President Obama has selected Sonia Sotomayor as the nation's first Hispanic Supreme Court judge. As Salon's Glenn Greenwald wrote this morning, Sotomayor's appointment is encouraging news. She's a smart, capable judge.
Of course, the right is already ripping out their hair in hysterics. Glenn Beck's Twitter -wondered if Obama, the "messiah," has healed Sotomayor's diabetes yet. Michelle Malkin proved that Twitter's 140 character cap isn't too strict to include both a vague sexist and racist remark.
It's typical that Conservatives would be annoyed by any appointment of a liberal to the Supreme Court, let alone (perish the thought) a woman and a Hispanic. However, Sotomayor is hardly some liberal radical. In many respects, her voting record is similar to Justice Souter's.
I'm sure there are valid criticisms of Sotomayor out there somewhere, but aside from Jeffrey Rosen's petty gossip, all I have seen thus far are poorly disguised racist and sexist remarks about her being the newest token addition to the Supreme Court. As though graduating top of one's class at Princeton and serving honorably on the appellate court doesn't qualify Sotomayor as a serious intellectual.
Sotomayor is a capable addition to the high court. Let's hope the Republicans don't embarrass themselves too badly trying to block her appointment. Any personal attacks against her character will inevitably look racist, sexist, and elitist.
Cross-posted from Allison Kilkenny's blog. Also available on Facebook and Twitter.