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twitterEnsign to oppose Sotomayor ‘to protect sanctity of Constitution’
Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009 | 10:12 a.m.
Federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Supreme Court nominee, testifies at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington on July 16.
WASHINGTON -- Republican Sen. John Ensign said today he will vote against the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ensign joins more than 20 Republican senators who have expressed their opposition to the president's choice for the high court.
Opposing the first Hispanic nominee could have political fallout for Ensign and the Republican Party, which has been trying to mend relations with Hispanic voters who are a growing constituency especially in Nevada and other Southwestern states.
In issuing a statement announcing his opposition, Ensign said:
“While I believe Judge Sotomayor is an impressive role model for millions of Americans, I take my responsibility as Nevada’s Senator very seriously, and feel I need to protect the sanctity of our Constitution.
“Judge Sotomayor’s record and testimony provide uncertainty and doubt that she will rule with a fair and impartial adherence to the rule of law."
Discussion: 77 comments so far…
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Yeah, he'll protect the sanctity of the Constitution just like he protects the sanctity of marriage. This piece of garbage is a hypocrite and he has absolutely no right to criticize anything or anybody and shouldn't even be allowed to vote on this issue. If he had any dignity or morals he would resign.
Another stupid decision by Senator Ensign to vote no
You gotta stop and wonder about the way this guy thinks. I bet all the Senators associated with the C Street Cult will vote against her.
This guy can not think for himself and needs his cult to tell him how to vote. When he does think for himself he thinks with his Johnson.
HA!
John Ensign the laughing stock of the senate needs to resign. A man with no integrity what so ever has no business representing the great state of Nevada!
atta boy johnnie...
glad to see you finally got out of the fetal position on mommy and daddy's basement floor...
hee hee hee...
way to alienate the hispanic population...
they aren't growing in this state are they???
hee hee hee...
or perhaps...
are you counting on mommy and daddy to write checks to all of your hispanic constituents to buy their votes???
hee hee hee...
what a clown you are...
and to think you rose to number 4 in your party...
wow wee...
our poor poor terribly misguided republican friends sure are in free fall...
well...
what do you expect from a party that had w the loser scum bag liar clown and cheney the evil doer at the helm...
hee hee hee...
hoo hoo hoo...
haa haa haa...
Nice to see the Senator got something right.
Sanctity? Did he really say sanctity? Get this man a thesaurus, please.
hey vc...
johnnie boy does not need to resign...
he needs to serve out his term and run for re-election...
it is just too much fun having him around...
a living breathing example of what total clowns our poor poor terribly misguided republican friends are!!!
She must have turned him down.
All we have to do is translate the Constitution to mexican and she could understand. She is a barely literate quota queen who would never have got into lawschool if she were white. She writes like an uneducated college freshman. Judge Judy would be better suited than this incompetent loser.
Great stuff! Guarantee the addition of a Dem in Nevada and all good Hispanics will clearly understand this as a sign to vote against this clown. Ok, the C street group should be placed under investigation for being disloyal. They are scarrrrrrreeeeeyyyyy!
jlb101 - are you serious? you critique Judge Sotomayor for her "inability" to articulate herself, and you struggle to post a paragraph?
Jesus, I sincerely hope you don't have kids.
birdie,
Seriously, how old are you? Or should I say how many are you?
Keep them coming birdie!! Almost as entertaining as watching another hypocrite like ensign crash and burn.
Good! Senator Ensign is doing the right thing. It's good to see some have a backbone in Congress! Harry Reid is just a total loser and Obama's "Yes Man" to everything.
jlb101-
"All we have to do is translate the Constitution to mexican and she could understand."
Heh. I never knew there was such a language. Last I checked, Mexicans speak Spanish. And btw, Judge Sotomayor isn't even Mexican-American. Her family originally came from Puerto Rico.
DessertSun-
Backbone? That wasn't the bone I was thinking regarding Ensign. I was more thinking of "boner".
Oh, did I just say that? I can't help it, Johnny Casino is such a loser. ;-)
jlb101:
1) Nobody speaks "Mexican" - it's called Spanish. Only twits like Pat Buchanan and Tom Tancredo call it "Mexican" or "illegal alien".
2) Sotomayor isn't Mexican - she's Puerto Rican. And she's a natural-born citizen (she was born in the Bronx).
Seriosuly, if you're going to trash someone at least try to get the basics down first.
Already been said, but just have to be a copy cat. He's all for 'sanctity' now? Right.
Ask the firefighters from Connecticut how Ensign should vote.
"Ask the firefighters from Connecticut how Ensign should vote."
Should they also attack the 11 other judges (some liberal, some conservative) who agreed with her?
jlb, if she "writes like an uneducated college freshman" then, holy crap? What are you?
Seriously?!!
And translate the Constitution to "Mexican," you say?
Really?!!
Who's the idiot? I'd guess anyone reading these posts would say without hesitation, "YOU ARE...!" Congratulations!!!
p.s. your hate mongering is pretty gross, too.
Hypocrite.
Yeah I hate liberals. They are social parasites who need the government to take care of them because they are genetically inferior and stupid. Yes there is a mexican. It is a dialect based on Spanish with a lot of native indian mixed in.
Doug, the other judges weren't nominated. I guess the fact that she is overturned more than a pancake at Ihop makes here qualified.
Oh, silly me this is just about diversity and not intelligence.
Good luck with that.
Can't spell sanctity without tity
To Doug: What 11 judges are you talking about? Sotomayer was part of a 3 judge panel.
Also, if it had been one of the other judges nominated to the Supreme Court you can bet they'd be treated with the same skepticism.
The Family says, "Just say no."
jlb101: Odd that former Pres. Bush Sr. seemed to think she was articulate and intelligent enough to appoint her to a federal judge position. Perhaps you were suggesting that Republicans are the ones who are incapable of applying rational thought processes by appointing incompetent losers?
Ensign is as much concerned about the "sanctity" of the Constitution as he is about the "sanctity" marriage.
"Doug, the other judges weren't nominated. I guess the fact that she is overturned more than a pancake at Ihop makes here qualified."
Her overturn rate is normal - over 70% of the cases that get to the Supreme Court are reversed by that court. So just about every appeals court judge has as high or even higher reversal rates than she does.
"What 11 judges are you talking about? Sotomayer was part of a 3 judge panel."
Yes, those other 2 judges on the panel, and the 4 others on the full Second Circuit who joined them when they denied rehearing en banc (essentially affirming the decision of the 3-judge panel), and the 4 Supreme Court Justices who dissented when the case was decided.
So we have Sotomayor and 10 others (some liberal, some conservative) who said the firefighters deserved no relief.
I erred in saying 11 because I thought the Second Circuit en banc decision was 8-5. It was 7-6.
Teaser,
Back then she hadn't said things like, "the Court is where policy is made." or her "A wise Latina woman would come to a better conclusion than a white male." A lot has changed since 1992. I seriously doubt he would have appointed her knowing what we know.
the "sanctity of the constitution"...
a republican actually said that...
johnnie boy ensign the spoiled man child who went running to mommy and daddy to fix his boo boo said that...
hee hee hee...
hoo hoo hoo...
haa haa haa...
you have to hand it to these poor poor terribly misguided republican clowns...
they have perfected the art of talking out of both sides of their mouths...
wow wee...
the "sanctity of the constitution"...
really...
let's see...
seems to me that w the loser scum bag liar clown and cheney the evil doer did just about anything and everything they could possibly do to destroy the constitution...
clearly thought they were above the law...
relied on pathetic legal opinions from pathetic governement lawyers to justify their pathetic positions...
remember that johnnie boy...
seems to me the constitution was never in greater peril than it was when w the loser scum bag liar clown and cheney the evil doer were in charge...
what were you doing then johnnie boy???
sleeping with your senior staff member's wife???
hmmm???
trying to take over the world for "the family"???
hmmm???
you poor poor terribly misguided republican clown!!!
"I seriously doubt he would have appointed her knowing what we know."
Oh really? This was from just a couple months ago when Bush 41 skydived for his birthday.
Former President George H.W. Bush defended Judge Sonia Sotomayor on Friday, saying it is "not right" to call President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee a "racist."
"She was called by somebody a racist once. That's not right. I mean, that's not fair," Bush said in an interview with CNN. "It doesn't help the process. You're out there name-calling. So let them decide who they want to vote for and get on with it."
"I don't know her that well, but I think she's had a distinguished record on the bench and she should be entitled to fair hearings," he said.
to the pathetic losers among us who somehow derive pleasure in pointing out the typos made on our beloved sun message board...
let the record show...
in my prior post...
strike "governement"...
and replace with "government"...
phew...
i feel better...
now...
if you will excuse me...
i have a mexican as a second language class to attend...
Looking at Ensign is like looking at some slimy monster in a cheap science fiction movie. Only we can't get up out of our chairs and leave the theater.
Doug, he said,
"it's not right to call her a racist, it's not fair. It doesn't help the process. I don't know her that well but she has a distinguished record and should be entitled to fair hearings."
I still seriously doubt she would have been appointed in 1992 having made the comments we've all heard.
birdie,
Do you have to wear a helmet all the time or can you take it off when you sleep?
Ensign is another lying incompetent hypocrite. His behind-kissing defenders are even worse!
I totally agree that he is a hypocrite, but I like the way he votes!
hey his older twin john mccain said in a interview that repubs need to get better relations with hispanics, then he turns around and says he voting against her for confirmation. please bring sarah back, she's starting to make sense. yeah henderson, you just love his votes for rich guys.
hey henderson...
kiss my proud liberal democrat derriere...
you poor poor terribly misguided republican clown...
here's a piece of free advise...
keep spewing the same old arrogance, hatred and bigotry...
it seems to be working just fine for you clowns...
hee hee hee!!!
older twin? Dumb.
Conservatism defends WORKING PEOPLE (not rich people) and keeps them working. Liberalism wants to take the working people's stuff and give it to the unproductive. Redistribution of wealth.
This is not about rich or poor.
Ensign was instrumental in voting for Bush's tax cuts, and Bush's exploding budgets, making the budget deficits and national debt soar. Henderson likes the way he votes and then wants to lecture us about conservatism defending working people? Right!
Are you aware that the middle income taxpayers paid less in taxes under Bush than Clinton?
Johnny, quit using the word "sanctity." I don't care how you vote, why do you have to make such fanfare about it? You have been reduced to insignificance (your own caucus is keeping you at arm's length because you are political poison)and probably won't be around too much longer if these damaging leaks about your behavior keeps coming out.
Henderson
You need to stick your nose back up Sean Hannity's rear and come up with more facts. What grade did you complete, 5th or 6th.
It doesn't matter who Ensign votes for or against. The new Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor doesn't give a damn about this witless wonder, and it is just another way to put a nail in his political coffin. Latinos/Latinas are increasing their numbers in legal residency daily. and they will know who NOT to vote for.
Forrest said it best: Stupid is as stupid does!!
ensign is a fraud, ladies and germs. if this guy was a democrat, sgt rock, dessertsun and old henderson would be in seventh heaven.
Thanks, John, for voting the right way.
The woman's record as an appellate judge shows she's a establishment-butt-licker, corporate pig with a terrible record in protecting people's rights to due process and equal protection. The wise Latina stuff is just a scam to deceive the Obama Administration into appointing her onto the high court, to insure a permanent 5-4 majority for the conservatives.
John, you are one of the few Senators who see through this woman's liberal b.s. Undoubtedly, you've read the appellate court opinions she's written. She's Clarence Thomas in a dress!!!
Really, thanks for not voting for her. I was wishing for another William O. Douglas, but we're getting "Michelle Bachman Went to Law School" instead.
"All we have to do is translate the Constitution to mexican and she could understand. She is a barely literate quota queen who would never have got into lawschool if she were white. She writes like an uneducated college freshman. Judge Judy would be better suited than this incompetent loser."
"Yeah I hate liberals. They are social parasites who need the government to take care of them because they are genetically inferior and stupid. Yes there is a mexican. It is a dialect based on Spanish with a lot of native indian mixed in".
Actually Mexican is spoken and Nahuatl is the written, so you are half-correct. If someone were to translate the WRITING of the Constitution, then Nahuatl would be the correct terminology. But because it is kind of a dead language, both written and spoken, you'd be hard-pressed to find translators. Being of some Native American blood, thought I'd set the record straight because I sensed a little Hitler-like personality there.
Ensign is right and this has nothing to do with her race. Anybody who thinks it does is a racist.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha aaaaaah Is this guy for real!? Ensign has about as much credibility as bag popcicle sticks. The courts need to mirror this countries society. Not just whites only club with one token negro/uncle tom on the bench.
jlb101 - The language is not called "Mexican", it is called "Nahuatl." That is two strikes against you.
Comment removed by staff.
Ensign voted as most GOP'ers would expect him to, so that should come as no surprise. Most believe that while Sotomayer may be technically competent, she is not a Constitutionalist and will inevitably seek to "legislate from the bench" -- something that most of the GOP is philosophically opposed to.
But he and the GOP would better off he avoided words like sanctity, integrity, or honesty. At this point, even the slighest criticism of someone else, no matter how justified, will be written off by most people as nothing more than the "kettle calling the pot black".
And while race politics seems to be the biggest game in town these days, I would hope that most Hispanics consider political views & platforms more important when deciding who to vote for than the race-baiting antics engaged in by small numbers of very loud people (most of whom will have a personal agenda) on both sides of the spectrum.
hahahahahahahahaha!
Ensign...protect...constitution!
OMFG--Ensign is absolutely crazy, suffocationly arrogant, fully funded and programed by C Street.
If you support that dino-fool, go get your head examined--if you have insurance. If not, best get your head out of his ars and start supporting fellow Americans, rather than the blood sucking insurance industry.
Sotomayor voted as an appeals court judge to give a promotion to a mexican fireman with a test score of 5 on his promotion test over a white fireman who had scored 100 on the same test. Ensign should vote against this horribly biased judge.
"Sotomayor voted as an appeals court judge to give a promotion to a mexican fireman with a test score of 5 on his promotion test over a white fireman who had scored 100 on the same test."
Next time, read the case before you shoot your mouth off.
For one thing, there was a Hispanic firefighter (Ben Vargas) who did pass the exam. In fact his score was sixth-highest, well within the safety margin for promotion. He was actually one of the 18 firefighters who joined the lawsuit against the city.
Second, the case wasn't an affirmative action case. Stop listening to the media and read the facts and precedent. This was a "disparate impact" case, which is a very different kettle of fish altogether from affirmative action.
Affirmative action cases involve the conditions prior to the specific alleged discrimination. The results are irrelevant in the decision-making by the court.
Disparate impact cases, on the other hand, don't look as much at the causes as they do the results.
Great headline!--so ironic!
This is just more "wanting Obama to fail".
I think the legal arguments are mute now.
The Supreme Court has ruled and made the picture much clearer for all the Federal Courts.
Employers can't just say that because all blacks failed an employee test that "disparate impact" occurred. They can't then punish the people that passed the test.
If they feel that "disparate impact" occurred then they must prove that the test were racists and bias and punished black test takers. They can no longer just out of thin air say they do not like the test results. They have to do a study. Point out where the test were bais. Have experts support those findings. Most likely, they will have to do a new employee test and have the employees take the new test.
Ginsburg suggested that the test were racist and bais against blacks because it had an essay question.
"Ginsburg suggested that the test were racist and bais against blacks because it had an essay question."
You must have read a different opinion by Justice Ginsburg than the rest of the world then. Because I just read it again and found NO such passage anywhere in her dissent.
And the word, Rock, is "moot" - which in legal circles is defined as "hypothetical" or "theoretical".
"I think the legal arguments are mute now."
Mute? LOL!
I guess people are making claims about the ruling and have not actually read the ruling.
A good chunk of Ginsburg dissenting opinion was to harp about how the written portion was unfair to blacks. I guess she thinks blacks do not do well on written portion of test.
She says, "Relying heavily on written tests to select fire officers is a questionable practice, to say the least."
"She says, "Relying heavily on written tests to select fire officers is a questionable practice, to say the least.""
Her opinion then goes on to explain, using testimony from people who appeared at the New Haven hearings, that these tests do not often match real conditions firefighters face on the ground or match the specific needs of the fire department in question.
You, sir, are reading way too much into what you think she's saying. And frankly, any law professor you bring this interpretation to would call you an idiot and laugh you out of their office.
Her arugment only makes sense if blacks did poorly on the written portion of tests.
Only an idiot would say otherwise.
Her argument is this.
1) Blacks failed the test.
2) Blacks failed the test because it relied too heavily on written portions.
3) Written portions are not relevant to selecting lieutants and captains to lead the fire department.
Why harp on point 3 if 1 and 2 are not true?
It would be pointless.
"Why harp on point 3 if 1 and 2 are not true?
It would be pointless."
Because you finish with the strongest argument.
Argument 3 is the strongest.
Thanks for agreeing that point 3 is useless unless point 1 and 2 are true.
Written portions are not relevant?
Since WHEN?
How is it not relevant to know the literacy of your candidates that are going to be leaders within the department? How is it not relevant to know that you're selecting an individual that can put together an accurate memo, comprehend and relay policies & procedures (potential life & death issues), communicate in a grammatically correct manner, or compose an email that won't embarrass you or the department?
Henderson, Rock is mischaracterizing Ginsburg's opinion. She didn't say they were irrelevant - she said New Haven's grading process was improper.
New Haven's process provided for a 60/40 split - the written exam was weighted at 60%, while an oral exam was weighted at 40%. (By contrast, the community of Bridgeport, Connecticut gives more weight to the oral exam.)
Numerous experts in constructing and administrating examinations of this type testifed in hearings with the city that this weight was disproportionate. They also pointed out that the New Haven Fire Department never checked the content of the exam to determine if it was relevant to the specific needs of the New Haven community.
What does that have anything to do with blacks failing the test?
"What does that have anything to do with blacks failing the test?"
It wouldn't matter if blacks failed the test more than whites or if whites failed the test more than blacks. In EITHER case, the disparate impact anaylsis would apply.
Disparate impact looks at the RESULTS. Not the CAUSES; the RESULTS. So if whites failed the same test at the same rate, the same analysis about how the test is unfairly weighted (and remember, these are EXPERTS in building these tests saying New Haven's criteria were imbalanced) to create an disporportionate result.
The Supreme Court ruled that one must look beyond just the results....it said, "We conclude that race-based action like the City's in this case is impermissible under Title VII unless the employer can demonstrate a strong basis in evidence that, had it not taken the action, it would have been liable under the disparate-impact statute. The respondents, we further determine, cannot meet that threshold standard."
They had to show more than just results.
They also have to show "strong basis in evidence".
Ginburg in her dissenting opinion agrees with statement as being the law of the land except she saids the city has shown a "strong basis in evidence."
She harps about the test having a written section and that blacks failed the test because it had a written section and the test should not have a written section for that has nothing to do with the selection top level fire officers to lead the fire department.
Ginsburg must believe that black firefighers do not have that ability to pass exams that have significant written portions.
Ginsburg is a racist.
"Ginsburg is a racist."
If you believe that, then you have rocks in your head.
The majority perverted the STATUTORY LANGUAGE and the CONGRESSIONAL INTENT of Title VII to reach their desired result. That's judicial activism, plain and simple.
Of course, she and anybody else is racist who believes that blacks can not pass a test that has written portions.
That is very racist.
WOW-EEE-WOW-WOW! Reading these comments is a riot! I have'nt laughed so hard since the time I watched the movie,"Trains,Planes,and Automobiles"! Thanks, I needed that.
Oops !...Make that "Planes,Trains,and Automobiles"!