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Finally . Sonia Sotomayor won confirmation Thursday afternoon as the nation's 111th Supreme Court justice and the first Hispanic on the court, a historic moment for the nation's fastest-growing minority group. FYI: this doesn't really change the makeup of the Court. Sotomayor is essentially a moderate-minded judge who occasionally leans left. If Obama gets another pick and it's to replace a conservative, he'll have a real fight on his hands.

"Why do you want to be a Supreme Court justice?" -- Sen. Al Franken , asking the question that many other Senators should have asked Judge Sotomayor. Runner-Up : "He's raised it so many times. If that's the only thing that they have to raise against her, it's just very telling what a stellar jurist she is. I'd just wish they'd get beyond that question." -- Mary Hernandez , former president of the Hispanic National Bar Association, responding to Republican Senators who keep asking Judge Sotomayor questions regarding the "wise Latina" comment.

Courtesy Oliver Willis .

Over at TPMCafe, Tom Goldstein explains why Sonia Sotomayor will be our next US Supreme Court Justice (and how her critics blew it).

I remember when, as governor, he said that he was going to bring "honor and dignity" back to the White House (because lying about oral sex -as opposed to say, torturing people- totally destroyed the country). But EarlG of Democratic Underground reminds us that as much as Bush used that as a symbol of the new GOP, the old GOP just couldn't help from rearing it's ugly, mysoginistic, racist head when a Democrat got back into the White House and decided to nominate a left-leaning judge to the Supreme Court : Time for one last recap. According to top Republicans, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who has spent her entire life pulling herself up by the bootstraps: Is actually called Maria Is dumb Is a racist Is an affirmative action candidate Has led a life of privilege Has a troubling fondness for Puerto Rican food Has an unnatural-sounding name Is a member of the Latino KKK Is a threat to American civilization Is a chick lady Should not be considered for the job beca...

In conjunction with this , there's this : When the nation learned in 2005 that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito had belonged to a Princeton University alumni organization that advocated a cap on the number of women and minorities allowed at Princeton, the news media quickly circled the wagons to protect the Bush nominee. When Alito was asked by Senate Democrats about his membership in the organization -- which he touted while applying for a job in the Reagan administration -- the media denounced them for going too far. The merest hint of a suggestion of an implication that Alito was a member of a racist organization was shouted down as an unfair slander; Democrats were pilloried for making Alito's wife cry with their inappropriate questions (though Mrs. Alito didn't actually start crying until Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham took to the microphone). Gloria Borger, for example, said that the pertinent question was not whether Alito agreed with the Concerned Alumni of Prince...

Apparently the latest talking point emerging from the anti-Sotomayor crowd is her association with the National Council of La Raza. As the TP goes, this organization is a front for Latinos who to destroy White America, or something. Of course, I can't think why a supposedly radical organization would host an awards show (Salma Hayek's looking good in that pic). But more politically, why would such an organization carry favor with the 2008 Republican Candidate for President? As in, Let's debate in their venue, Barack ! As in, If Obama visits them, so can I ! As in, When I did visit them, I didn't call the group racist or accuse them of having any radical intentions ! Can't wait to see if John McCain weighs in, and gives everyone an impression of his vote. Also can't wait to see people who work at FoxNews and CNN start talking about La Raza like they did ACORN, because those last two links show that each news organization was at least aware of it's existence, ...

Why was criticism of Sarah Palin's ability to be Vice President of the United States sexist, yet criticism of Sonia Sotomayor's ability to be a Supreme Court Justice fair game?

She has diabetes . Oh noes! She could be swayed buy a packet of sugar, or a lollipop!

Here's Sen. Lindsey Graham, trying to preemptively remove any suspicion that now-Justice Alito may have bigoted feelings: And here's Graham's fellow GOP congressman, Tom Tancredo, on President Obama's nominee for SCOTUS , Sonia Sotomayor: TANCREDO: I’m telling you she appears to be a racist. She said things that are racist in any other context. That’s exactly how we would portray it and there’s no one who would get on the Supreme Court saying a thing like that except for a Hispanic woman and you’re going to say it doesn’t matter! Wonder if Graham will use the same logic he used for Alito, or the one that Tancredo is using. UPDATE : And the hits just keep on coming.