Thursday, August 6, 2009

The Sotomayor Confirmation

I tried -- I really, really tried -- to watch the Senate "deliberations" over the Sotomayor nomination.

I really did.

But I could not take it anymore.

First off, who are these people, and who are they talking to? If I hear that Supreme Court justices are appointed for life one more time, and how important their rulings are, I will scream. They could not possibly be talking to one another. Is it C-SPAN viewers? All three of them?

Worse yet, does anybody follow what they are saying, and believe any of it? To some, Sotomayor is a terrific judge, like no other, well qualified, well-rounded experience. To others, she is a judicial activist, an affirmative action baby (this is implied, of course), not fit to serve on our highest court (after some of our more recent nominations, you'd think this argument was no longer availing). Surely they are not talking to the dreaded "independents" of election lore, the types who wait until the last moment, and the last argument, to make up their minds. So what is it? Have these people nothing better to do?

So I finally gave up. Closed my browser and tended to more fruitful things, like cleaning my office.

Call me naive, but this "debate" makes me shudder about the future of our politics.

Gotta love "deliberative" democracy.