A Rant

While understandably excited to watch the confirmation of our first Latina woman on the Supreme Court (and only the THIRD woman to serve), I can't help but be pissed off at the conservative conversations happening in the media. Here is an intelligent, hard working woman who graduated from Princeton undergrad and Yale law School. She has, as far as I can tell, risen from a working class family (in which her father had a third grade education and did not even speak English) to become a judge in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. I am not sure how much hard work it requires to become a judge. I don't even know how much work Yale Law School might be. I know that grad school takes a lot of determination, intelligence, perseverance and the right attitude. I imagine Sotomayor has all of these and more. I would like to think that Obama saw in her the same pragmatic attitude he has, having come from a working class family and having risen to the Presidency. I would like to think her decisions as a judge have been well thought out and have been based on precident as well as the laws on the books. Nobody really knows. However, I will not stand for this blatant racism, saying she is the product of affirmative action - that she never would have made it this far without racial quotas. I'm sorry, but what? We are talking about a wildly sucessful 55 year old woman, here. Someone who has clearly planned her life journey according to certain values, one who has worked her ass off to get where she is today. It has nothing to do with her race! Don't diminsh he accomplishments by saying they only occurred because of affirmative action. Don't deny young women a role model they can look up to; don't deny the Hispanic culture the right to celebrate this nomination.
I guess the idea is taken with a grain of salt, right? If that's the worst thing they can come up with to say about her, so be it. You and I know the real story. She's an amazing woman, a role model we can all admire. And I dare her to confront those stuffy old white men on that damn Supreme Court. Let's see how well "affirmative action" works for us!