Sotomayor, the GOP and Latinos

Why would I need to? You do understand that the cable media outlets INTENTIONALLY cater to certain demographics, right? It's no mystery that Beck is on the right and Olbermann is on the left. The entire premise of the Hannity and Colmes show is to present a spin on both sides. That's the whole friggin' point!Where it becomes a problem is when the major networks show bias on the nightly news. That's not journalism, that's favoritism.The nightly news is supposed to have a kind of clinical detachment. They're not opinion columns like Beck, Hannity and Colmes, and Olbermann are. No, I mean the Republicans are calling her racist. Who fucking cares, as if this is some how a new revelalation? Is this thread about Republicans and Democrats think, what the media thinks, or is this thread about what we on the forum collectively think? Because I'm not really sure at this point. Because hypocrisy is an ugly trait. It's horseshit to point fingers at one side as if the other side isn't doing the same exact thing. Democrats and Republicans are just different sides of the same exact coin. The point is that it's the same coin.Quite frankly the polarization is tearing the country apart. There's no more North versus South... Now it is Democrat versus Republican. It's a tragedy. I really wish things could be different, because all it does is weaken us from within. Oh noes!!!Speculate the night away. Doesn't bother me in the least.

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"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear." Thomas Jefferson

Sensory Depravation responds to me:

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If not, then you have no justification in questioning me.

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I have every right to question your ability to speak with any sort of authority or validity with regard to someone else's statements. I do not need to know what her opinions are in order to show that you don't know what they are, either.Since it is clear that the only thing you have managed to acquire is what other people have told you to think about her, then it is obvious to all but the most casual observer that you don't know what she thinks. Especially since it is trivial to find the actual statements she made and find that she didn't say what you were told she said.Please, let's not be disingenuous and think that I'm talking about a physical string of phonemes issuing forth from her mouth. I'm referring to the meaning behind the words. For example, to note that a single sentence out of an hour-long speech is not exactly indicative of what she was trying to say.

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I wonder if you applied the same rationale to Alito or Roberts, since evidenced by your posts you pander to right-leaning character assassination and left-leaning politicking.

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Do you have any evidence of me having done so? I certainly admit to being a liberal, but I don't recall discussing Alito or Roberts much. Certainly not with you.I would point out that Alito said much the same thing as Sotomayor (practically word for word) with regard to her statements about how one's past experiences affect one's ability to judge, and somehow it wasn't considered a problem with the Republican said it.You were talking about "pandering"?

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I take the centrist position whenever feasible

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I personally don't believe that with regard to you and point out that even if it were true for you, it is a logical error to do so. Yes, yes, I know you said, "feasible," but let's not pretend that means you pay attention.

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All I need to know about her has come straight from her mouth. That's public information.

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I never said otherwise. What I pointed out is that all you know "straight from her mouth" would fit on one side of a piece of paper.Three thousand decisions she was involved in, and the big thing everybody's talking about is a single sentence she made as part of an hour-long speech? Let's not pretend that you are "distinguishing the good from the bad on their own merits."You're letting other people do your thinking for you.

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I don't need media snippets to formulate an opinion.

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There's so much wrong with that statement that it's hard to know where to begin.First, opinions are formulated on the flimsiest of justifications. Let's not pretend that you don't do so.Second, all you have are media snippets. It's clear that you haven't actually bothered to trace back the statements she is reported to have made to discover their full and complete context.

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Again, the information comes straight from her not Newt Gingrich, Nancy Pelosi, FOX, or CBS.

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Huh? A single sentence out of an hour-long speech is enough to tell you what she was really saying in the speech?That isn't "her words." That's what the right-wing echo machine wants you to know, hoping against hope that you won't bother to do your homework to find out if they were actually being truthful in their claims and weren't hacking the statements to shreds in order to make a political point.

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Rrhain

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Thank you for your submission to Science. Your paper was reviewed by a jury of seventh graders so that they could look for balance and to allow them to make up their own minds. We are sorry to say that they found your paper "bogus," specifically describing the section on the laboratory work "boring." We regret that we will be unable to publish your work at this time.

Sensory Depravation responds to me:

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You didn't even look at their coverage of Beck, did you?

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Why would I need to?

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Because if you're going to accuse a source as being "biased," then it would help if you had actually examined their statements in order to be able to justify that claim.Since you haven't examined Media Matters' coverage of beck, how do you know that it is "biased"?You see, rather than providing a single sentence out of a larger statement and reacting to it, Media Matters provides the full and complete context.How is that "biased"?

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Where it becomes a problem is when the major networks show bias on the nightly news.

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Indeed. The conservative bias of the major network shows is very sad. It has long been established that the common media, out of fear of being called "biased" by the conservatives, have bent over backwards to provide coverage of their claims without any analysis or journalistic effort to investigate the accuracy."Al Gore said he invented the internet!"Well, no...no, he didn't. He didn't even imply it. But a conservative fool said he did and the mass media picked up on it and ran with it without any investigation to see if it were true.Instead, mass media have become not only stenographers, they have become incompetent stenographers: They make stuff up.

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Because hypocrisy is an ugly trait.

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But nobody has said the Democrats don't do it. This thread was about the Repbulicans actions. Therefore, what does the action of Democrats have to do with anything? Just because somebody else breaks a law, that justifies your crime?

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The point is that it's the same coin.

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And thus, jaywalking is equivalent to murder.

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Quite frankly the polarization is tearing the country apart.

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Indeed. And it will keep being a problem so long as the mass media runs scared from journalism and the populace think anybody who tells them something other than what they already think is "biased."And it would help if people stopped trying to play the "I'm an indepdent" game when they're not.

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Rrhain

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Thank you for your submission to Science. Your paper was reviewed by a jury of seventh graders so that they could look for balance and to allow them to make up their own minds. We are sorry to say that they found your paper "bogus," specifically describing the section on the laboratory work "boring." We regret that we will be unable to publish your work at this time.

I see it as the pres trying to put an activist judge on the supreme court.It is not really an issue in the anglo? (what do you mean by anglo) community, I think the country is starting into its death throes, and I am rather apathetic as to what is going on down the road.Racist GOP!?! Roflmao no way. I think you are confused. Word.
Wonderfully stated.
I find it rather lame they toot their own horn all the time about their diversity. Besides that, what is meant by Anglo? Do you mean white? Because if I am to infer that Latino I would say Hispanic, but If I were to Infer Anglo I would say British descendants. Hispanics can by definition be white people. I am White, but I am not Anglo. I am more German Ancestry than anything else. There are a lot of German Descendants in Places like Paraguay, Argentina, and Mexico, who are just as white as I am, yet who were born in Latin America, and speak Spanish as their Native Language, who are culturally part of these nations. Are they Latino and White? I would say they are. Your divining line is not very clear as based on race/color. BS to your BS. Latino is not a Race. Mestizo sort of is, but Latinos are racist themselves against Mestizos, and always have been. I think it quite odd that some one of PR descent would think they could empathize over a border issue as they are natural born citizens because they are from PR. I hope you realize Clarence Thomas is not a white guy. You mean like White Pride World Wide?If Latinos are supposed to be left wing, please explain Cubans to me.

How 'bout you first explain Cubans to us. Then we can see where you're thoughts are based from. I'm Cuban and liberal, so are all of my Cuban friends. I think you mean Cubans who hold public office or the older Cuban community?However...Explain Alex Penelas to me.

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Penelas served on the city council of Hialeah, Florida from 1987 to 1990. In 1990, he became the youngest county commissioner in Dade County history. On October 1, 1996, Penelas became the first Executive Mayor of Miami-Dade County. Unlike the majority of Cuban American leaders in Florida, Penelas is a member of the Democratic Party.

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Penelas won in Miami-Dade County running as a Democrat, how could this be possible if the majority of Cubans, as you implied, are right-wing?- Oni

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If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.
~George Carlin

It is interesting that you hold this position since I have seen nothing in her judicial record which would indicate that she was "activist". Of course you may be defining the word differently than I do. Could you expand on what you feel is an "activist judge" and how Judge Sotomayor fits that definition? Some specific cases of "activism" would really be helpful.

historically Cubans are much more conservative than other Latino-Americans from other nationalities. its common knowledge, I am not making anything up.being a democrat does not make you a liberal.

First, Cubans are not Latin-American so they are not comparable to other Latin-Americans.And like I stated, the older generation was recognized to be conservative, but then again so is every older generation by comparison to the younger generation. Furthermore, one of the major reasons for Cubans siding with republicans, which is why I imagine you think they were conservative, was due to their reaction to JFK during the Bay of Pigs and his agreement with Russia that pretty much assured Castro freedom to govern however he pleased. Most older Cubans hate the democratic party and lean more toward the republican party for this reason.Other than that, there is no evidence that supports your claim that Cubans are usually conservative, especially not now in this day and age. One, because what we now call 'Cubans' in the US are mostly 2nd generation, US born people, like me. Therefore the old opinions have left the community and the new generation of US born Cubans are as prone to being conservative as much as any other citizen in the US.And two, Cubans are not just republicans anymore and don't just vote republican anymore, as I showed you with Penelas winning in Dade-County, so there is no evidence that they are conservative at all. You're right, but being a republican doesn't make one conservative either, so why would Cubans be anymore prone to being conservative than any other nationality?- Oni

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If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.
~George Carlin

While it is true that there is a marked shift in Cuban-Americans from generally Republican to generally Democrat, that doesn't really negate the historical fact. Cubans have typically sided with Republican policies, likely because it is the exact opposite of what Castro was. All he was saying was that per capita, of most hispanic nations, Cubans have a long history of right-leaning. But I certainly agree that those lines are far more blurred now, more so than they've ever been, showing that shift. The Democrat party is just dominating these days, even in historically conservative places like the South, or Miami for that matter, as many of the younger generation view conservative ideals as being obsolete and out of touch with the needs of today's people.

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"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. " Thomas Paine

Hi Hyro, There's no question on that, but that wasn't what he said. He said 'conservative', and while I agree that they were predominantely republican, I don't see the point being made for Cubans being mostly 'conservative' without taking into consideration the times you're talking about. There was no liberal -vs- conservative politics for the older generation, there was only one way, just like in the US. In the 50's everyone in the US would be, by comparison to todays standards, considered conservative. Just like in Cuba in the 50's. That generation of Cubans was as conservative as their US counter part. Like I wrote, the older generation supported the republican party more so than the democratic party, but this is not the same as being labeled a 'conservative' or 'liberal'. ALL older generations were more conservative than liberal, it has nothing to do with being Cuban or any other nationality. Miami is historically conservative!? Since when, Hyro?And wouldn't you say that all younger generations are viewing conservative ideals as being a bit outdated?Young people will be less conservative than the previous generation regardless of nationality.Now, were Cubans more prone to being republicans in the past? Yes. But that wasn't his point, he said conservative. My point is that in the past, people were more conservative than today, regardless of nationality.- OniEdited by onifre, : No reason given.

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If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.
~George Carlin

I suppose you have a point, but even still, the majority of Cubans I know, which is a lot of them, are still quite conservative. But I agree that like the current trend is a shifting away from conservatism to liberalism. Today's liberal is tomorrows conservative. Well, alright, not conservative so much as there is still a palpably strong conservative base. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the last 3 elections for Miami-Dade were certainly Blue. Yes, and as I said, today's liberal is tomorrow's conservative. Well, Republicans are typically conservative. I'm sure it was a generalization based on observation.

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"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. " Thomas Paine