Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the committee's ranking Republican member. When the Alabama Republican finally got the chance to speak, he pleaded that Leahy had greatly distorted the tone and tenor of the hearings.

"Pat, I want to correct something," Sessions said. "No Republican leader said she was a bigot. You've overstated that. There's nothing wrong with us asking about her personal views about positions, legal positions that she took as a member of any organization. That's a normal thing to do. And I don't think that was unfair. She said that she thought she was fairly treated. Other commentators, objective leaders, civil rights leaders have said that. We gave our absolute best to make sure this was a fair hearing, but it had to be vigorous. We had to ask about things that people cared about, her speeches, her prior pleadings that she did and some of her decisions, which are troubling. But Pat, you gave us a fair hearing. I appreciate that. A lot of people felt we were pretty tight on time, but you -- when the hearing came up, we had an opportunity. And I appreciate that."

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Comments

[Dark Sphere]

Miguel Estrada

[latinoesq18]

absolutely! As if Sotomayor's work for the PRLDF disqualifies her any more than previous Justice's work for ACLU before her position as a judge disqualified her. Thank you Sen Leahy

[dapperd72]

Leahy is absolutely right to remind Sessions that the GOP has been playing overt racial politics against Sotomayor's nomination, though the few lengthy segments I was able to watch demonstrated Sessions apparently making a conscious effort to place a leash on his own penchant for blatant bigotry. I found Lindsay Graham's line of inquiry particularly galling, both in his tone and semantic repetitions of questions. He was consistently condescending and arrogant in virtually his entire monologue when his turn to question her arose, as if she was a kindergartener who just landed on Earth from another planet and as if she was completely ignorant of the Constitution & its system of checks and balances. He may be a former prosecutor, but he was speaking to a judge with 17 years of wide-ranging experience. If the tables were turned to educate him about democracy & the Constitution, then he'd treat nominees such as Sotomayor with the full respect due them.

[grf67]

Why would he think that a racist like Sessions know anything but racial politics? He is from Alabama.

[ZenBastard]

One day, a scorpion stood on the side of a stream and asked a frog to carry it to the other side.

'How do I know you won't sting me?' the frog asked. 'Because if I sting you, I'll drown,' the scorpion said.

The frog thought about it and realized that the scorpion was right. So he put the scorpion on his back and started ferrying him. But midway across the stream, the scorpion plunged its stinger into the frog's back. As they both began to drown, the frog gasped,'Why?'

The scorpion replied, 'Because it is my nature.'

[darter22]

I wonder why my posts keep getting censored when they don't contain any foul language and express opinions that were also stated by other commenters.

[RobertHenryEller]

Senator Leahy, please don't get in the Republicans' way. Let them have all the rope they want to hang themselves with.

[charlespointer]

I think Leahy is the one making this into a racial confrontation.

[jigisup]

Really???
Don't think so.

[Mike Barden]

i'm beginnin' to think everybody is nuts.

[Crass Innuendo]

Life doesn't get better once you realize that everyone is, but it does spare you the sleepless nights wondering about it.

[Marimeko]

....perhaps not nuts, but maybe self-centered and corrupt???

[antifluff]

SSotomayor compared self defense to pre-mditatedmurder in the hearing. The question: do Americans have the right to defend themselves? She rambled on and changed the subject and made up a story about the legality of her going home and gettingagun, but would not answer the question.
If the question had been specific on the 2ndamendment there would have been pros and cons. It was not, it was about self-defense, one of the most basic rights of being human. If she will not answer the question, she must be against self defense...
She has made racist statements.
I would not want her on the supreme court with those patterns established. She will have to swearto uphold the constitution, how can she do that if she disagrees with it and says so openly?

[Mike Barden]

maybe she should have just hidden it like the other Judges?

[JubilationLeigh]

What racist comments has she made? The "wise latina" comment was taken out of context. The full quote explains that while we ALL have experiences that can form our opinions it's important to realize this and use the law to make a decision, instead of your background. Alito said the same thing, is he racist?

If there's another comment that can be considered racist, I'd love to hear it.

[WhatHaveWeBecome]

Not all Repugs are racist.

But most Racists are Repugs.

[jigisup]

Booyah!

[Pammy2]

I would guess that ALL racists are Repubs.

[essbird]

Before LBJ, they were Democrats. Hey, if you cast a bunch of voters adrift, SOMEONE's going to pick them up. When it was fashionable, racist Democrats were quite open about it. Now it's all Republican code words pandering to the "core" or "base". English only. A Christian country. Tight immigration policy. "Reverse discrimination," as if there's no more racial bias in America.

[Waitaminute]

The republicans were against the nominee before they knew who the nominee was. They have demonstrated they will say no to anything president Obama want. They want him to fail no matter the consequences. If he succeeds, it maybe 20 years or more before another republican become president. And even then, the repub candidate wiil have to lean left. Ok, at least 30 years.

[blkcat x lady]

Let's hope so to the 30yr. thingy! lol Wonder if they are truly this clueless about what is good for the country and would actually like to vote for the president's agenda? Anyway, the fact that they want him to fail is so very sad for the country. How could you want that to happen just for them to become viable again. It would go so much further to want him to succeed, get the country back on track, come up with an idea..any idea that might be best and forward thinking for the country, then try to run a candidate in the future with some new, fresh ideas. BUT, NOOOO..lol They have nothing but an empty vessel to turn to so they just say, no, no, no...! lol Sad really, for them. Well, they do have the monolopy on having extra-marital affairs. They could come up with ...naaa, nuffin'! lol

[Bronxdude]

Judge Sotomayor represents the sum of her unique life experiences and, as such, would certainly know better than someone White what it means politically, sociologically, economically, and culturally to grow-up and live life as a Latina in America. Similarly, as a White Southerner, Senator Jeff Sessions (Alabama) represents the sum of his unique experiences and, as such, would certainly know better than a Puerto Rican what it means politically, sociologically, economically, and culturally to grow-up and live as a Caucasian male in America. Differences in ethnicity, cultural heritage, and life experiences does not automatically render someone incapable of being able to objectively assess a particular situation, respond impartially, do the right thing, and offer a fair and unbiased opinion. Because she is Puerto Rican does not mean Judge Sotomayor will behave as an automaton and allow her experiences (good or bad) to subjectively influence how she interprets the law and renders judgments involving Hispanic people. Conversely, just because he hails from a confederate and segregationist stronghold that championed George Wallace, celebrated Bull Conner, and pioneered racist policies specifically designed to brutalized and subjugate Black Americans does not mean Senator Sessions will embrace and seek to advance the racist ideology of his forefathers, behave as a preprogrammed automaton, and allow his deep-south roots and correlated experiences to prejudice or interfere with his ability to make objective, race-neutral decisions. Based on her confirmation hearings, the Republican Party has become the party of bitter, angry Southern White men.

[Carl Caroli]

Sadly these republicans are doing what they are doing to once again appeal to their ignorant, racist base in order not to lose face with them. They have to say the right things in order to be able to go back their constituents and say we tried, so don't forget to re-elect me. They are a pathetic bunch of low lifes.

[HopeGrenade]

Non-issue. Sotomayor is getting confirmed. Why republicans felt the need to try (and fail) to make themselves look like victims is beyond me. But it's not even worth discussing.

[Ginger5]

Soto is a trojan horse

[Buddy McCue]

A Trojan Horse for what?

What exactly do you fear? Spell it out for us.

[Bronxdude]

Missed your medication today?

[charlespointer]

For what? Don't leave us hanging.