Reply to the President, How about that "political back and forth"

Perhaps this is a bit more terse than I ought to be, but I get a bit peeved when I hear people make certain arguments that disenginuinely contradict their own actions (read: hypocrisy cheeses me off).

I was therefore a bit bothered when I received a mass email today from President Barack Obama, supporting his recent nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Sotomayor. Not that I disagree with such marketing tactics in politics (though such is often carried too far, IMO). After all, Mr. Axelrod (sp?) is a P.R. guy.

What bothers me is that Obama touts, not only her strong record, intellect, and experience (all without offereing any substantive proof of such, I might add - and he conventiently omitted the dismal record of her rulings that have been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but I digress again), but that he also touts her personal history as a qualification for the bench. He then made the following statement, which quite "set me off."

"It's important for these hearings to be about Judge Sotomayor's own record and her capacity for the job — not any political back and forth that some in Washington may use to distract you."

I include my reply below, as well as the actual letter from the President. I suppose I should have addressed the reply cordially, and I feel bad for not doing so. He is the President, after all, even if hypocritically...

My reply:

You mean, like choosing a Latin female as a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, largely because that candidate is Latin and female, and then arguing that because you are the President, the Senate should consent to that nomination without further inquiry into her judicial record, temperament, and philosophy; like arguing that somehow “empathy” is an important qualification for a Justice charged with impartially interpreting and upholding a Federal Constitution; like citing a laudable personal history of overcoming adversity as a reason to give someone the power to apply that Constitution, with a binding effect, to issues that will affect all Americans in varying degrees?



Yep, no “political back and forth” there, Mr. President.



And what about the “political back and forth” you engaged in when you were a Senator and President Bush nominated a certain Latin man, Mr. Estrada, to the federal bench? I suppose you are above that now that you are a President actually making the appointment…



Sincerely,

Clifford A. Arthur, esq.


The President's letter:



Good Morning,

Yesterday, Judge Sonia Sotomayor made her opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee and moved another step closer to taking a seat on the United States Supreme Court. In case you missed it, watch the video of her opening statement here:



As President, there are few responsibilities more serious or consequential than the naming of a Supreme Court Justice, so I want to take this opportunity to tell you about the qualifications and character that informed my decision to nominate Judge Sotomayor.

Judge Sotomayor's brilliant legal mind is complemented by the practical lessons that can only be learned by applying the law to real world situations.

In the coming days, the hearings will cover an incredible body of work from a judge who has more experience on the federal bench than any incoming Supreme Court Justice in the last 100 years. Judge Sotomayor's professional background spans our judicial system — from her time as a big-city prosecutor and a corporate litigator, to her work as a federal trial judge on the U.S. District Court, and an appellate judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

And then there is Judge Sotomayor's incredible personal story. She grew up in a housing project in the South Bronx — her parents coming to New York from Puerto Rico during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she lost her father, and her mother worked six days a week just to put food on the table. It takes a certain resilience and determination to rise up out of such circumstances, focus, work hard and achieve the American dream.

This character shined through in yesterday's opening statement: Watch the video.

In Judge Sotomayor, our nation will have a Justice who will never forget her humble beginnings, will always apply the rule of law, and will be a protector of the Constitution that made her American dream and the dreams of millions of others possible. As she said so clearly yesterday, Judge Sotomayor's decisions on the bench "have been made not to serve the interests of any one litigant, but always to serve the larger interest of impartial justice."

In anticipation of today's first round of questioning, I hope you'll share this email widely, because Judge Sotomayor's confirmation is something that affects every American. It's important for these hearings to be about Judge Sotomayor's own record and her capacity for the job — not any political back and forth that some in Washington may use to distract you. What members of the Judiciary Committee, and the American people, will see today is a sharp and fearless jurist who does not let powerful interests bully her into breaking from the rule of law.

Thank you,
Barack Obama