Sonia from the Block!

President Obama's choice of Judge Sonia Sotomayor today was yet another remarkable and quick decision. Her qualifications are impressive, as our President is a Constitutional Law Professor he took the time to read through many court decisions and opinions by Judge Sotomayor as well as the other candidates.

Born and raised in a South Bronx public housing project to Puerto Rican parents, Sotomayor has distinguished herself in academia, as a big-city prosecutor, and as a leading figure on the federal bench. She would start with more federal judicial experience than any new Justice in 100 years.

First appointed to the Federal District Court by President George H.W. Bush, and then elevated to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals by President Bill Clinton, she has been confirmed by the Senate on 2 occasions. Which actually brings me to the point of my blog post today.

As we move into the Senate confirmations we will here endless speculation about her personal life and probably no more than 2 cases that seem to give concern to conservatives ignoring the remaining almost 20 years of court decisions.

Hence the brilliance of this pick. We have a woman that is without argument qualified. She has more federal judicial experience than those sitting on the court did when they were nominated, she graduated summa cum laude from Princeton and has a law degree from Yale, and has been a prosecutor, trial judge, and private lawyer.

To argue this pick could be 1 more dagger in the heart of the Republican Party. To gain ground they must appeal to minorities, their best opportunity is to gain ground with Hispanics the fastest growing minority. The treatment of Micheal Steele and Bobby Jindal by party loyalists represents the inherent resistance to anything but White Power! There is absolutely nothing to gain by challenging this nomination. The balance of the court (conservative vs. liberal) will remain virtually unchanged, and at the end of the day because of a Democratic majority in the Senate, her confirmation is inevitable.

So any argument of this selection can only serve to further ostracize the party.