Current State of Politics

I've had some opportunity to do some reading about President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonya Sotomayor and I'm unimpressed with her. The main controversy about her is her willingness to make decisions based upon "empathy", as opposed to what is right and wrong. A case out of New Haven, CT in which she ruled to dismiss a case by a firefighter who sued because he qualified for a promotion, but wasn't given one is at the core of the Sotomayor controversy. Judge Sotomayor's decision was based upon race and empathy as opposed to who achieved the highest test scores and who was most qualified.

As the great columnist Charles Krauthammer wrote today, "Figuratively and literally, justice wears a blindfold. It cannot be a respecter of persons. Everyone must stand equally before the law, black or white, rich or poor, advantaged or not."

I couldn't agree more with Krauthammer's comment. Also, Judge Sotomayor is not above playing the race card, describing her experiences as, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

Now what would've happened if Justice Samuel Alito had said the reverse of that when he was nominated? He'd have been massacred by the liberal media and his life would've been ruined.

I don't care what race, origin, or creed a politican or judicial nominee is. I really don't. I DO care that they agree with my philosophy of upholding the tenets of the Constitution and that they do not practice judicial activism. I want them interpreting the law, not making law and deciding cases based upon empathy. Making laws is for the Legislative Branch of the U.S. Government. Judicial decision making based upon empathy for the accused because they had a bad upbringing is what lets child molesters, rapists, and murderers out of jail too soon and allows them to come back to general society to ruin more lives. Putting a person like Sonia Sotomayor on the Supreme Court is dangerous for the future of justice in this great country.

Regarding the Sotomayor nomination, what is up with the Republican Party? They already came out and said that they wouldn't try to filibuster the nomination. Why are they tipping their hand? Would the Democrats not be above playing dirty and turning over every rock of evidence on a Republican President's judicial nominee? I want the Republican Party to start acting like the conservative, loyal opposition they are supposed to be. Right now, they are acting like the party of impotence and it disgusts me.

The current state of the Republican Party is they are a rudderless, fiscally irresponsible party that caters to social conservative causes. That doesn't go far enough for me. They are too much like Democrats. The Republican Party needs to be fiscally conservative, have an alternative vision to fix the problems of this country, and to not let liberals walk all over them.

I can understand the philosophy of, "If your enemy is shooting himself, stay out of the way". Particularly in the case of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lame denials about not being aware of waterboarding, despite being given a briefing to the contrary by the CIA in 2002. The GOP should continue to call for her resignation, all the while allowing her to keep putting her foot in her mouth. However, the GOP needs to be more of an opposition party and provide that alternative vision.

Three to four years ago, when U.S. citizens were captured by terrorists in Iraq, they were beheaded. Being beheaded is a particularly gruesome way to die. Beheading of captured enemies certainly isn't part of the principles of the Geneva Convention. If this is the case, WHY is there outrage over the waterboarding of terror suspects and the Guantanamo Bay prison compound here in the U.S. ? It makes absolutely no sense. Don't we have other, more important things (i.e. a recession and high unemployment rate) to be focusing on as opposed to second guessing the CIA about how they do their job and how they keep America secure? Spycraft is a dangerous, nasty, and NECESSARY job. Let's not lose focus on the role it plays in keeping the U.S. safe.