Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Sotomayor A Major Win for Obama

It's about Damn Time ! Let me be the first to let my brothers know how good it feels to have a Latino on the road to the highest court. Clarence Thomas isn't Black so I am thrilled to have someone who represents common people on the court. Add to the fact that she is a woman and we have some major steps taken for women and minorities.

Unfortunately, for Republicans they are futher digging themselves into a whole. For the party that touts that we don't need affirmative action because people should look at a person's qualifications, they have not made any steps to include qualified minorities into the prospect pool. What does this message send ? That people of ethnic backgrounds aren't qualified or desired although everyone knows that isn't true.

I know you are about to mention Former Lt. Govenor Steele. I am from Maryland and I can tell you he can't count as diversity. The real fact is that he was placed on teh ticket because Kathleen Kenedy Townsend didn't put an African American on her historic run for Governor after she made it to the top dependent on African American support. So Robert Erlich did the progressive thing and looked for a brown face in order to split the vote and it worked ! Still it wasn't about qualifications but color. Now back to my point.

Future Justice Sotomayor is a very important affirmation for the Latino Community who have been demonized by the Republican Party and then falsely wooed during the election. My beef is that the Republicans talk about diversity and being inclusive but have very little to show for the talk. They could have elected her or some Republican female minority during Bush's term but didn't. So now they are starting to fight her nomination. And it's not a battle they are going to win.

The Republicans are about to go down a very slippery slope because the leading voices of dissent are Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh who are two of the most ethnically divise people on the planet. And having them be the loud voices of opposition will only hurt Republicans in states that they need votes. The old Republican party is dead and it's sad that those people who are the extreme are doing more harm than good.

By criticizing Sotomayor, the party will give her more support from the Latino Community and Women's Demographic which can all but guarantee a presidential election when combined with Obama's base of tech savvy young people and African Americans. So the best stance for the Republican Party is to shut up and focus on issues that will be key for them in the next round of elections: Job Creation and the Economy.

Juan Diego, Founder
Diesel Life Magazine