Obama is going to select Ms. Sonia Sotomayor to fill the vacancy left by the departure of the loud and proud David Souter. I have not followed this too much but from what I can tell she may be about the best a conservative can hope for. That's not saying much. It just is what it is.
NY law-guy extraordinaire Robert Morgenthau wrote an op-ed recently praising her as a law and order type of gal. On the other hand, she was also on a recent 3 judge panel that argued before the Supreme Court that a civil-service test for firefighters in New Haven, Conn could be deemed invalid because no minority applicants passed. The white guys sued because they studied, passed, and expected to be promoted. Those crazy honkies, with their expectations and all. Get with the times people.
There were some picks that could have been worse. There was one guy who would have been interesting, Cass Sunstein. Ole Cass apparently believes cost-benefit analysis should have a role in determining the efficacy of regulatory policies. Of course, economics was never President Obama's strong suit so you wouldn't think that could get too far.
Sonia is a latino from New Yawk. While her views are probably off, she seems qualified in terms of education and judificial experience. There really shouldn't be an emphasis on the whole identity politics, with she being a woman and latino. This is the ugly unintended consequence of affirmative action. Anytime a qualified minority is selected, people tend to feel that the candidate got there because of help and not because they are the most qualified or best person for the job. By now, as we watch the justification for picking her that will be made on the talking head news shows this week, we should realize that even having to make a case that a minority is deserving based on merit demonstrates how ugly affirmative action has become. Hopefully, we can get beyond the affirmative action rhetoric in my lifetime.
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