When Bush 41 nominated Sonya Sotomayor to a federal judgeship Senator Orin Hatch assisted with her confirmation through the Senate. When Bill Clinton nominated her for a promotion Senator Orin Hatch voted for her. Now all of the sudden he is opposing her nomination to the Supreme Court. This is the first time in his long career in the Senate that he is opposing a nominee for the Supreme Court.
I almost never agree with Sen. Hatch but I have always thought he was not a rabid partisan but someone very committed to his conservative views. He always seemed reasonable or at least spoke about things in a reasonable tone. He is the man credited for getting Ted Kennedy to clean up his life. So I am surprised by this turn of events.
He said in his statement that her philosophy trumps her stellar record. Does not one reflect the other? How can you separate the two? Another reason was that she was not the right Hispanic, he said he wished the President had nominated another Hispanic because he really wanted to vote for one. Huh? What did he mean by that? Does he mean there are the right kind of Hispanic people and there are wrong kind of Hispanic people? Are the right ones like Alberto Gonzalez? Are the right ones Mexican or Central Americans and the bad ones from Puerto Rico? Are the bad ones Wise Latinas and the good ones constitution violators of Mexican descent? I am so baffled by that statement how sputter every time I read it.
I once respected Orin Hatch but now I fear, he is no better than the likes of Rick Santorum.
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