LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Sotomayor not above criticism

George Pucine, Las Vegas

Sunday, June 14, 2009 | 2:02 a.m.

Richard J. Mundy wrote a letter published Wednesday that was headlined, “Sotomayor’s critics fight a losing battle.”

It is comforting to know that he can paint with such a broad brush that it will take in almost everybody when he asserts, “and many ordinary citizens like me believe strongly that she (Judge Sonia Sotomayor) deserves this appointment” (to the U.S. Supreme Court).

What opinion surveys has he coordinated? What telephone polls has he authorized? Does he speak from a basis of knowledge or is he, as many liberals are wont to do, just foisting his beliefs and leftist opinions upon the public?

I am among the “many ordinary citizens” he cites and I am opposed to Sotomayor’s nomination for two reasons: Obama is just capitulating to the liberal left in selecting a liberal judge, and he is pandering to the Latin American community, which helped put him in the White House.

The one thing you really have to hand our novice president is he certainly knows how to repay his debts.

Discussion: 14 comments so far…

By POWERPLAY

6/14/09 at 2:52 a.m.

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If Senator John McCain would have won the election and would have tried to appoint a CONSERVATIVE HISPANIC JUDGE (male or female) the national news media and hollywood california as well as 95% of all collages in this country would have gone berserk, There would have been riots all over this country whole citys would have been burn down. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THIS WOMAN IS A SOCIALIST AND THATS JUST ALL THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRATS CARE ABOUT.
By labdaddy

6/14/09 at 3:34 a.m.

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I still believe Sotomayor's biggest problem to be her false sense of superiority in decision making skills simply because she is a Latina woman. Anyone who doesn't think she will try to be a hot dog once she sits on the bench is naive at best.
By 54patsfan

6/14/09 at 6:25 a.m.

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As an article I had recently read very carefully stated; Ms. Sotomayor was bulldozed through our ultra-liberal college system thanks to Affirmative Action. Her grades were less than extraordinary, and she was accepted based on her race and gender over more academically qualified applicants who were denied their place in these Elite schools. To confirm a judge who has a record of decision-making based on her prejudices, And she will be, she will not be basing decisions on intimate facts, or Constitutional Law, will put another Socialist ultra-liberal in a position of great power. As we are now learning, she does not possess the academic skills to research these important aspects of law, and she will be responsible for her part in making fundamental changes in the way Constitutional Law is interpreted based on her "empathy", and her Bleeding Heart. It is our children and grandchildren who will be paying the enormous price for having ALL THREE branches of our government falling into the Socialist Agenda of the Ultra-Liberals. They've been sold into slavery to China with the Astronomical debt Barack Hussein, Nancy Pelosi, and our very own, Harry Reid has slammed down our throats. They will have no military to protect themselves with against any threats to our country. They will be under the thumbs of Terrorist States like Iran and North Korea, because they have the backing of China.
They will be at the mercy of Urban Terrorists when someone kicks their (our your) door in, or some nut-case decides to go Postal on another mall, or school because The All Powerful, All Knowing, Great and Terrible OZ will have taken all their perfectly legal guns away in the best interests of their safety.
They will not be energy independent because they cannot reach the energy wealth beneath our own soil due to arcane laws passed by an ultra-liberal congress, and interpreted by an ultra-liberal Supreme Court. A "Clean Energy" goal of 25-30% is NOT going to free us from foreign oil. We MUST tap our own resources until we can reach a permanent 100% efficiency, and independence with clean energy. That goal-realistically- will take 40-50 years.
So, at some point in our lifetime, or theirs, we might just as well re-name our country.
Welcome to The Democratic Socialist United States of America, Republic of China.
If that scenario does not sit well with you, then by any means necessary, tell your elected officials to do something about it. If they don't, then you know what to do in 2010, and 2012.
Do something about it- Vote Them Out!
By KillerB

6/14/09 at 8:40 a.m.

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POWERPLAY -- and you base your rant on what, exactly?

labdaddy -- once again you're right on.

That old bible adage I learned as a child keeps coming back "by their fruits ye shall know them." The way to know Sotomayor's future is to look at her past. She is not entirely friendly to the Constitution she swore her oath to support and defend. You can check just one strike against her at http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_...

"Why do we have federal courts in the first place? According to James Madison, they were meant to serve as "an impenetrable bulwark against every assumption of power in the legislative or executive."

"When it comes to checking government power, Sotomayor's record is pretty poor ..... In 2006's Didden v. Village of Port Chester, she ratified an eminent domain abuse that makes the infamous Kelo case look mild.

"The landowner in Didden, who wanted to build a CVS, refused to pay off a politically connected developer, so the town gave his property to the developer to build a Walgreen's. Sotomayor's panel saw no evil in this case of state-sponsored extortion."

Too often government treats alienating a citizen from his property or worse, his family and other freedoms, as a small thing -- freedoms our Constitutions' framers like Madison considered untouchable. One's life is over at the stroke of a pen in the hands of Sotomayor and her ilk, yet for her supporters it's just another day at the office. Since judges, particularly on the federal level, are virtually unaccountable -- read that as "above the law" -- this a very dangerous candidate to even consider for such a position.

Sotomayor should have been passed over for someone with real credentials other than her gender and ethnicity.
By Teaser

6/14/09 at 9 a.m.

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So, I guess former President George Bush Sr. is also a socialist, given that he recently came out and defended Sotomayor: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/200...

I guess we've been on that socialism track for some time now.
By GordonShumway

6/14/09 at 9:28 a.m.

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It's interesting that a supreme court nominee who graduated summa cum laude, (with highest honors), from Princeton, and a JD from Yale Law school could be criticized by POWERPLAY, a person that didn't finish, or shouldn't have finished, high school. What a country!
Also the fact that G.H.W.Bush, (an american hero & not the crazy one), nominated her for a judgeship is even more evident of her qualification to be on the court.
By El_Lobo

6/14/09 at 10:59 a.m.

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It really doesn't matter who Obama might appoint to the Court, the right-wingers would be opposed to the appointment.

With that being said, Sotomayor is highly qualified and she will be confirmed by the Senate. The fact that Bush sr. has stated that he feels that she should be confirmed says loads about how far the GOP has moved to the right since he was president...

The extreme right-wingers now control the GOP and that's not good news for the average moderate Republican. That is good news, however, for the Democrats.

Any political party, whether it's Democrat or Republican, who allows the extremists with in the party to take control of the party, is doomed come election time....

Too far to the right & you lose....too far to the left and you lose. Not a difficult concept to understand! History points out that very thing....
By mws517

6/14/09 at 1:11 p.m.

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A moderate Republican is nothing more than a Democrat in disguise. Sotomayor is nothing more than liberal who believes the Constitution is a living breathing document that needs changing to fit their rulings. There is a reason why her rulings have been overturned 60% of the time, and her ruling about the white firefighters will also be overturned as well. The GOP still needs to go even more conservative if they want to take back Congress in 2010, just look at Europe's recent elections, the right is on a comeback there and if the Democrats keep up this tax and spend while telling us we need to cut back, they will lose as well. The government needs to allow capitalism to workout it's problems by itself, let the weak fall and the strong do what they do best, make money and jobs. Obama states he does not want to run any company, yet he had GM's CEO fired and replaced him with his own guy and telling the banks and other companies that took TARP how to run their companies and who should be paid and not paid. I could go on and on, but everyone has heard this song and dance before. And on North Korea and Iran, well you know.
By KillerB

6/14/09 at 3:33 p.m.

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El Lobo -- it's not about party lines, it's about a nominee with a poor record of doing the job.

mws517 -- her decision in Ricci v. DeStefano has been outed a lot, to me Didden was one so much more blatantly opposite of the plain wording of the Takings Clause. Other than the power of their pens and unaccountability, no judge can change the Constitution. Just erode it.
By globarrvers

6/14/09 at 5:08 p.m.

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54patsfan writes: "They've been sold into slavery to China with the Astronomical debt Barack Hussein, Nancy Pelosi, and our very own, Harry Reid has slammed down our throats."

Have you forgotten that George W. Bush borrowed money from China to pay for the Iraq war?
By El_Lobo

6/14/09 at 6:11 p.m.

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KillerB.......

I've said it numerous times and I've given you an example or two of why I feel the Constitution is exactly what the Court says it is at any point in time...

mws517 said:

"A moderate Republican is nothing more than a Democrat in disguise."

That's one of the funniest things I;ve heard it a while....so such presidents as Abe Lincoln, and Dwight Eisenhower were just Democrats in disguise.....WOW! Should had me fooled!

When it's all said & done, Judge Sotomayor will be confirmed to the Court. The voting will be largely along party lines.....That's nothing new. That has been the case for some time.
By El_Lobo

6/14/09 at 6:32 p.m.

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54patsfan.....

Wow! What a rant! Do you sleep well at night? Probably not if you actually believe even 10% of everything that you wrote...

I suggest you move a little bit to the left....otherwise you're going to fall off the edge of the earth....

The "Democratic Socialist United States of America, Republic of China".....that's funny!

Of course, the last time I looked it was a right-winger named George who started this whole thing of us ending up in hock to the Chinese.

His determination to fight a war that we didn't need and couldn't afford started us down the road to economic ruin......I would be surprised if you believed that.....but what's new?
By MikeofNLV

6/15/09 at 1:58 a.m.

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Which of you Rhodes Scholars forgot that she was first appointed to the Federal Bench by GHW Bush? Oh excuse me you all did....
By formervegas76

6/15/09 at 3:37 a.m.

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patsfan- put down the keyboard