Gingrich Calls On Sotomayor To Withdraw Because She’s A ‘Latina Woman Racist’
Gingrich Calls On Sotomayor To Withdraw Because She’s A ‘Latina Woman Racist’
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich posted on his Twitter feed today a call for Judge Sonia Sotomayor to withdraw her nomination because she is a “Latina woman racist.” As evidence of her supposed racism, Gingrich posted an out-of-context quote from a lecture that Sotomayor gave in 2001 on diversity. Gingrich wrote, “new racism is no better than old racism” and added:
As Greg Sargent notes, Gingrich’s demand that Sotomayor withdraw was later retweeted — which is “generally taken as a sign of agreement” — by the RNC’s new media director, Todd Herman. When asked about Gingrich’s comment during today’s White House press conference, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs responded by noting that “the blog of a former lawmaker” is hardly the best source of objective information on Sotomayor:
GIBBS: I think it is probably important for any involved in this debate to be exceedingly careful with the way in which they’ve decided to describe different aspects of the impending confirmation. I think we’re satisfied that when the people of America and the people of the Senate get a chance to look at more than just the blog of a former lawmaker that they’ll come to the same conclusion that the President did.
Watch it:
Noting Gingrich’s offensive Twitter post, ABC’s Jake Tapper asked, “Will [the] ousted Speaker impact [his] former colleagues on Hill?” So far, it looks like Gingrich may not have to. Indeed, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) said yesterday that he is worried that Sotomayor might allow “undue influence from her own personal race, gender, or political preferences” affect her rulings, while Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) said similarly that he believes that Sotomayor has shown “personal bias based on ethnicity and gender.”
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The intellectual bankrupcy of this is just embarassing. Gingrich knows better but has no shame. There wasnt anything reacist in what she said. None of the quotes the right is trying to attack her with were anything but statements of obvious fact for anyone with more than a room temperature IQ. I cant believe even the rightwing is stupid enough to buy into this idiocy
May 27th, 2009 at 2:48 pmre inhofe’s comments: would someone please tell inhofe what happened when bush v. gore got to the supreme court? if he thinks that the supreme court should be free of “influence from [the justices'] own personal race, gender, or political preferences” then he needs to be edumacated.
May 27th, 2009 at 2:53 pm***
sit back, relax and watch
the republican party circle the drain.
;\
May 27th, 2009 at 2:54 pmIt’s no surprise that the right wing smear machine was primed to go the moment that Sotomayor’s name was announced. What is surprising that the usually veiled references to race and gender are being shouted from the rooftops. It looks as if the right wing isn’t even caring about hiding its sexist/racist underpinnings anymore.
May 27th, 2009 at 2:54 pmyou’d think they would learn to stfu.
nope.
May 27th, 2009 at 2:55 pmI think it was Newts sister that called him a cynic.
May 27th, 2009 at 2:57 pmThere is only one response:
Liar, liar, big tent on fire!
May 27th, 2009 at 2:57 pmBasic fact – Sotomayor is going to be confirmed. The dems don’t even need the republicans’ votes in the Senate, and Specter and Snowe already seem very supportive of her. I’m betting her confirmation will go through without a hitch.
So, why are the GOP fighting it so hard? This is a very dumb move strategically. All they will succeed in doing is looking hypocritical, (they supported her when she was nominated by HW Bush) and further alienating Hispanic voters. If Michael Steele actually knew anything about strategy (and if he actually had any influence within the republican party) he would tell them to save what precious arrows they have left for more important fights.
May 27th, 2009 at 2:57 pmPresident Obama promised a new level of transparency in government. Who would have thought the Republicans would have listened so well?
May 27th, 2009 at 2:58 pmGingrich posted an out-of-context quote…
It is really telling when the only way a party can make a point is by taking quotes out of context. The sad thing is that the MSM will never point out that what he said is out of context.
I hope President Obama has plans to roll back the law that Clinton, to his ever loving shame signed, allowing the current media consolidation. The only way we will ever have an independent fourth estate is to break up the conservative conglomerate holdings of our MSM.
On the other hand, the MSM may be killing itself off as we speak. Every day more and more people turn to the Internet for their news and opinion and the Internet is one place the conservatives can’t control.
May 27th, 2009 at 2:59 pmYou would think by now that anyone with more important things to do like scrub a toilet would start ignoring Newt’s tweets….
These people are a joke..Don’t you get it yet??
May 27th, 2009 at 3:00 pmNotice how the “White man racist” would be “forced” to withdraw, whereas Gingrich thinks she should withdraw voluntarily, give way so to speak, oh so obediently.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:01 pmThe tent is getting smaller by the hour
May 27th, 2009 at 3:02 pmGosh, couldn’t this be said about anyone? Courts in this country have a wonderful history of protecting the status (white male) quo. These are the same guys who oppose any efforts to overthrow laws and rules designed to oppress people who don’t look or act like them.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:02 pmSoon, not even a 140 character tweet will fit in the big tent
May 27th, 2009 at 3:04 pmChris LeJeune Says:
So, why are the GOP fighting it so hard? This is a very dumb move strategically. All they will succeed in doing is looking hypocritical, (they supported her when she was nominated by HW Bush) and further alienating Hispanic voters. If Michael Steele actually knew anything about strategy (and if he actually had any influence within the republican party) he would tell them to save what precious arrows they have left for more important fights.
May 27th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
_______________
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH don’t spoil it!
May 27th, 2009 at 3:06 pmwhy not go the extra mile and say disgraced former lawmaker
May 27th, 2009 at 3:06 pmwow… just wow…
May 27th, 2009 at 3:07 pmMr. Bold New Ideas is reading off a script already hammed up by 20 other Repukes.
These morons wait by the fax every morning for Frank Luntz to tell them what to put in their coffee.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:08 pmThat’s your way-back machine GOP in action! More hatred and vitriol straight from Limbaugh’s butt into Newt’s mouth.
Good Lord, did the GOP forget to turn the calendar 12 years ago???
May 27th, 2009 at 3:08 pmShorter GOP-
We scared as hell of the future.
Because the future will find the white “race” to be SO in the minority (news to them: Worldwide, they already are.)
May 27th, 2009 at 3:10 pmI’d like to hear Obama or at least a spokesman say something like:
Some have raised concerns that Sonia Sotomayor would show bias based on her ethnicity and/or gender. Let me assure you that Judge Sotomayor will indeed be making decisions in a biased fashion – toward people. And that is what empathy is.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:10 pmYou know, the Latinas I know are a force to be reckoned with. If the GOP keeps on with this way they have of referring to Sotomayor with a sneer in their voice (you know, like the way they say the word ‘liberal’), well they’re not going to forget that for a very long time.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:11 pmWhen twice-divorced, hypocritical adulterer Gingrich is the GOP’s Man of the Hour, you know that party is circling the drain . . .
May 27th, 2009 at 3:12 pmLater, Gingrich got on his Swatch phone and totally asked Laura Ingraham to the Prom!
May 27th, 2009 at 3:12 pm“White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw.”
They’ve devolved to the point of using me-Tarzan grunt-speak now? Awesome. But now my “knuckle-dragger” jibes won’t have the same bite they used to…
.
Chris LeJeune Says:
So, why are the GOP fighting it so hard? This is a very dumb move strategically.
They had been poised to attack whoever Obama nominated regardless of why, based on the age-old political strategy “SCOTUS nom fight be good way to rally party, ugh ugh.” However, nothing that made past SCOTUS fights so effective is present here – i.e. anything to fight about. So they’re just running straight off the rails. As you point out, the only result of all this will be them spouting racist crap for a few weeks and then losing, which is the last thing they need.
You’d think that “party discipline” would kick in and they’d more carefully word what they say. In fact, Steele explicitly urged them to be extremely careful. But they don’t like to listen to Steele for some reason… I can’t quite put my finger on what it is about him that makes them all refuse to take orders from him… must be something. Maybe his glasses.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:13 pmNewt will say anything that Carl Rove tells him to say.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:15 pmThey know they can’t defeat the confirmation. So all they can hope to do is ratchet up the heat to the point that she chooses to withdraw. That’s the only political victory they can hope for at this point.
Scorched-earth politics at its worst. But it’s all the GOP knows how to do.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:16 pmI have said it before and I will say it again
The Truth is Republican Men have a problem with Strong Women.
Republican Woman they have representing them
Michelle Bachman
Sarah Palin
Dana Perino
Mika Brzezinski
Miss California
Ann Coulter
Elisabeth Hasselbeck
Virginia Foxx
The entire women on Fox News
Harriet Meyers
Mary Maltin — And the weakness of their Women goes on and on
Now compare their women to the Strength of Democratic Party
Barbara Boxer (who cannot stand Mika Brzezinski)
May 27th, 2009 at 3:17 pmHillary Clinton
Dee Dee Meyers
Nancy Pelosi
MSNBC Women – Contessa, Tamron, Norah and Rachel
(Rachel Maddow especially known for her takes down of Joe Scarborough on Race to the White)
Maxine Waters
Claire McCaskill
Kathleen Selibus
Sheila Jackson Lee
Amy Klobuchar
Barney Frank (Known for his take down of Joe Scarborough on Real Time with Bill Maher)
Debbie Wasserman-Schultz!
KIKI MCLEAN — And the strength of our women goes on and on
Sonia Sotomayor
Heh.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:17 pmShorter: Me Newt. You woman. Me Scared.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:19 pmSo, everyone should take the word of an ex-lawmaker who cheated on his bedridden, cancer stricken wife?
Not so much.
Fcuk the Republic Fascist Party
May 27th, 2009 at 3:19 pmzxbe Says:
They know they can’t defeat the confirmation. So all they can hope to do is ratchet up the heat to the point that she chooses to withdraw.
Oh God, this is going to backfire so awesomely all over them. That’s not gonna happen. But if they think they can make that happen, then they’re going to have to get extremely personal and extremely ugly first.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:20 pmChris LeJeune Says:
So, why are the GOP fighting it so hard? This is a very dumb move strategically. All they will succeed in doing is looking hypocritical, (they supported her when she was nominated by HW Bush) and further alienating Hispanic voters.
The GOP will fight the nomination due to their reputation. They don’t care about alienating others, as long as they can preserve their core values and remind Americans how important those core principles are when the right time comes around. They think that sticking to their guns will make them the perfect heroes when the status quo gets shifted and calls for America to be defended from threats outside of the immediate liberal “agenda”.
If they don’t fight the nomination, they’ll alienate their own alliance, as small as it is. It’s either alienating their current membership or potential members. Either way, it’s a loss-loss situation.
Of course, the GOP using Twitter to provide their short-attention-span thoughts on the matter doesn’t help at all.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:21 pm“undue influence from her own personal race, gender, or political preferences”
May 27th, 2009 at 3:22 pmIsn’t that what Alito, Scalia and Roberts do daily?
From the mouth of a real Social Darwinist…and LOOSER Extraordinaire…
May 27th, 2009 at 3:23 pmWho is the white male racist that had to withdraw? Was this recently? Miers is a closet white male racist?
May 27th, 2009 at 3:25 pmAll judges have biases. That is simple human nature. The US Supreme Court has, historically, had predominately white rich male judges from privileged backgrounds.
Since this is the background that the leaders of the Republican Party come from, they want to perpetuate that bias, and will do any thing they can to make sure that other viewpoints are not represented on the Supreme Court.
The United States will not advance in the future until the Supreme Court, Congress, and even the Executive branch reflect a more realistic cross section of the US population.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:26 pmThis is a great political move by the Publicans.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:28 pmShrink that tent down, kick out Latino/Latinas, women and keep on shrinkin that base!
Palin/Gingrich 2012!!!
Wow, it’s fun to see the GOP working so hard to retain that ignorant white male vote.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:29 pmGeez, the Goopers are just dumping their stupid all over the place.
And this same person was put on the bench by Bush #41, but because Obama nominates her for SCOTUS, all the racist morons come out of the woodwork.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:30 pmMeanwhile, the illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continue… Pakistan is the scene of new War Crimes, under Obama’s watch!
TP seems to be concerning too much about Democrats and Republicans bickery and little concern about the continuation of Bush’s policies…
For example: This is from ALTERNET.COM…
I found the last few weeks more substantial news at:
DEMOCRACY.NOW
ALTERNET.COM
THERAWSTORY
THE REALNEWS
TP is focusing too much on the stupidity that comes out from the mouth of War Criminals and traitors like Rove & Co.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:30 pmIt seems the GNOP has decided that their future doesn’t depend on courting the teeny tiny segment of the electorate known as Hispanics and the rest of the population who just don’t cotton to blatant racism.
Why don’t they just call her a wetback beaner and get it out of their systems?
PEACE
May 27th, 2009 at 3:31 pmKeep supporting racism thinkprogress, your brainwashed zombies are eating it up!
May 27th, 2009 at 3:33 pmJohnM Says:
Keep supporting racism thinkprogress, your brainwashed zombies are eating it up!
May 27th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
____________
The only way this site is supporting racism is by allowing you to continue posting.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:35 pmJohnM Says:
Keep supporting racism thinkprogress, your brainwashed zombies are eating it up!
BRAAAAINS OM NOM NOM NOM ACK PBBT
Doesn’t taste like brain! Me was tricked!
May 27th, 2009 at 3:38 pmBrainwashed, Johnny? You’re the one regurgitating the marching orders issued yesterday.
My local moviehouse is in dire need of a projectionist, John.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:40 pmNewt Gingrich is talking about racism. That’s rich.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:43 pmKeep supporting racism thinkprogress, your brainwashed zombies are eating it up!
—–
May 27th, 2009 at 3:45 pmYou don’t really buy this premise do you? The race thing is a canard which has been ratcheted up by those who will say no no matter what this president does on any topic. I’ll bet you believed that Al Gore said he invented the internet and that Clinton staffers trashed the WH…Am I correct?
She’ll show those potatoes on the Supreme Court. Poor Alito won’t have his wife around to do the crying once Soto gets through with him.
Say HELLO, JohnM.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:48 pmHow deliciously feeble and pathetic Ol’ Newt’s criticisms have become.
I’m beginning to believe that the GOP (God! nO Progress)
May 27th, 2009 at 3:51 pmbrain bank is finally nearing “Closed for lack of sufficient funds”
JohnM
My GOD you are stupid. Sotomayer said nothing racist. The fact you are just TOO stupid to understand what was said doesnt mean it is racist. The fact you WISH it were racist doesnt make it racist. It just shows how stupid you are.
May 27th, 2009 at 3:52 pmHey Johnny…I think Larry Craig is looking for you and bad purple mushroom in Minnesota…
May 27th, 2009 at 3:53 pmOf late, the Republicans are fantastic at one thing; putting their own necks in the political noose. They used to own the Hispanic vote, guess they just don’t care about them any more.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:04 pmHatred has been adopted by the Republican Party as a means of providing unity to the base. This tactic was borrowed from the Nazis. Nazis clearly hated the Jews, and blacks, and just about anyone that wasn’t Arian. The logic behind it is simple, if you hate the same groups that I hate, we have something in common.
One of the groups Republicans has chosen to hate is immigrants. Since most immigrants that are currently an issue in the United States are from the southwest, immigrants means Hispanics.
I have been paying attention to all the groups the Republicans have chosen to hate, and the list is truly staggering. It includes woman, blacks, Hispanics, homosexuals, pot smokers, atheists, Communists, Marxists, Leftists, Democrats, terrorists, and the poor. Republicans are even willing to adopt new groups to hate on the fly, as evidenced by the “freedom fries” incident. This list is by no means comprehensive because the Republican strategy is to hate anyone that is convenient for the purpose of party unity.
It would not matter whom Obama appointed. The Wingnuts were going to attack anyway. If you know your opponents are going to attack anyone you choose, you choose someone that will let them showcase their hatred.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:10 pmI can’t help but laugh at the utter, bed-wetting, cowardice of the Reichwhiners. Though it does open the question as to how they became so disproportionately represented in the first place.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:11 pmEight years ago, the Republicans were toasting one another on their permanent political hegemony…
Today, they’re making snarky little cracks on Twitter.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:11 pmWhat is the difference between the white supremacist cant of the KKK and the Republican platform?
Percale sheets.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:18 pmHey Newt, I know the “racist” part didn’t bother you, but which part did bother you more-”latina” or “woman?”
May 27th, 2009 at 4:19 pmJust curious!
Rove himself hasn’t yet graduated from any college or university. I’m sure it galls him no end to feel secretly inferior to the undeserved legacy crowd.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:19 pmRepublicans can lie because they know their voters are stupid.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:23 pmWhat about an African-American male sexual harasser — would he be forced to withdraw?
Just sayin’…
May 27th, 2009 at 4:23 pm… to the same clipped quote the Republican use to fool stupid people?
I would pay cash money to watch her laugh at your dumb ass.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:25 pmOMG! Gingrich is NUTS!
May 27th, 2009 at 4:26 pmOK everyone just calm down. What Sotomayor was talking about in her Berkeley speech is the importance of diversity in our judges. This speech is a call for all types of judges, white males included but also others, because ? personal experiences affect the facts that judges choose to see. ?
She said, ? I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived her life, ? in the context of deciding sex and racial discrimination cases. Just like in deciding an antitrust case, a judge who only had the experience of being a big corporate CEO might look at the case differently than a judge who only had the experience of being a small business owner.
Now you can agree or disagree with her sentiment that having judges with varying personal experiences makes the judicial system better. But calling her a racist because of it is completely and utterly INACCURATE. Once again I fear the conservative bigots will win on spinning this one.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:27 pmOf course, she also said this:
But I’m sure the Republicans will tell their cattle that that was racist, too.
Like they ever say anything else.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:27 pmIt is the measure of Republican weakness that all they can do is lie about what Sotomayor said.
No wonder they can’t govern worth a damn.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:28 pmI’ll take that bet, CFP. I predict that she will be confirmed with unanimous GOP dissent.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:28 pmIt warms the cockles of our hearts to see the GOP Southern Strategy proved. As Gingrich and the other Southern GOP are taking their sheets and hoods out of the trunk and to the cleaners for their upcoming night ride.
However, you would expect Gingrich, the history teacher, to know that Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate Lieutenant General, while elected as the Grand Wizard in 1867, repudiated his allegiance with and denied that he formed the Klan.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:35 pmThe Dogfather Says:
What about an African-American male sexual harasser — would he be forced to withdraw?
Well, he’d be a racist for being African-American, obviously. But he also keeps the uppity broads in their place, so it would average out.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:40 pmConservativeForProgress Says:
“I hope that a wise White man with the richness of his experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a Latina woman who hasn’t lived that life.”
May 27th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
___________
It depends on the context. However, that statement coming from a white male has a much more racially-insensitive overtone than it does coming from a woman or a person of color. That’s just the way it is.
Yeah, it’s a double standard. We live in a country built on double-standards. Get over it.
May 27th, 2009 at 4:41 pmYou wanna talk racism, twitterboy . .
Wonder what Newt the unemployed, blogging serial marrier thinks of Liberty University’s policy of NO interracial dating. Looks like racism in the name of Jesus! Wonder what Jesus thinks about Liberty’s racism, hmmmmm . .
May 27th, 2009 at 4:50 pmConservativeForProgress
Stop it. STop playing the dunce. Take the entire quote IN CONTEXT the fact she was specifically talking about race and gender cases the fact she AKNOWLEDGED white men CAN AND HAVE when she said THIS
I, like Professor Carter, believe that we should not be so myopic as to believe that others of different experiences or backgrounds are incapable of understanding the values and needs of people from a different group. Many are so capable. As Judge Cedarbaum pointed out to me, nine white men on the Supreme Court in the past have done so on many occasions and on many issues including Brown.
All this has been explained so either stop LYING or stop playing dumb. There isnt any possibility this can be spun as racist unless you are willing to be dishonest
May 27th, 2009 at 5:11 pmConservativeForProgress Says:
82. ED: You missed the point. Perhaps I wasn’t clear. My point wasn’t that she is or isn’t a racist. My points were: 1. That it is fair to ask her about this and give her a chance to explain it; and 2. If a white man had made a similar comment, it would be labeled racist.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
No I didnt miss it you are just WRONG. 1 she doesnt need to make any further explanations since in context it explains itself and isnt even controversial. 2. No he wouldnt not if he were making the argument that HIS specific experiences made him IN GENERAL a better judge of cases having to do with HIS SPECIFIC EXPERIENCES. It would have to be in a completely different context because being the MAJORITY, in the group WITH the power is not the same as being the one OUT of power. There can be no reasonable argument it IS the same thing.
May 27th, 2009 at 5:28 pmConservativeForProgress Says:
Getting over a double standard is not Progress. I’m looking a step beyond you to a day where there are no double standards. Can you see that far?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You cant get to the ONE without going through the other cant you see THAT? There have been and still are lingering effects to racial discrimination. Just PRETENDING that all racism and all its effects have disappeared is not dealing with reality. That day will hopefully come but it is not here yet and pretending it is will only FURTHER the racial disparities.
May 27th, 2009 at 5:33 pmEat sh*t, Newt.
May 27th, 2009 at 6:17 pmGingrich- the epitome of white male sexist. He’s a pig, with no respect for women or immigrants whatsoever. Please, someone hit him in the face with questions such as– You hate her because she’s Latina? Because she’s a woman? Because you, as a privileged white male, find any other point of view- ‘racist’? Because you have always degraded women, & you’re afraid she might respect women?
May 27th, 2009 at 6:25 pmDon’t let this ignorant, sexist, hateful jerk get away with this crap.
Watch the neoConfederates, hoopin and hollerin and shit about a “racist” woman of color! Oh, Newt! The indignation! Irony, much?
May 27th, 2009 at 7:24 pmConservativeForProgress Says:
Getting over a double standard is not Progress. I’m looking a step beyond you to a day where there are no double standards.
No you’re not.
Pretending there are no existing double standards is not progress. Accusing people who are trying to help us move beyond racism of being racists is not progress. Accusing people who even point out that racism exists of being racists is not progress.
May 27th, 2009 at 8:29 pmThank you..
seslisohbet seslichat sesli sohbet sesli chat
May 27th, 2009 at 9:19 pmGingrich Calls On Sotomayor To Withdraw Because She’s A ‘Latina Woman’
Fixed.
May 27th, 2009 at 10:33 pmGingrich, the former college professor, obviously is unaware that to say “Latina woman” is redundant. A Latina is a woman, Congressman Serial Adulterer/Hypocrite.
May 28th, 2009 at 12:23 amSonia Sotomayor is not a racist.
Sonia Sotomayor will benefit the U.S. Supreme Court immensely.
Respectfully Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
May 28th, 2009 at 2:30 amB.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
With that statement, Gingrich can forget the female votes and the Latino votes if he chooses to run for president in 2012. I just love the way the Repubs keep opening their mouths spilling out the truth about who they really are… hateful, greedy racists.
May 28th, 2009 at 8:24 amThe GOP can be summed up in one quote from movie “Midnight express”. “Does the bad machine know its a bad machine”.
May 28th, 2009 at 8:50 am