Sotomayor

The hearings are over now, aren't they? I watched none of them: zero, zip, zilch. A few quotes in news articles were enough to convince me that the intellectual level of the hearings was about five years short of "ready for Mr. Rogers." I see no point in trying to look for edification by reading or watching anything more. Gail Collins, in Thursday's NYT, had an entertaining and amusing Reader's Digest version of the questioning:

SENATOR JEFF SESSIONS: Thank you, Chairman. Judge Sotomayor, let’s talk about empathy. I find it shocking that President Obama said that judges should have empathy. I hate empathy. My Republican colleagues hate empathy. In fact, I am proud to say that we’ve reached an all-time low in the “understands the problems of ordinary people” category.

Frank Rich, in today's NYT, has a blistering takedown of the 'pubblekin questioners.

Among Sotomayor’s questioners, both Coburn and Lindsey Graham are class of ’94. They — along with Jeff Sessions, a former Alabama attorney general best known for his unsuccessful prosecutions of civil rights activists — set the Republicans’ tone last week. In one of his many cringe-inducing moments, Graham suggested to Sotomayor that she had “a temperament problem” and advised that “maybe these hearings are a time for self-reflection.” That’s the crux of the ’94 spirit, even more than its constant, whiny refrain of white victimization: Hold others to a standard that you would not think of enforcing on yourself or your peers. Self-reflection may be mandatory for Sotomayor, but it certainly isn’t for Graham.

And that's enough for me.