Yesterday, on a local talk show, a sincere-sounding woman called in with some first-hand experiences with Judge Sonia Sotomayor. I realize that her comments are anecdotal, but, to me, they struck home given what we already know about the judge.
It seems that this caller was, at one time, a federal prosecutor and had to argue a case in front of Judge Sotomayor. She was warned ahead of time by her compatriots that this judge was not easy on government prosecutors (usually favoring the plaintiff). Quite to the contrary, this prosecutor (with a Hispanic if not Puerto-Rican-sounding surname) was treated quite deferentially by Judge Sotomayor and prevailed in most of her points.
At the end of the day, in an unusual move, Judge Sotomayor called this lawyer to her bench and asked her quietly if she were Puerto Rican. This woman responded that no, this was her married name as her husband was Puerto Rican. After this exchange, Judge Sotomayor's demeanor changed 180 degrees and, in all future arguments in front of her, this prosecutor received the treatment she was originally expecting.
6 comments:
This posting is an excellent example of what can only be called malicious gossip. A partisan blogger spends his day sifting through news items, selecting ONLY those that support his twisted point of view. In this case, the source is anonymous and the incident unverifiable. It is irresponsible to repeat the story. It was despicable when it was done to Sarah Palin and it is intellectuallly dishonest as well. We deserve better.
And, of course, at the time DEN rode this same high horse decrying what was done (and continues to be done) to Sarah Palin. (Talk about being intellectually dishonest.)
This piece is no more gossipy than what you see on MSNBC/CNBC/NBC/CBS/ABC every night. (Actually it is more of a rhetorical florish.)
Lies, lies and damn lies!
I never badmouthed Sarah Palin (and you know it). I always said she had more admistrative experience than Biden, Obama and McCain. Fun to watch, but I never thought she was ready for the big stage.
I did decry the hit job on her. You must have missed it in your monomaniacal search for anti-obama gossip a la FOX.
http://hellhole-update.blogspot.com/2009/02/enough-already.html
DEN is sounding more and more like Quentin (denouncing me for watching FOX). To the malicious gossip comment, here are some comments from Lindsey Graham to Sotomayor in the Senate hearings:
(GRAHAM): OK. Now, let's talk about you. I like you, by the way, for whatever that matters. Since I may vote for you that ought to matter to you. One thing that stood out about your record is that when you look at the almanac of the federal judiciary, lawyers anonymously rate judges in terms of temperament. And here's what they said about you. She's a terror on the bench. She's temperamental, excitable, she seems angry. She's overall aggressive, not very judicial. She does not have a very good temperament. She abuses lawyers. She really lacks judicial temperament. She believes in an out -- she behaves in an out-of-control manner. She makes inappropriate outbursts. She's nasty to lawyers. She will attack lawyers for making an argument she does not like. She can be a bit of a bully. When you look at the evaluation of the judges on the Second Circuit, you stand out like a sore thumb in terms of your temperament.
Lindsey Graham - What a pansy! He knew she had to smile and take his feline allusions instead of shrieking at him, "Step over here Dickwad and let me bust your balls for a while! What you think matters to me as much as the crap I took this morning, and flushed down the drain."
OK, Let's total the final score:
"Latina Bitch" = 1,
Gossip purveyor = zero.
I guess the system works.
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