Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings, Day 4, Witnesses

/in /by

Soon to come, Frank Ricci.

Bloomberg: Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all can support her, bc I have been all three. And we need her to have a SCOTUS judge from Brooklin, Bronx, and Queens.

Ricci: Firefighters have had to endure to vindicate civil rights. We have become more effective.  Too many think that firefighters just fight fires. Rescue works can be very technical require great deal of knowledge and skill. When you house is on fire or in jeopardy, no time for do-overs. Lieutenant test undoubtedly based on skills. All provided a road map for exam. Achievement about commitment and character. Cannot be handed out without consideration. Absentee father and husband because of it. Not enough African Americans. Such action deprived all of us rule of law. Important civil rights and constitutional claims we raised. Appeals court one paragraph. Mentioned my dyslexia. Nothing to do with that. Americans have right to be judged not on race or feelings. Very reason we have civil service rules, root out nepotism or discrimination. Making decisions on who should commend solely based on statistics. Bothered this greatly that some perceived this case as resulting in minorities completely excluded from promotions. They should now enjoy career advancement they deserve. 

[Doesn’t that mean Latina Soto would have ruled for you and those Latinos?]

Ricci: We sought basic fairness. 

Vargas (another of the plaintiffs): Congratualte Soto on her nomination. Focus should not have been on me being Hispanic. My own govt and some courts responded to that. They didn’t care.  I played by the rules. Endured long process of asking courts to play by the rules. 

Durbin: Did Soto win a bunch of awards because of a quotas?

Chavez: No. She was not prepared. 

Durbin: That would make it an amazing story then.

Chavez: I wish what she was telling Latinos that if you take home books, blah blah blah. I made this a story about racial quotas but I’m gonna claim that she’s the one making the claim.

Morganthau: I took a look at her resume. Common sense and judgment. The fact that she was Latino or Latina had nothing to do with it. One of founding directors of PRDF. Way unrepresented minority.

image_print
  2. scribe says:

    This ought to be fun, since it seems he’s something of a resume-plumper.

    Do you think we can hope for Haggis/Scrapple to go all Anita Hill on him? (Be still, my heart!)

    What will be Captain Ricci’s “Long Dong Silver” moment? Will there be one?

  7. Hugh says:

    The panels are a waste of time. Ricci will get 10 seconds on national news and that will be that. Neither the media nor the GOP appear interested in another Joe the Plumber.

  9. nonplussed says:

    Ricci has that good old indignant righteous quavering to his voice. I wonder whose staffer wrote his speech?

  10. foothillsmike says:

    The guy who is reading now should use his finger like Ricci did – might come across better. /s

    • esseff44 says:

      If you don’t know it, that is a technique that certain dyslexics use in order to be able to read. It’s not something that should be made fun of. It’s like wearing glasses or a hearing aid.

  15. demi says:

    But Ricci put photos of his kids up above his desk while he studied. Doesn’t that count for something? I could not believe his statement.
    Sorry guy. Lots of people work hard and have kids too. Not that everyone needs to have them.
    And, how much is this costing us?

    • nomolos says:

      I detest his whining. He is really worried about any threat, perceived or otherwise, to the lily white status quo which he holds so dear. The “good ‘ol southern boy” likes having all the money and all the power and is truly offended when anyone not a white male dares stand up to his schoolboy questions and scarcely hidden bigotry. The Senate needs an enema.

  18. Hugh says:

    Re Kirsanow, from my Bush scandals list:

    232. And another. Peter Kirsanow an arch-conservative opponent of affirmative action was named on December 6, 2001 by direct appointment to a 6 year term on the Civil Rights Commission by President Bush. The appointment was contested but ultimately confirmed by the DC Court of Appeals in May 2002. On July 19, 2002, Kirsanow said that if there were another terrorist attack, “you can forget civil rights in this country” and that if it came from a certain ethnic community “I think we will have a return to Korematsu.” (Korematsu was the Supreme Court decision validating the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II). As a Civil Rights Commissioner, he had a report critical of Bush’s civil rights record removed from the commission’s site and testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the Supreme Court nominations of both John Roberts and Samuel Alito.
    On November 16, 2005 and again on February 10, 2006, he was nominated to the National Labor Relations Board. He was given a recess appointment on January 4, 2006 by Bush. Kirsanow’s labor background is that of an anti-union attorney opposed to the minimum wage.

    The guy reeks of credibility doesn’t he? Or maybe he just reeks.

      • Hugh says:

        Linda Chavez was more of a Reaganite Republican. She doesn’t really seem to have ever stuck with anything in her life except for the inaptly named Center for Equal Opportunity which she founded in 1995 and her time as the editor of American Educator 1977-1983. Her whole career otherwise is a series of “left” and “withdrew froms”. In the Bush II years, she mismanaged some PACs and used them to hire family but that is about it. Her main claim to fame is that she is a harsh critic of affirmative action preferring instead the tokenism of the Republican party with its system of wingnut welfare.

  21. Loo Hoo. says:

    Ew. That jerk that made Marcy say blow job is on with Schuster again. This time he’s talking about how bad the stimulus bill is. He’s got that same smirky smile too.

  23. GregB says:

    Brietbart is running the GOP counter offensive on his website.

    Some pud-pounder from the Black Chamber of Commerce is accusing Barbara boxer of being a racist.

    Remember, all those years of outrage from the right about how accusations of racism were offensive and stifling to debate.

    Now they scream racism at the drop of a cracker.

    The white man will rise again!

    -G

  26. cinnamonape says:

    Yes, it’s never pointed out that the main point man for these convoluted interpretations of the Second Amendment is the NRA’s “bought fellow” at George Mason.

    Nelson Lund argues that the citizen militia should be Constitutionally allowed to “bear” any weapon that the US military has in its arsenal. He argues, yes, that means fully automatic machine guns…but there is no restriction to that also referring to Abrams tanks, white phosphorous bombs, F-4 Fighter-Bombers, ground-to-air missiles, and nuclear weapons.

    http://www.volokh.com/posts/1202630795.shtml