Sen. Lindsey Graham you are no Southern Gentleman.
I find your questions to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor offensive. You quoted anonymous remarks made by others about her judicial demeanor.
"Do you have a temperament problem?" you asked.
I can't believe you asked that question. Would you dare ask a man that question?
Nobody ever complained about Justice Antonin Scalia's temperament. And we know he's a real charmer. Right.
But Sotomayor sat there patiently and calmly all afternoon. She wasn't "angry, excitable and aggressive" as Graham quoted the anonymous sources.
"No, sir," replied Sotomayor. "I believe that my reputation is such
that I ask the hard questions, but I do it evenly for both sides."
Graham noted that we are beyond the times when women were asked if they
could type. But his questions about her demeanor are just as sexist as
the typing question.
We know he would never ask a man if he was a bully.
But Sotomayor showed her steady demeanor as she answered an array of questions all afternoon.
As I wrote in a previous blog, there's only one thing Graham got right.
"Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed,"
he told Sotomayor.
She's showing that she has nerves of steel and expect to see more of them on day three of the hearings.
Filed under: politics, Supreme Court
Tags: Sen. Lindsey Graham, Senate hearings, sexism, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
Things like this make me so angry! What does your temperament have to do with your qualification to be a Supreme Court justice? Is he afraid she might hurt the other justices feelings with her brash personality?
It's ridiculous. Not only would you never ask a man these things, but why would it be a problem if she was angry, excitable and aggressive? Lots of public officials are. Why isn't it okay for a powerful woman like Sotomayor to be aggressive? I hope she is aggressive! What's so wrong with that?