DeMint Takes Lead in Criticizing High Court Pick

DeMint takes lead in criticizing high court pick
Miami Herald
WASHINGTON
Sen. Jim DeMint, was more critical than his Republican colleagues Tuesday about President Barack Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
While most Republicans took a cautious approach, DeMint, of South Carolina, sounded warnings about Sotomayor’s record and philosophy as a federal district and appellate judge from New York.

“Some of her writings seem to raise serious questions about her approach to the Constitution and the role of the federal judiciary, but I will withhold judgment about her nomination until she has the opportunity to fully present her views before the Senate,” DeMint said.

DeMint’s aides pointed to a case last year in which Sotomayor ruled that the city of New Haven, Conn., had acted properly in rejecting discrimination claims by white firefighters. The case, Ricci v. DeStefano, is now before the Supreme Court.

“Few things are more central to our duty than confirming Supreme Court justices who will uphold the law and apply it equally for all Americans, not rewrite it from the bench based on personal opinion,” DeMint said.

DeMint is not on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold confirmation hearings for Sotomayor.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who does sit on the judiciary panel, was more guarded in his response to Obama’s choice of Sotomayor as the first Hispanic nominated for the high court.

“I do not know Judge Sotomayor,” Graham said. “I look forward to meeting with her and discussing the important issues confronting the court.”

Graham was among the Senate Judiciary Committee members Obama called last week to discuss his pending high court nomination. Graham was out of the country Tuesday, but his aides said they didn’t believe Obama had named Sotomayor during their phone talk.
Graham said he intends “to be fair and firm in (his) questioning of the nominee” during the committee confirmation sessions.

“The hearings can be a valuable public service, as they give us a window into the nominee’s philosophy and disposition,” Graham said. “I hope we will have a meaningful opportunity to explore the qualifications, judicial temperament and judicial philosophy of Judge Sotomayor.”

Republican President H.W. Bush appointed Sotomayor to the federal district bench in 1992. Democrat Bill Clinton elevated her to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
After an extensive delay over political disputes, the Republican-controlled Senate voted 67-29 in October 1998 to confirm Sotomayor’s promotion to the appellate court.
The late Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond voted against Sotomayor. Sen. Fritz Hollings, a Charleston Democrat, was one of four senators who chose not to vote.
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., called Sotomayor “a superb pick” by Obama to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

“The president has demonstrated that he is dedicated to nominating justices who have life experiences that will enable them to both sympathize and empathize with all Americans,” Clyburn said.

Sotomayor, 54, grew up in a Bronx housing project with a single mom after her father died when she was 9.
Only the Senate will vote on Sotomayor’s confirmation.
Oran Smith, head of the Palmetto Family Council, criticized Sotomayor as an activist judge.

“Judge Sotomayor’s judicial record and writing clearly show she believes a court is not an applier of law written by elected representatives, but just another political advocate for social change,” Smith said

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From Rush Limbaugh……..

“So, here you have a racist. You might want to soften that and you might wanna say a reverse racist. And the libs, of course, say that minorities cannot be racists because they don’t have the power to implement their racism. Well, those days are gone because reverse racists certainly do have the power to implement their power. Obama is the greatest living example of a reverse racist and now he’s appointed one — getting this, AP? — Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court …

So she’s not the brain that they’re portraying her to be, she’s not a constitutional jurist. She is an affirmative action case extraordinaire and she has put down white men in favor of Latina women. She has claimed that the court is all about making policy. So yes, there’s a golden opportunity. Take this to the mat. Take it to the wall. The people need to know what Obama really believes in and this is how it could happen. Now will the Republicans do it? That’s another question.”

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Wild Thing’s comment………..
DeMint, one of the few with a spine!!!
For the time being our days as a Constitutional Republic are almost over. I know that sounds down and depressing but that is what is showing up.
Founding Documents provide that, if any branch of our government ever exceeds its Constitutionally limited authority and ceases to be lawfully of, for and by the people, we the people have both the duty and the unwavering obligation to remove it and restore a Constitutional one again.
This in-over-his-head rent-a-meat-puppet in the White House swore an oath to uphold and defend our Constitution even as he paid a team of lawyers to prevent him having to abide by it.
The Constitution does not grant to the president the authority to fire CEO’s of corporations, take over huge companies, dictate what cars can be built, take over the country’s health-care or own and run the banks.
Unless and until we remove this larcenous, traitorous, pathalogically-deceitful usurper from the White House, we are no longer a Constitutional Republic for right now.
This will be a good test to see who is trustable and who is not. There should be no mistaking RINOs for republicans anymore.
The thing our side I wish would learn, I mean the politicans that say they are Republicans. We are aware we are outnumbered in both houses. But if they can show US, we the people that they at least speak out and make it known they do not go along with this kind of thing each time they need to, we WILL remember later when it comes time to vote. Just as we WILL remember those that turned to mush and stayed silent.