CORPORATE "PERSONHOOD"

Following the comments of SC Justice Sonia Sotomayor, it appears that we will be discussing the official status of corporate "personhood" some time in the future. This NY Times op-ed, "The Rights of Corporations," is a good primer on what may be coming down the pike.

- Mark

G.O.P. CLASS OF '94 HAS LOTS OF 'SPLAININ' TO DO ... BUT THEY WON'T

The NY Times' Frank Rich has an extremely well written editorial in today's paper profiling the GOP's "Contract With America" Class of 1994. He uses the Sonia Sotomayor hearings as a backdrop. In a few words, it's a profile in hypocrisy and failure. Check it out here.

- Mark

ON "RESENTFUL" WHITE MEN ...

If you've watched Republican Senators make fools of themselves during the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings, or seen Pat Buchanan rail against her because she's an "affirmative action" nominee, you'll understand the following from a "resentful old white guy." It's from Dailykos ...

*********************************

I am a white man, an old white man, a rich old white man, by any reasonable measure; and Pat Buchanan is right. I am full of resentment. Let me tell you what I resent.

I resent a jackass like Pat Buchanan busting a vein about how white working men suffer when an 'undeserving' poor woman like Sonia Sotomayor gets ahead in the world by virtue of her own ability and her own skills.

I resent Buchanan saying she didn't deserve her admission, her grades, her awards, her editorship, her success as a lawyer, as a judge. If I could reach through the Internet tubes I would smack him silly.

I resent watching my father work three jobs to feed our family, watching my mother sew mens suits for 30 years, and then watching rich-kid punks like George W. Bush have life handed to them because of their daddy's name and their granddaddy's money.

I resent the Henry Ford VIII's of the world getting their first paying job as an executive vice-president when mine was cleaning toilets and my father's was landing poor white soldiers and marines on a fire-stormed beach at Okinawa.

I resent that black men and women were firehosed, beaten, killed by men like Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III because they dared demand the most basic human rights and justice.

I resent rich white men complaining because the merest handful of the poor; white, black, red, yellow or brown; are given a chance to show what they can do after decades of being spit on by the Pat Buchanans of the world ...

*************************************

You can read the rest here.

- Mark

REIN IN THE NEANDERTHALS

In what can only be described as an attempt to insure that they continue to be viewed as little more than a band of angry white males - who are ready to throw a political temper tantrum at the drop of a hat - a conservative group organized by Manuel Miranda and Mark Levin, a conservative talk show host, is urging Senate Republicans to filibuster (or hold up) Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. Miranda was an aide to former Tennessee Senator Republican Bill Frist.

For those of you who may have forgotten, Miranda is also famous for tapping into computers to gain access to Democratic political strategies concerning judicial nominees. He was dismissed from his post with Frist for doing so (actually, he was dismissed because he got caught). Other supporters from this Miranda-led group include evangelicals, gun-rights advocates, anti-tax leaders, anti-abortion groups, and libertarians.

The group say their intent is NOT to kill Sotomayor's nomination. Rather they want to provide time for lengthier debate on the merits of Sotomayor's nomination.

On the "merits"? If this is the case, and the group wants to be taken seriously, they need to start speaking up and ostracize those from the conservative wing who want to demean Sotomayor and the process by referring to her as "stupid," a "racist," an "affirmative action pick," and that "Hispanic chick lady."

Simply stretching out the process so the rants of their colleagues can get time to stick is not appropriate. If it's the merits of her qualifications they want to look into they need to start talking about the "merits" of her decisions, and not stand idly by as their ideological brethren call Sotomayor names and bring up quotes that are taken out of context.

Let me repeat, these guys need to shout down the Neanderthals and the knuckledraggers in their movement if they want their call to stretch out the process to be taken seriously.

If they start doing this talking about Sotomayor's qualifications for a few more weeks might even be enlightening. Her experience will carry the day. But something tells me that this isn't the political sideshow this circus act really wants to present. They want to taint and drag out the process. Senate Republicans need to ignore these people.

Stay tuned.

- Mark

POLITICAL RABIES HITS THE GOP?

As we move through the Supreme Court confirmation process of Sonia Sotomayor I would have to say that the best overview of how unhinged the Conservative smear camp has become are the pieces put together by MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. Here's a 12 minute clip from tonight's program that puts much of it in perspective. In a few words, like an animal with rabies, the party of Rush-Newt-Cheney attack with little or no thought for what they are doing.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

As Maddow points out, if Conservatives want to disqualify Sonia Sotomayor for her "empathetic" qualities, her "judges make law" comments (making her a "judicial activist"), or because her decisions might be influenced by her ethnicity or upbringing, Conservatives need to also disqualify Supreme Court Justices Alito, Scalia, and Thomas.

For me, however, the real proof that Conservatives have become unhinged and may be afflicted by what can only be called political rabies are comments that refer to Sonia Sotomayor as an "hispanic chick lady" (Glenn Beck) who is both "stupid" (Karl Rove) and "a racist" (Newt Gingrich). For his part, G. Gordon Liddy's threw in the comment that he hopes she's not "menstruating" when she's making big decisions. Rabies, indeed.

I'll be discussing all of this, and more, on Saturday's program.

- Mark

ALITO SAID WHAT?

Alioto vs. Sotomayor: A case of double standards?

Here's SC Justice Alito during his confirmation hearings ...

And that’s why I went into that in my opening statement. Because when a case comes before me involving, let’s say, someone who is an immigrant — and we get an awful lot of immigration cases and naturalization cases — I can’t help but think of my own ancestors, because it wasn’t that long ago when they were in that position…

When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account.



The far right will, no doubt, ignore this Alito clip. Rush, Newt, and the dittoheads are already on a roll. But watch Alito's full comments anyways. You can also see them here.

- Mark

LET THE FEAR-MONGERING FEST BEGIN

It didn't take long, but it appears that Conservative commentators are already in full Liberal Fear-Mongering mode over President Obama's nomination for the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor.



Do these guys even remember what it's like to have a discussion on the issues? Or are they so intellectually bankrupt that fear-mongering is all that they've got left? Seriously, they're afraid of al-Qaeda so they fear-monger over shredding the Constitution and the defense of torture ... they're afraid of homosexuals so they fear-monger over tolerance ... they're afraid of strong women and people of color so they fear-monger over "liberals" ... and on it goes.

At what point do Conservatives grow a pair and stop the fear-mongering? Just asking.

- Mark