Here Come Da Judge

President Obama fulfilled at least some of his potential-for-good in the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. I have issues with how loggy Obama has been in instituting some needed reforms, especially suspending the abhorrent "dont' ask don't tell" policy that continues to decimate our military in these times of stress (Yes, I use "decimate" correctly, meaning cutting by a tenth, which is the approximate percentage of gay people in the general population).

But I digress. For Obama it's first things first, and I'm sure he's happy to be handed the task of filling a Court vacancy, which is the most lasting function of a president, and the reason we will have to endure the odor of Bush for decades to come in his ultraconservative choices. Obama cannot undo that, and at least Roberts and Alito have sound legal minds, unlike Thomas. So, in keeping with the tenor of his administration so far, Obama chose a distinguished and credible candidate who is clearly not the member of the Boy's Club. Except in one very special way.

All the predictable arguments have already been media-tested by the two sides of the political spectrum. The Democrats are generally sanguine, and only a few strident pro-Choicers are displaying some wariness of her lack of decision in that controversial area. The Republicans are being either childish or carefully circumspect. The sensible ones are afraid of alienating what few minority voters they have left, and those who could possibly tilt their way in the future, by opposing the first Puerto Rican ever chosen for the Court. The hard-core rightist wing of the party, which is the loudest and dominant voice, is summoning up its most cogent arguments, all of which are about as persuasive as those of the Flat Earth Society.

Sotomayor is not intellectually fit! they cry. Rather lame to apply to someone who finished magna cum laude at Princeton and edited the Yale Law Review. On the other hand, how would any of the Fox brood claim competence to judge intellectual prowess when their champions are Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman and Joe the Plumber? One commentator even disparaged her because of the accent on the last syllable of her last name, and suggested she change the pronunciation to make it easier on the rest of us. And then they go off and maintain that she is the racist. Wow.

Other objections are just as baseless. The claim that she has had 3 decisions overturned by higher courts ignore the fact that that is a far better percentage than most, including most of the Supreme Court justices. And her comments about "justices making the law," which raises the hackles of those with knee-jerk opposition to the fabled "judicial activism" canard, ignore the fact that Alito and Scalia have made like admission in their testimonies. But all this is the normal partisan haggling that is just playing to the respective political bases. There is one major reason why Sonia Sotomayor deserves the post, and the highest regard of the American people.

She. Saved. Baseball.

It was Judge Sotomayor whose ruling against owner collusion finally led to the end of the horrendous baseball strike in 1995. This also resulted in the return of the Yankees (for whom she is a fan, showing her good taste), to the prominence that made the late '90s such a kick for us Bomber fans. Perhaps there is a cosmic connection between her rise and the surprising resurgence of the Yankees this month, but that's fodder for another blog. Suffice it to say that she did more for the National pastime that Barry Bonds or Manny Ramirez or Arod or anyone.

How about a little applause, and a Big Reward?