Krugman: "The attacks on Sonia Sotomayor are getting crazier by the minute."

[ProSense]

May 27, 2009

A note on identity politics

The attacks on Sonia Sotomayor are getting crazier by the minute. The pronunciation of her name is unnatural. Her fondness for Puerto Rican cuisine — sorry, her “claimed” fondness (you never know) — may cloud her impartiality. She doesn’t have enough money in her retirement account.

But is this any crazier, when you come down to it, than the Cult of Bush that ruled much of Washington for years? It was positive, not negative (though there was plenty of that too), but it was similarly about identity politics — you were supposed to support Bush, not because of how he did his job, but because he was, drumroll, a regular guy. Remember Peggy Noonan

I was asked this week why the president seems so attractive to the heartland, to what used to be called Middle America. A big question. I found my mind going to this word: normal.

Mr. Bush is the triumph of the seemingly average American man. He’s normal. He thinks in a sort of common-sense way. He speaks the language of business and sports and politics. You know him. He’s not exotic. But if there’s a fire on the block, he’ll run out and help. He’ll help direct the rig to the right house and count the kids coming out and say, “Where’s Sally?” He’s responsible. He’s not an intellectual.

Of course, a year and a half later there really was a fire on the block — actually a flood in New Orleans, but basically the same thing — and what he actually said was, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” But I digress.

The thing that is really driving conservatives crazy, I think, is that their identity politics just isn’t working like it used to. Their whole approach has been based on the belief that Americans vote as if they live in Mayberry, and fear and hate anyone who looks a bit different; now that the country just isn’t like that, they’ve gone mad.

Speaking of crazy, on edit: Tancredo: Sotomayor Is A Member Of The ‘Latino KKK Without The Hoods Or The Nooses’

[ProSense]

1. Dear reporters: please stop.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Dear reporters: please stop.

Heather K. Gerken

Recently several reporters have asked me some variation on the following questions: "what role does identity politics play on the Court, and should those who support civil-rights causes be happy about Judge Sotomayor's nomination?" (This, for what it's worth, is almost a direct quote).

For those interested, I’ve posted my snarky take on the subject on the new "Double X" blog. It begins: "There is only one sensible answer to such questions. Please stop. Honestly. It’s embarrassing even to have to say this, but let me spell it out."

[ProSense]

2. Josh Marshall: Sotomayor Debate Careens Toward Complete Nonsense

Sotomayor Debate Careens Toward Complete Nonsense

[Cha]

6. Thanks, PS..I'm

at work but I'll read them whence I get home.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

3. The flailings of the Repukes get ever more ridiculous.

This is f'in pathetic.

[truth2power]

4. A little off-topic...Peggy Noonan said THAT???...

Bush? Normal?

Dear Peggy: Psychopaths often appear quite NORMAL. And they do exude a certain....Charm. :loveya:

I rest my case.

[Cha]

7. bush is just your average normal everyday

sociopath..you know, like his sychophants.

[glitch]

12. If you are a psychopath, then another psychopath appears quite normal to you.

Even adorable.

[EquallyExhausted]

5. likening la raza to the kkk is a great way to get

any latino, and a lot of other minority advocacy groups that weren't paying attention to the garbage being said about sotomayor, to pay attention stat. way to go tancredo.

[LiberalFighter]

8. "fear and hate anyone who looks a bit different"

Then they better do a better job of procreation. Of course, they may have a problem if they don't have enough sperm strong enough to penetrate the egg. Maybe their sperm thinks that they can't find the door that fits their key.

[johan helge]

9. One of Krugman's links

Here's one of Krugman's links (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/05/parody.php?ref=fpblg):


Are The Hill -- and anti-Sotomayor operative Curt Levey -- really suggesting that the judge's fondness for Puerto Rican cuisine is a handicap for higher office:

* Sotomayor also claimed: "For me, a very special part of my being Latina is the mucho platos de arroz, gandoles y pernir -- rice, beans and pork -- that I have eaten at countless family holidays and special events."

* This has prompted some Republicans to muse privately about whether Sotomayor is suggesting that distinctive Puerto Rican cuisine such as patitas de cerdo con garbanzo -- pigs' tongue and ears -- would somehow, in some small way influence her verdicts from the bench.

* Curt Levey, the executive director of the Committee for Justice, a conservative-leaning advocacy group, said he wasn't certain whether Sotomayor had claimed her palate would color her view of legal facts but he said that President Obama's Supreme Court nominee clearly touts her subjective approach to the law.

* "It's pretty disturbing," said Levey. "It's one thing to say that occasionally a judge will despite his or her best efforts to be impartial ... allow occasional biases to cloud impartiality.


We're looking into whether this was a joke, because, really, it can't be serious, can it?

Late Update: Our crack news editor Justin Elliott, who caught this passage in the first place, also flags for me the use of the verb "claimed" to describe Sotomayor's assertion, as if they're hedging against this not being a true statement. You really need an eyewitness for solid confirmation because otherwise, what, it might be a faked love for rice, beans, and pork?

Later Update: It's no joke.

[mascarax]

10. Peggy Noonan needs to be locked up

Just. go. away.
God.

<<But if there’s a fire on the block, he’ll run out and help. >>
Spare me. Dubya would make George Costanza look like a hero!

[jberryhill]

11. Next Up - "'Sotomayor': Too Close To 'Sodomy'?"

[Jennicut]

13. Nice article by Krugman. I am a white woman living in a suburb and I find Sotomayor easy to relate

to. She just seems so down to earth. This is ridiculous. She grew up in New York. I have a friend I worked with who just came to the United States from Puerto Rico. She is plenty American to me. She wants to be here. What is the big deal?

[FrenchieCat]

14. Peggy Noonan on Bush...."You know him. He’s not exotic."

Thank goodness that Barack Obama is the most "exotic" President ever! Thank God!

[mascarax]

15. Is Peggy friends with Cokie, who called Hawaii "exotic"?

Ugh to both.