Hey everyone. I've got a couple things to talk about just real quick. I'm having computer problems today and I have almost no patience so this will probably be short and sweet.
The main thing I wanna talk about is the Sotomayor hearings that have been going on this week. I think everyone is in agreement that she is going to get confirmed, so any fight the Republicans have is on political basis, rather than a substantive one. They aren't doing a very good job though. Republicans on the Judiciary Committee can't seem to move past the "wise Latina" comment and consequently have come off this week as underprepared and uninformed. This is a judge who has been on the bench for 17 years and has seen thousands of cases, some of which have gone on the be heard by the Supreme Court. Instead of possibly questioning her on many of these, Republicans want to cast her as a racist and bigot. This is glaringly hypocritical coming from proven racists such as Sen. Jeff Sessions (Alabama.) Lest we forget, Sessions himself got rejected by a Republican-majority Committee in 1986 as a nominee for a federal judgeship. The basis for his rejection was his indefensible racial comments, including saying that he thought the Ku Klux Klan wasn't so bad except for their support of marijuana. He also called the NAACP and ACLU "un-American" and "communist." In light of this, I don't think Mr. Sessions has much ground to stand on when it comes to racism. Then there is Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. When he was able to break away from "wise Latina" talk, he went into deep conversation with Mrs. Sotomayor over gun rights. One thing that caught my ear was when he asked the nominee what her personal belief was when it came to gun rights. What does it really matter? According to critics, Mrs. Sotomayor should never allow he personal beliefs to come into her judgments. So what difference does it really make what her thoughts on gun rights are? Her job will be to uphold existing laws. As for those who say she legislates from the bench, take a look at her record. Across the board, she has been fairly moderate, and has often made of point of avoiding legislating. Read her opinions. It's all there. All in all, the hearings have been rather useless and almost comical at times. She is gonna be nominated, but Republicans don't want to be fingered in future elections as someone who voted for Sotomayor. As Richard Wolffe (who I have immense respect for; one of the best commentators out there) said, this isn't about Sotomayor, this is about not siding with the president on anything. The Party of No strikes again.
Quick note on Sarah Palin. So she said she wants to spend her time concentrating on meaningful ways to help Alaska. Does that include writing Op Ed pieces for the Washington Post supporting big oil? Because that's what she did this weekend. And on top of that, the piece contradicted her past views on this subject! I can't even think about this anymore, the utter hypocrisy makes my head hurt.
One last comical note. Newt Gingrich did an interview with Al Jazeera this weekend. In it, he said he wants a one man sabotage mission to go in and take out Iran's "only" gas refinery. The man doing the interview, Avi Lewis, laughed out loud at this comment. First, I think Mr. Gingrich has been watching too many Bond movies. Does he really think one man can go in and take down a whole refinery by himself? HA! Good joke. And second, as the reporter told him, Iran doesn't have just one refinery. They have eight. Iran is a modern, industrialized country. Nice try, Newt.
That's all for now. Whenever I write again (maybe tomorrow), I have an absolutely ridiculous Obama birther story (as if that whole concept isn't ridiculous enough). Until then, best wishes.
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Hey Justin,
ReplyDeleteYour right. No one is agrueing that she will be appointed. how dare those Republicans question Obama on any of his appointments!!!! I mean they haven't been able to question any of his 30 something Czars he has illeaglly appointed and that's how it should be right? You had mentioned something about seperation of powers but now when congress tries to do their job and check the Obama"s power you get all uppity! You disregard Sotomayor's racist statements but condem Sessions for his. You get angry when others are hipocrites, but you make fun of Newt for making a mistake and mention nothing about Biden making the statement " we must spend more to keep us from going Bankrupt." If that statement makes since to anyone, they need to have their heads examed. is that the President's views too. If so we are all in trouble. Obama's admin has admitted to misreading the economy. They got it wrong. his huge government takeover stimulus bill didn't work, yet you mention nothing about it. What's the unemployment rate these days? Exactly how many times has Obama, Biden, and Nazi Palosi had to change their previous statements they have made? Yet you only pick on the republicans...what exactly is your definition of HIPOCRACY?
And you keep generalizing the Republican party...most Republicans aren't conservatives. They are just as socialist as many liberals and couldn't care less about the Consitiution. Bush wasn't a conservative and Obama sure as hell isn't! So in my mind you can't use upholding the Constitution in your arguments becasue you support someone who doesn't either. Both parties are guilty of our turning their backs on our founders and the beliefs that started this nation we both love. They both drove this love boat staight into the situation we find ourselves. Do you really think either has any idea on how to get out of this mess. The only thing Obama has changed, is that instead of speading a crap load of money we are now spending a CRAP load of money. And where has it gotten us so far?
Hey Jordan thanks for the feedback!
ReplyDeleteFirst, don't get me wrong, I have no problem with anyone questioning Obama's nominees. The ability to reject his appointments is what makes this a great country. However, I do take issue with the fact that instead of focusing on what matters, such as her previous rulings, they focus on this comment she made in a speech at a graduation. Criticizing the "wise Latina" quote will achieve nothing except to make the Republicans look ridiculous to most people, because frankly, most people don't care about what she said. They want to know how she will judge. And her record shows a clear respect for the rule of law, whether she agrees with that law or not. And that is the key to being a fair judge.
As for hypocrisy, you may not agree with the Democrats on issues, but at least they have been consistent where they stand. Palin has made so many contradictory statements its hard to understand what exactly she believes anymore. Hope she has fun doing whatever exactly it is she is going to do now.
While that comment from Biden may sound contradictory, its actually macroeconomics 101. When in a recession of any kind, governments must stimulating public spending by themselves spending. Sitting on our money will only enhance the problem. And yes, the Obama administration admitted that they misread the economy. However, I don't think ANYONE could have predicted this. That said, Obama spent all of November and December telling the public that things will get significantly worse before they start to get better, that this will be a two-year recovery. So i think its a little early to start attacking the stimulus. Unemployment is typically a lagging indicator of the economy, so you can't read much into it if your analyzing the current economic conditions, since it corresponds more to two months ago. And I dont think criticizing Obama for misreading the economy is a good idea. Bush, his tax cuts, and Congressional Republicans in the previous term didnt do a great job of reading the economic signs either. Just look at when this slide started.
You are right it was the Republicans that lead us here. right again...Dems have never lied to the public, never broken promises, and never change their stance on issues. In that chapter of Macro 101 did it say that MASSIVE deficit spending and government takeover improve recessions? So I guess you agree that large tax hikes of small businesses and Corp bosses makes them want to higher more employees and cut prices. Did that Macro book say that as well. Because if it does they have changed to course since I last took it. Because I don't remember learning that we should bill our futrue generations into oblivion and give China the keys to our future economy. They are buying our debt for a reason. I have this faint memory that increased taxes lowers spending, printing money increases inflation, and that the free market works best based on supply and demand. I don't remember reading the phrase "too big to fail." A true free market is self healing. But Bush abandoned the principles of free market and Obama has destroyed them. The two aren't that different. Obama is following Bush's lead I thought he was bringing change. Bushed bailed out banks, Obama will take control of the rest! Since when was private sector control a power of the Executive branch? And maybe you are right that it is a little too early to decide the success of the stimulus, but wouldn't that mean it is took early to talk about another one?(which there is rumor of)If we haven't seen the effect of the first, why think about another?
ReplyDeleteYou know maybe you should give all your money to Obama if you think him and your Dems can spend it better than you can. They can tell us what to eat to help cut health care cost, tell us what to drive to get the best gas mileage to protect us from global warming, and they can tell us how much profit is acceptable-even though this is suppossed to be a free market. Did you learn THAT in Macro 101?