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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
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David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
July 20, 2009
/ 28 Tamuz 5769
The Show on Capitol Hill
By
Paul Greenberg
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Call it The Sonia Sotomayor Show, or maybe An Invitation to a Confirmation. For the ending of this little drama is as sure as anything in politics. The fun lies in watching how the actors get there.
The pageant opened before the Senate Judiciary Committee with all rites observed in full. The nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court conducted herself with dignity and spoke of her devotion to impartial justice. And the politicians were, in a word, political. Especially when they were self-absorbed, self-promoting and self-serving.
No surprises there. Pols will be pols. One after the other, they did what politicians do on so august an occasion: They posture and prance and pounce and pontificate. They're not about to forgo any face time with a national television audience. Regardless of party or ideology, one common, underlying theme underlay many of their remarks: "Look at me! Look at me!" On this opening day of the proceedings, with the hearing room packed and television cameras everywhere, the generality of the senators seemed under the misapprehension that all this fuss was about them.
Not a confirmation hearing of any note passes without bringing to mind the story about the candidate for some minor post who was attending a rally for his party's presidential candidate. Big doings. At one point the head of the ticket was dutifully going down the names of the party's nominees for the lesser offices at the bottom of the ticket. That's when the local politician reached over to shush his wife. "Quiet!" he commanded. "The next president of the United States is about to talk about ME !"
Some of the senators at this hearing were more restrained than others, thank you, while others were even more egocentric than usual on this auspicious occasion. Al Franken, for example, who has finally won his fight to represent Minnesota in the United States Senate, promises to be as sad a senator as he was a comedian.
The comedy on Day One ended when the nominee finally got to speak for herself, which she did rather well. For one encouraging thing, she didn't use all the time allotted her for an introductory statement a good sign. In her statement, Judge Sotomayor emphasized "fidelity to the law" as her guiding principle. Spoken like a wise Latina woman or any other judicial nominee who aims to be confirmed. It's not just politicians who can be politic.
The distinguished nominee began Day Two prudently by putting as much distance as she could between herself and her earlier hope that "a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not" reach a better conclusion than a mere white male.
Now, it seems, she was just "using a rhetorical flourish that fell flat." As she explained it, her comment "was bad because it left an impression that I believe that life experiences commanded a result in a case …"
The reason her remark left that unfortunate impression, of course, is because that's what she said. But after her repeated disavowals, there should be little need to beat this dead cayuse any further. Her Honor had some 'splainin' to doto quote that eminent jurist of the "I Love Lucy" circuit, Rickey Ricardo and now she's 'splained. Or at least backtracked. Enough said.
But the judge ran aground early on Day Two when she stuck with what surely was the worst and maybe the most abrupt decision of her long career: agreeing to deny promotion to those now famous New Haven, Conn., firefighters who had qualified for it by passing the requisite tests. It seems not enough black Americans had scored high enough on the tests to qualify for better jobs, or maybe too many white Americans had. Thereupon the authorities in New Haven decided to ignore the tests they had once required.
The usual result ensued: Lawsuits were threatened and/or pursued. For the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids discrimination against an individual on account of race but another statute, passed in 1991, bans tests that affect whole groups of applicants differently, or have a "disparate impact." Judge Sotomayor summarily ruled against the white firefighters even though one of her colleagues on the three-judge panel warned her that the issue was much more complicated than her cavalier treatment of it indicated. He wanted to refer the issue to the whole appellate court. She ignored him, just as New Haven had ignored the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and was reversed by the Supreme Court.
Judge Sotomayor explained that she didn't ignore the law, but rather the Supreme Court changed it on her. That's her story and she's sticking with it even though the conflict between the two legal doctrines has been debated in detail for years. Her cursory decision in this case is not a good omen for the kind of Supreme Court justice she would make: wrong but stubborn about it. And dismissive of full discussion when her preconceptions, or just plain prejudices, are challenged. What we have here is an example not of a judicial temperament but a litigator's.
Judge Sotomayor will surely be the next associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, but her stance on this question indicates she won't be a great one.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Paul Greenberg, editorial page editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, has won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. Send your comments by clicking here.
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