Judge Sonia Sotomayor and the Senate Hearing

I honestly believe that Judge Sonia Sotomayor will be an impartial Supreme Court justice. It is clear to see that some things that she has said in a few speeches have truly been taken a bit out of context.

No, I don’t think she’s better because she is Latina, yet I am a Latina and I can attest that her warmth and her sound judgment, not to mention her unbelievable law background, will carry her through and enable her to be impartial and compassionate. I believe that there is nothing to fear, but fear itself. Goodness, watching the Senate hearing, made me realize that there is so much fear in our country, even at the highest levels.

I look at some (not all) of the powerful silver haired men in the Senate, who honestly know better than to be dishing out all of the media nonsense and I wonder why they cannot seem to tap into the same bravery that once lead them to become elected to the posts that they presently occupy. One hears nothing but fear coming from their voices and I put myself in the place of Judge Sonia and wonder what it must be like to be sitting in that seat, with some of these scared men and women, whose words are coming at her like firing canon balls. And there in that seat, sits a woman that reminds me of my own petite mother (when she was at least two decades younger of course), wearing a tasteful blue suit, just waiting to be blasted away, with media criticisms of some of her speeches and I realize that talk, is just that, talk.

People can sometimes trip themselves up, no matter how wise, or how sound a judgment they may possess, or how eloquently they may deliver speeches. It happens to the best of them and I wonder to myself “Don’t some of these men and women in the Senate know this?” And I ask myself “What are they so afraid of?” I realize I am watching the same brave senators that we voted for in prior elections, putting their fears about this petite woman on display. I cannot help but wonder “Shouldn’t we all have been afraid each time a Supreme Court justice, any justice of any national background (White, Hispanic or any other national origin) was sworn in?” I may be wrong, so forgive me if I am – it could be that I might not have been paying close enough attention before – but I honestly, don’t recall ever seeing so much fear about a Supreme Court Justice prior to now. Yet, this lady with a warm smile who is about the height of my own mother and could pass for my slightly older sister, has to endure these openly embarassing questions and remarks, most which were generated by the media and are truly unfounded and baseless, for they had nothing to do with passed legislation. Well, I can say this, as I am nobody in the grand scheme of things – I am not Judge Sotomayor and in the vernacular I can say – “It aint easy being a woman, let a lone a Latina one,” but at times it isn’t easy being a man either.

When President Obama was running for the Presidency, I received so many defamatory e-mails about him, some from acquaintances (not close friends) that I respected and folks that I thought to be really nice people. Some of the messages were horribly racist e-mails and they made me wonder if I even wanted to be associated with the persons who forwarded them to me. I am forgiving by nature so I shrugged it off to their actions being a consequence of their own personal fears. One of the messages, actually made me cry. It was an e-mail suggesting that our new President is the Anti-Christ. People are sadly and easily mislead by fear.

Something tells me though, that Judge Sotomayor’s wisdom will carry her through and my feelings about this have nothing to do with the fact that we happen to share the same heritage.

I was and I am still a very big admirer of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Goodness, I loved her cool, calm collected posture. To me, she was amazing and still is quite a brilliant and amazing woman! I dislike television intensely these days, but I saw her on a recent talk show and endured the pain of watching the show, just to take in her interview. When asked by the show’s host if she (Sandra Day O’Connor) had ever felt that they, the Supreme Court Justices, ever felt that they “might have blown a few here and there,” (meaning mistakes that were made during the passing of certain legislation) – She very candidly replied (paraphrased) “Oh, we blew more than a few,” to the raucous laughter of the audience. She confessed that she was humbled when she took her post as a Supreme Court justice and that she never stopped learning, further adding that she realized on her way out of the job as a justice, that there were still many things that she never knew that she had needed to learn, even as she left her post.

Well, regardless of what the Senate decides, I truly have a positive feeling about Judge Sotomayor. OK, I’ll come clean, the warm compassionate side of my Hispanic heritage does tell me, she’s going to be a super Supreme Court judge and a judge for ALL people, a truly fair Supreme Court Justice. After all, the Puerto Rican culture comes from a blend of many national origins due to the migration of people who came to the island from all over the world. People of German, Dutch, Italian, African, Spanish and French ancestry, who arrived at Puerto Rico’s ports and inter-married with the indigenous people of the island. The culture has an amazingly rich history, not that that would have so much to do with how well someone in Judge Sotomayor’s capacity would perform as a justice. I just feel that the lady carries with her the quality of empathy required to be one of the justices of the Supreme Court. Her record proves first and foremost that she is more than qualified to assume the highest court and she would do a great job at it, possibly better than the next “guy” or “gal”. I don’t believe that her referring to herself as Latina is something she should apologize for. If she has offended, I am sure folks will in time, get over this. Being happy with one’s culture and being confident in one’s own abilities and speaking out about it, should never be considered some sort of a crime.

She has the experience, attitude and good nature, required to do the job. Period. For this reason, I believe that Judge Sonia Sotomayor can truly be a very effective and impartial Supreme Court Justice. Anyone who knows the history of the Puerto Rican culture and has an open mind, will come to realize this, add to that the great mix of intellect, a high education and New York roots (New York is a melting pot) and there’s no doubt, that Judge Sotomayor is going to excell in the new post. If she lives through the Senate hearing without a meltdown, I believe that the experience of sitting through such a torturous Senate hearing alone, will make her wiser, more open to change and far stronger than might have previously been imagined.

There’s no doubt that Judge Sotomayor will continue to be under the microscope, but in time, I am sure she will grow into that huge seat that she may soon occupy.

Kudos to you Judge Sotomayor. Keep your chin up. I have the feeling “Your In”!