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Sexist? Racist? Chill Out, GOP Pundits

Sotomayor's right; her gender and ethnicity do matter

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted May 30, 2009 11:21 AM CDT

(Newser) – The conservative chattering class needs to chill out about Sonia Sotomayor, writes Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post. Bloggers are frothing with rage over Sotomayor’s infamous comment that a Latina woman might make better decisions than a white man. “Could a white man get away with saying something comparable about a Latina? Of course not,” Parker writes. “After Latinas have run the world for 2,000 years, they won’t be able to say it ever again either.”

Sotomayor’s point was that a judge’s ethnicity and gender would affect her rulings. “Who doesn’t believe that?” asks Parker. In fact, she considers it a conservative position. “Radical-liberal types tend to fantasize that sex is not a difference that matters,” and everyone pretends the same about race. “Calling Sotomayor a sexist and racist…is an irrational rush to judgment, unbecoming ladies, gentlemen, scoundrels and scholars.”

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Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama's choice for the Supreme Court, speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor talks with President Obama in the East Room of the White House Tuesday, May 26, 2009, where the president Obama made the announcement. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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You'd think from the onslaught that she runs a chain of abortion clinics. - Kathleen Parker

A few days ago, only seven people outside of New Haven, Conn., knew the name Frank Ricci. Today, rumor has it that Tom Cruise is considering playing Ricci as soon as Joe the Plumber writes the script. - Kathleen Parker

A brilliant white Protestant heterosexual man with one wife, two children and a record so clean he squeaks when he walks would have been viewed with skepticism if Obama had chosen him. - Kathleen Parker

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Sexist? Racist? Chill Out, GOP Pundits