Sotomayer

[Narrock]

/chime

Thank you Gyps... we're all doing good. 2 months to go til baby is here. Oh, and we got married last Saturday up in Tahoe. I just needed a break from the NT. Vonkaar's and a couple other people's retardedness was driving me nuts.

Anyway, about Sotomayor... I think it's great that, as a person, she rose up from the "ghetto" and achieved some tremendous accomplishments with her education and career. I know that FixedNews is trying to drag her through the mud, but remember what CNN, NBC, ABC, etc. did to Samuel Alito, and John Roberts. The exact same thing. The left unscrupulously dragged those two through the mud as deep as they could go. These are all well-qualified people for the job, but it's politics-as-usual for either side to bring up the worst in people. I don't blame Barry for choosing her. I know he's getting a lot of pressure from minority groups to choose someone like her... a woman AND Latina. The only thing that would've made her a perfect candidate in the eyes of the left, is if she were also a lesbian. Isn't it silly that in today's society, the foremost factor of importance is gender and race, rather than qualifications and record?

There are two things that bother me about Sotomayor. One being her ruling on the standardized testing for firefighters. She ruled that the testing was "unfair" to blacks because they couldn't pass it, and that the test had to be revised to make it achieveable by blacks. lol On one hand it's funny as hell, on the other, it's completely retarded that we have to dumb-down testing so that certain ethnic groups can pass. Imo, that's just so wrong. But we also don't know exactly what was on those tests that made it hard for blacks to pass it. Was it really racially biased?

The other thing I don't like about Sotomayor is that she admitted that they legislate from the bench in the circuit court of schlemiels. They are supposed to interpret law, not create law. Creating law is for the legislative branch of our government. I'm sure Barry can find a hispanic female judge somewhere in the country that has a less radical past than Sotomayor.

[Arlos]

I dunno that that last one is really an issue, Mindia, take a look at a couple of these quotes, with the most important parts bolded:

This complete separation of the judiciary from the enterprise of "representative government" might have some truth in those countries where judges neither make law themselves nor set aside the laws enacted by the legislature. It is not a true picture of the American system. Not only do state-court judges possess the power to "make" common law, but they have the immense power to shape the States' constitutions as well. See, e.g., Baker v. State, 170 Vt. 194, 744 A. 2d 864 (1999). Which is precisely why the election of state judges became popular.

and

Although Justice Stevens at times appears to agree with Justice Ginsburg's premise that the judiciary is completely separated from the enterprise of representative government, post, at 3 ("Every good judge is fully aware of the distinction between the law and a personal point of view"), he eventually appears to concede that the separation does not hold true for many judges who sit on courts of last resort, post, at 3 ("If he is not a judge on the highest court in the State, he has an obligation to follow the precedent of that court, not his personal views or public opinion polls"); post, at 3, n. 2. Even if the policy making capacity of judges were limited to courts of last resort, that would only prove that the announce clause fails strict scrutiny. "If announcing one's views in the context of a campaign for the State Supreme Court might be" protected speech, post, at 3, n. 2, then-even if announcing one's views in the context of a campaign for a lower court were not protected speech, ibid.-the announce clause would not be narrowly tailored, since it applies to high- and low-court candidates alike. In fact, however, the judges of inferior courts often "make law," since the precedent of the highest court does not cover every situation, and not every case is reviewed. Justice Stevens has repeatedly expressed the view that a settled course of lower court opinions binds the highest court. See, e.g., Reves v. Ernst & Young, 494 U.S. 56, 74 (1990) (concurring opinion); McNally v. United States, 483 U.S. 350, 376--377 (1987) (dissenting opinion).

Both of those quotes were from Judge Antonin Scalia, who is frequently trotted out by the far right as the ideal example of a "non-activist judge". Since he said pretty much exactly the same thing as she said as far as appeals court and making policy, doesn't that rather completely blunt that line of attack against her?

I mean, disagreeing with her positions is perfectly fine, I entirely understand why you'd dislike that decision about the fireman's test. I don't know all the details there, so I don't feel informed enough to comment on it. Entirely possible there are circumstances with it that make it seem nowhere near as wacky. But some of these attacks on her are just ridiculous. I mean, calling her stupid? As I said, how many stupid people do you know that finish 2nd in their class at Princeton?

-Arlos

[Narrock]

Yeah, calling her "stupid" is ridiculous. And as far as "making law" is concerned, it's still not up to the courts to do that, regardless of what Scalia said. We're supposed to have a system of "checks and balances." If two different governmental bodies "make law" then the balance is thrown off.

[Ginzburgh]

Mindia, what day is your baby due? We're having ours in August too.

[Narrock]

Mindia, what day is your baby due? We're having ours in August too.

Well, three different ultrasound doctors gave us three different dates. lol The three different dates we have are: August 8th, the 12th, and the 14th. When is yours due?

[Ginzburgh]

Same here, the date keeps changing. First it was the 17th, now it's either the 7th or the 10th. haha.

7th is our one year wedding anniversary :P

[Narrock]

Same here, the date keeps changing. First it was the 17th, now it's either the 7th or the 10th. haha.

7th is our one year wedding anniversary :P

lol grats man! Do you know the gender yet?

[Ginzburgh]

Girl. Naming her Hailey Elizabeth Ames.

We've been going to birthing class the last two weeks. Three thursday nights for three hours a class. So brutal. Just a bunch of chicks sitting around talking about how uncomfortable they are.

[Narrock]

Girl. Naming her Hailey Elizabeth Ames.

We've been going to birthing class the last two weeks. Three thursday nights for three hours a class. So brutal. Just a bunch of chicks sitting around talking about how uncomfortable they are.

Ours will be Alexis Anastasia. We're doing the "Laugh and Learn" series (Lamaze and newborn classes) from Sherri Bayles. She is pretty funny, but she's also been a maternity ward nurse for like 20 years. We're doing the DvD series, not in-person classes. I hear the whining and complaining 24/7 from MY wife. I don't need to hear that shit from other women too.

[ClakarEQ]

Is this both your first child (I think it is, yes)?

EDIT
First that you're aware of anyway?

[Narrock]

Is this both your first child (I think it is, yes)?

EDIT
First that you're aware of anyway?

This will be my first, her third. She has a 16 year old daughter who lives in Manhattan with her dad, and an 18 year old son who lives with us.

[Ginzburgh]

First for me and my wife.

[Narrock]

Gratz dude!

[ClakarEQ]

Ahh, so you have all the sleep deprivation, diapers, etc etc, ahh what fun , the memories . . .

Are u guys going to be the manly men that don't do diapers and such (I was the opposite, babysat as a teen, my wife on the other hand, never changed a diaper until our first was born and I had to show her LOL)

Just take a lot of pics, video, you'll really regret it IMO if you don't. They only move forward and once that time has passed, you'll want to relive it (that is sort of BS, because you won't really want to relive it until they're about 2-3 years old :p).

My wife keeps telling our youngest, Ryan, stop growing up!! (he's 8 , our oldest Matthew will be 11 in July)

[Ginzburgh]

No, I won't be the manly man in that regard. My wife and I are equal and we're both alpha personalities. So if I had the audacity to tell her I wasn't going to change a diaper because I am a man she'd probably punch me in the nuts and say, "there, now you can change a diaper".

[Harrison]

No, I won't be the manly man in that regard. My wife and I are equal and we're both alpha personalities. So if I had the audacity to tell her I wasn't going to change a diaper because I am a man she'd probably punch me in the nuts and say, "there, now you can change a diaper".

Hah, sounds like my girlfriend. I couldn't deal with a submissive girlfriend.

[Drem]

congrats on your marriage, mindia

[Narrock]

Thank you, sir. :P

[KaiineTN]

Interesting conversation about Sotomayor starting around the 2 minute mark. I like Andrew Napolitano.

[Jay]

Summa Cum Laude from Princeton. Yep, she's an idiot.