What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate, Apparently

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

BARACK OBAMA

We're only about halfway through Sessions's questioning, but it seems he's already backed Sotomayor into an interesting corner. Each time he reads back a past statement that appears to suggest that Sotomayor has issues with objectivity, or that she believes that certain genders and ethnicities come to better judgments than others, the nominee has to insist that the statement was completely misunderstood or was a "rhetorical flourish that fell flat."

In other words, the defense is that she's a poor communicator who articulates her views so poorly that people come away from her speeches believing that her view is the exact opposite of what it really is, and that over the span of several years, those communication skills never improved until the moment she appeared before the Judiciary Committee.

UPDATE: Senate Republicans are picking up on this too — again, echoing Bench Memos — where Sotomayor is saying today that she articulated her agreement with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, when the quote in question included the statement, "I am also not so sure I agree with the statement."

JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, NOW: “The Words I Used, I Used Agreeing
With The Sentiment That Justice Sandra Day O'Connor Was Attempting To Convey." (Judge Sotomayor, Remarks, Confirmation Hearing Of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, 7/14/09)

JUDGE SOTOMAYOR, THEN: “Justice O’Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases . . . .I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement . . . Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” (A Latina Judge’s Voice, 13 Berkeley La Raza
L. J. 1 (2002), and “Raising the Bar,” talk to La Raza at Boalt Hall, October 26, 2001).

"I am also not so sure I agree with the statement" is a strange way to express agreement.

07/14 10:24 AM Share