Work Wednesday
Here comes the "E" word. No, not empathy, a word President Obama used in describing one of his requirements for a Supreme Court Justice. But close. Another "E" word. Emotion. And right on its heels - an "F" word. Feelings.
Yesterday, President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to be the next Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). In nominating Judge Sotomayor, Obama picked a Hispanic-American woman with a sharp intellect, stellar academic and professional credentials, and an inspiring story - she grew up in a housing project in the Bronx, lost her father when she was nine years old, and made her way to Princeton, Yale Law School, several prestigious jobs, and the federal bench. He also chose someone who has pledged to "understand, respect and respond to the concerns and arguments of all litigants who appear before [her]. . . ."
The announcement was "full of emotion," as Salon.com reported, "Sotomayor herself was obviously moved, and said so, and Obama himself observed that the judge's mother ‘has been a little choked up.’ It couldn't be free of emotion, not with Sotomayor's story." (Actually, I think her mom was weeping in the C-SPAN video, but what mother wouldn’t?) Other media outlets, such as The New York Times, played up the emotional aspects of the nomination, most in a benign human interest way.
The "E" word also made a more malevolent appearance. It debuted over the weekend when SenatorJon Kyl of Arizona made noise about filibustering the President's choice, which was then down to four women: Sotomayor, Judge Diane Wood, Solicitor General Elena Kagan, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Kyl -viewing the female deck - sounded the alarm about potential nominees who might make decisions based on "emotions or feelings or preconceived ideas . . . ."
After the press conference, Senator John Cornyn of Texas (and later Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell) picked up the theme, proclaiming that the judge must "prove her commitment to impartially deciding cases based on the law, rather than based on her own personal politics, feelings, and preferences."
Not to be outdone, Mike Huckabee - the not-so-genial-in-this-instance former Presidential contender - released a statementdecrying Obama’s pick of "Maria [sic] Sotomayor: "The notion that appellate court decisions are to be interpreted by the ‘feelings’ of the judge is a direct affront of the basic premise of our judicial system that is supposed to apply the law without personal emotion."
Although these guys would probably fulminate against any of Obama’s picks, I have the feeling (yes, feeling), that these Senators wouldn't be flinging around words like "emotion" and "feelings" if the nominee were a man - even given Obama's empathy standard. (In fact, a widely-disseminated Associated Press profile reports that Sotomayor's "shown an independent streak and an interest in separating emotion from interpretation of the law . . . ." ) The "E" word clearly is being used as a slur - not for the first time. Many women, especially professional women, are criticized as "emotional" if they express their views in an intense or forceful way, stand up for the underdog, or are less-than-cool when criticized.