Felicidades Justicia Sonia Sotomayor

The outcome of the Senate vote was never much in doubt. Still, we're shocked--shocked!--at the partisanship. The final vote was 68-31 (Ted Kennedy wasn't there); all 59 Democrats voted to confirm, but only 9 of 40 Republicans followed suit. They can say all they want that this was "not about politics." But when John McCain begins his remarks by noting that she is "an immensely qualified candidate"--and then votes against her anyway--what are we left to conclude? Is Mr. McCain still bitter, recalling how another "immensely qualified candidate" (cough cough) got shellacked last November? If so, we could almost excuse his vote, but what about the other 30 Republican naysayers?

Look, as a "moderate liberal" (if Facebook quizzes have any validity at all), the Solipsist was none-too-thrilled that President W. got to name two justices to the Supreme Court. Still, one could hardly argue that either of them--particularly Chief Justice John G. Roberts--was unqualified. Undesirable, from a certain perspective, sure. But not unqualified. And the inescapable fact is that the President gets to pick the justices. Indeed, the Supreme Court is always an issue in presidential elections, and the fact that Obama won--again, whether you like it or not--indicates that the country wanted a President Obama to be the one making Supreme Court appointments.

By the way, to all those Republicans who voted "No"--who supposedly think that Justice Sotomayor is too radical, too biased, too unqualified to sit on the Supreme Court, we would like to ask one thing: If you really feel this way--if this is not simply base politics--then why have you not acted against Justice Sotomayor before? After all, according to what you've been telling the American people, the poor folks in the Second Circuit have been suffering under the tyranny of an unelected judicial fanatic for more than 20 years! Where were the congressional hearings? The impeachment proceedings? The trial and execution?

We think it no small measure of the fundamental difference between the two parties that, when Roberts' nomination went to the full Senate, fully 50% of the Democratic caucus voted to confirm. Honestly, we think the other 22 Democrats really had very little excuse for voting "Nay," but it's still far less disgraceful than the fact that more than 75% of the Republicans today--people who are supposedly in Washington to do the People's business--are unwilling to look beyond blind ideology to do the right thing. Did they learn nothing from the last election?

Congratulations Justice Sotomayor!