Gun rights group: Senate Committee vote to confirm Sotomayor an 'outrage'

Senate Committee Vote to Confirm Sotomayor Supreme Court Appointment an Outrage and the full Senate Should Reject the Nomination, says Right to Self-Defense Advocate

'Just like Barack Obama needs a Hispanic woman'

Pat Buchanan engages in a battle of wits with an unarmed Rachel Maddow in this entertaining clip from Maddow's own show. The clip goes on for more than 10:00 minutes but it's worth watching the entire segment. The fireworks begin at the 2:00 mark and Maddow begins to "lose it" in the 6:00 mark. Buchanan sticks a fork in Maddow's argument for "affirmative action" at the 10:00 mark. By the end of the clip, you begin to realize why nobody watches MSNBC anymore. (H/T The Bitter American)

Specter to vote 'yes' on Sotomayor

As if Pennsylvania residents needed another reason not to re-elect Arlen Specter.

Despite her clear lack of a basic understanding of the U.S. Constitution, Sonia Sotomayor will be the first 'wise Latina' confirmed for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, a Democrat, issued the following statement today on the nomination of Sotomayor to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States:

"Judge Sonia Sotomayor brought to the Judiciary Committee hearings an outstanding record academically, as a prosecutor and as a commercial lawyer plus 17 distinguished years as a federal judge. At the hearings she displayed intellect, restraint and judicial demeanor. As the third woman and the first Hispanic, she will add needed diversity to the Supreme Court."

"I intend to vote for her and urge my colleagues to do the same."

Libertarians take aim at Sotomayor's anti-gun stance

As many suspected, liberal Judge Sonia Sotomayor does not believe the Second Amendment protects a citizen's right to own firearms.

From a press release issued by the Libertarian Party:

America's third largest party reiterated its opposition to the Supreme Court nomination of federal judge Sonia Sotomayor after the nominee refused to give a firm answer on whether individuals have the right of self-defense.

"Is there a constitutional right to self-defense?" Sotomayor asked when questioned by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) whether or not the Constitution guaranteed him the right of self-defense. "I can't think of one. I could be wrong."

"Whether you agree with her position or not, Judge Sotomayor has had no problem stating that things not directly found in the Constitution are 'settled law.' That's why it's troubling that when confronted with a constitutionally-enshrined principle she disagrees with, the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of one’s rights, things are suddenly muddled and up for debate," said Donny Ferguson, Libertarian National Committee Communications Director.

"The Libertarian Party is the only party that never compromises in its defense of our Second Amendment-guaranteed rights. That's why we have opposed Judge Sotomayor's nomination from the moment we reviewed her troubling anti-gun record. Judge Sotomayor's answers Wednesday further show she believes the law should flow from her own personal biases and not the literal wording of the Constitution," said Ferguson.

Judge Sotomayor is the latest in a long line of hardline anti-gun activists nominated by President Obama to government positions where they would have the power to infringe on gun rights. Libertarians also opposed the nominations of anti-gun Attorney General Eric Holder and anti-gun State Department legal adviser Harold Koh.

"The Libertarian Party will hold accountable at the ballot box any senator who votes to confirm Judge Sotomayor. America's nearly 90 million gun owners come from all walks of life and political beliefs – and they decide their vote on this issue. Libertarians look forward to speaking with them about the LP's fundamental belief in gun rights, and their senator's voting record on it," said Ferguson.

10 Questions for Sonia Sotomayor

AUL President to Senate Judiciary Committee: Ask Top 10 Questions to Judge Sotomayor

Sotomayor Smackdown

The Supreme Court today overturned a lower court ruling written by Judge Sonia Sotomayor establishing racial quotas in a case involving New Haven, Conn., firefighters.

The top court ruled 5-4 that racial quotas are unconstitutional and sent the case back to the appeals court.

The ruling shows clearly what an intellectual lightweight Sotomayor is and also exposes her lack of basic understanding of the U.S. Constitution. That might explain why Barack Obama picked her for the court. Peas in a Pod.

Sotomayor will still get confirmed by the intellectual lightweights in the U.S. Senate, but at least the pretense of her qualification for the Supreme Court is no longer in question.

We now understand she was nominated because she's a Hispanic woman ... and not the most qualified person for the job. Isn't that filling a racial quota?

The problem with liberals is that they're stuck in the 1960s and 1970s. Time has passed them by.

Sessions on Sotomayor

Video: Barry! Put the Crazy on Hold!

Molotov Mitchell, founder and president of the film company Illuminati Pictures, offers a satirical commentary on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor in his latest video, originally posted WorldNetDaily.com

Sotomayor: Equal Justice Under Law?

Ann Coulter: God save us from liberal 'empathy'

Ann Coulter offers her take on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court in her latest column, "I Feel Your Pain. Not Theirs. Yours."

From her column:

But all liberals only have empathy for the exact same victims -- always the ones that are represented by powerful liberal interest groups. As Joe Sobran says, it takes a lot of clout to be a victim.

Thus, the media and Democrats seem to find successful Hispanic attorney Sotomayor much more "empathetic" than successful Hispanic attorney Miguel Estrada.

After aggressively blocking Estrada's nomination to a federal appeals court during Bush's first term solely on the grounds that he is Hispanic and was likely headed for the Supreme Court -- according to Senate Democrat staff memos -- now Democrats have the audacity to rave that Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice!

If Sotomayor is not more empathetic than Estrada, liberals at least consider her more Hispanic -- an interesting conclusion inasmuch as Sotomayor was born in New York and Estrada was born in Honduras.

Read the full column at HumanEvents.com

Law professor: Obama pick a lightweight

Liberal law professor Jonathan Turley has read 30 written opinions by Judge Sonia Sotomayor and says she is an intellectual lightweight. Kinda like the president who appointed her?

Group: Judge Sotomayor is anti-gun

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms warns that Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a longtime opponent of Second Amendment rights to gun ownership.

From a CCRKBA release:

Judge Sotomayor was part of a Second Circuit Court panel that ruled in January that the Second Amendment does not apply to the states, in Maloney v. Cuomo. That is in direct conflict with a Ninth Circuit opinion earlier this spring in Nordyke v. King that the Second Amendment is incorporated to the states, and therefore does place limits on states' ability to regulate the individual right to keep and bear arms.

"A Supreme Court nominee's philosophy generally reflects the philosophy of the president that nominates them," CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb said. "Judge Sotomayor's position on the Second Amendment is a clear signal that Mr. Obama's claim that he supports gun rights is nothing but lip service from a man who consistently argued and voted against those rights in the Illinois Senate and the U.S. Senate. American gun owners have every reason to oppose this nomination, and let their senators know why."

Read the full release at the link below:

Obama's Court Nomination Validates America's Rush to Buy Firearms

WSJ on the 'Empathy' Nominee

Is Sonia Sotomayor judicially superior to 'a white male'? The Wall Street Journal wants to know and somebody in the U.S. Senate should ask that question when Sonia Sotomayor appears for her confirmation hearings.

From a WSJ editorial:

In making Sonia Sotomayor his first nominee for the Supreme Court yesterday, President Obama appears to have found the ideal match for his view that personal experience and cultural identity are the better part of judicial wisdom.

This isn't a jurisprudence that the Founders would recognize, but it is the creative view that has dominated the law schools since the 1970s and from which both the President and Judge Sotomayor emerged. In the President's now-famous word, judging should be shaped by "empathy" as much or more than by reason. In this sense, Judge Sotomayor would be a thoroughly modern Justice, one for whom the law is a voyage of personal identity.

With Democrats holding 59 seats in the Senate, Sotomayor's confirmation is a forgone conclusion, but Republicans should use the hearings as an opportunity to expose the judicial activism of the far left.

From the editorial:

"Republicans can use the process as a teaching moment, not to tear down Ms. Sotomayor on personal issues the way the left tried with Justices Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito, but to educate Americans about the proper role of the judiciary and to explore whether Judge Sotomayor's Constitutional principles are as free-form as they seem from her record."

Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.

Libertarians blast Sotomayor pick

America's third largest political party is critical of Barack Obama's nomination of federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

The Libertarian Party says past rulings that public employers should discriminate in hiring based on race is enough to disqualify Sotomayor from the high court.

"While Judge Sotomayor deserves a fair and impartial hearing, Supreme Court justices should be nominated for their thorough knowledge of and adherence to the Constitution and the rule of law," William Redpath, Libertarian National Committee chairman, said in a release.

"By nominating Sonia Sotomayor, Barack Obama has made it clear he prefers an activist for his personal causes over a rational interpreter of law," said Redpath.

More from the Libertarian Party:

Sotomayor is best known for the Ricci v. DeStafano case, in which the New Haven, Conn. fire department decided it didn’t like the results of an officers promotion exam in which whites and Hispanic firefighters outperformed black firefighters. The city threw out the results of the exam, denying several firefighters promotions solely because of their race. The firefighters sued the city, claiming racial discrimination under Title VVI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Cato Institute, Reason Foundation and the Individual Rights Foundations filed briefs on behalf of the firefighters, citing the absurdity of allowing public employers to throw out the results of valid, race-neutral exams that produce racial disparity because the racial disparity produced wasn't politically correct. The firefighters and the libertarian foundations filing briefs argued that public employment practices should be color-blind.

Sotomayor disagreed, ruling the city has a right to discriminate against white and Hispanic public employees to construct a politically correct racial mix in hiring, even if it goes against the results of a racially-neutral competency exam.

The case is now before the Supreme Court. Sotomayor has had her rulings thrown out by the court a troubling four times. In three of those cases, the Court ruled Sotomayor had incorrectly interpreted the law.

"It is troubling that Obama, who won the highest elected office in the world without racial preferences, would nominate someone who openly admits the government should racially discriminate against its own citizens to serve the needs of political correctness," said Redpath.

"Libertarians believe that, while the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of association allows private parties to hire whomever they please, government has no right to discriminate. Public employers should treat all citizens of all colors, races and ethnicities with equal respect and value and Sotomayor’s radical rulings are a jarring departure from that principle"

For more about the Libertarian Party, visit http://www.LP.org

Rush Limbaugh calls Obama nominee a racist

Rush Limbaugh took aim at Sonia Sotomayor on his radio show today, pointing out that the Obama Supreme Court nominee is a longtime proponent of racial quotas.

From a story by Andy Barr in Politico:

"Here you have a racist — you might want to soften that, and you might want to say a reverse racist," Limbaugh said of Sotomayor on his show, alluding to the New York federal appeals court judge's past statement that a "wise Latina woman with the richness of her experience would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Liberals, "of course, say that minorities cannot be racists because they don't have the power to implement their racism," Limbaugh said according to a transcript on his website. "Well, those days are gone, because reverse racists certainly do have the power. ... Obama is the greatest living example of a reverse racist, and now he's appointed one."

Read the full story -- Rush Limbaugh: Sonia Sotomayor a 'reverse racist,' 'hack' -- at POLITICO