In his weekly radio and Internet address, President Barack Obama urged the U.S. Senate to get to work and confirm his pick, Judge Sondra Sotomayor, as a Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court before the court begins its next sitting in October.
Sotomayer begins the confirmation process this Tuesday, meeting with senators, while Obama travels overseas.
Some Republicans -- including the de facto leaders of the GOP, Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh, have seized on a remark Sotomayor made in a 2001 lecture speech as fodder to oppose her nomination. Gingrich Twittered his opposition and Limbaugh took to the airwaves, calling Sotomayor a reverse racist.
Here's the comment that has conservatives fired up:
"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."
Read the entire speech -- "A Latina Judge's Voice" -- here and let me know if you think the remark is racist.
Obama made reference to Sotomayor's critics in the address:
There are, of course, some in Washington who are attempting to draw old battle lines and playing the usual political games, pulling a few comments out of context to paint a distorted picture of Judge Sotomayor’s record. But I am confident that these efforts will fail; because Judge Sotomayor’s seventeen-year record on the bench – hundreds of judicial decisions that every American can read for him or herself – speak far louder than any attack; her record makes clear that she is fair, unbiased, and dedicated to the rule of law.
NDN has had a great deal to say about Sotomayor's nomination, including Simon's essay on what her confirmation means for immigration reform and Andres' thoughts on what Sotomayer's nomination means to Hispanics. We also have compiled a backgrounder on NDN's leading work on Hispanic electoral issues, our nation's changing demography and immigration.
You can watch Obama's weekly address below:
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