Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Sotomayor Part 2

I continue to watch the Sotomayor hearings and I am intrigued by the questioning of Senator Lindsay Graham (R. South Carolina). I think that the demeanor and approach to his questioning was much more diplomatic and graceful than Senator Kyl's. Or perhaps, they were just sugar coated with southern charm. I'm not sure and I know I'm not qualified to make character judgments on someone I don't know.

But, here are some things that I noticed which seemed to hold a different tone:

- His admiration of Sotomayor and his questioning of her temperment on the second circuit. I think he raised some good points about her character and challenged her to examine it.
- His pointing out of her record of judgement
- His challenging of Sotomayor's "wise Latina" comment and how if the tables were turned he would be in the hot seat and how he recognized and affirmed the fact that we all should have a second chance for the things in which we say
- His ability to help see the human side of Sotomayor when asking questions about her reaction to the attacks of 9/11/01.
- His encouragement for Sotomayor to think about and entertain certain concepts and thoughts

However, I do think that he raised hot button issues (abortion, war, death penalty) in a subtle manner and I thought there was a very slight tone of condescension at some points - but very slight. I wonder if some would see his southern charm holding the ability to seem nice and yet pull out the big issues...

I'm not saying that he's my new hero but I do see a different tone to his questioning than I have yet seen thus far. I think his delivery method was an intelligent approach.

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