Newt Gingrich on Sotomayor
From his twitter account:
Imagine a judicial nominee said “my experience as a white man makes me better than a latina woman” new racism is no better than old racism
Three points about this. Even in the narrow literal context, Newt is distorting Sotomayor’s quote, which was: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,”.
Note: better conclusion, not better. This is a significant distortion, Newt.
Secondly, her full quote includes “a white male who hasn’t lived that life”. Which is a much more specific qualification of that white male, also ignored.
Finally, her quote was in reference to determining race and sex discrimination cases. Not a stretch to understand why someone who’d have experience living through race and or sex discrimination would “more often than not” reach a better conclusion.
Shame on you, Newt, for not only fanning these flames but hiding behind the false flag of racism. If nothing else, you prove her point well.
Update: A reasonable criticism of that quote here.
