The Supreme Court puppet theater finds itself back in the spotlight today. I refer to these hearings as "Puppet Theater" because the outcome is a four gone conclusion, Sonya Sotomayor will be the next Supreme Court justice. The fact of the matter is with Democrats in control of both houses of Congress, Republicans have neither the votes nor the political moxie to block this nomination. Having watched gavel to gavel coverage up to this point I have made a few key observations, leading the way is the apparent "conversion" she is experiencing during these hearings. During the hearings yesterday Sotomayor was asked about President Obama's comment that in coming to a legal conclusion 95% can be attributed to ones legal knowledge while the remaining 5% comes from the heart. This is where President Obama derived his "empathy" litmus test from. Sotomayor quickly dismissed the idea that a judge comes to any conclusion utilizing emotions stating that her record shows a strict application of only the law. Asked if she disagreed with the President's assessment she quickly answered, yes.

Yesterday's hearings also included an incessant barrage of questions surrounding the nominees now infamous and oft used comment about "a wise Latina coming to a Better conclusion..." While most who have heard this phrase used in several of Sotomayor speeches dating back several years and understand its meaning the nominee walked the statement back, claimed that it was a play on words that fell flat and attempted several other avenues to separate herself from her words. The bottom line is that if you are inclined to support Sonia Sotomayor her explanations made perfect sense. On the flipside if you find yourself in a position of not being a fan of Sotomayor her varied attempts to explain her comments served as nothing more than verbal vomit.  The highlight of yesterday's hearings for me occurred during the questioning of Sotomayor by South Carolina's Sen. Lindsey Graham. I don't expect that anybody reading this will watch gavel to gavel coverage of these hearings but if you run across Sen. Graham's questioning of Sonya Sotomayor on the Internet or in the news I would encourage you to take a few minutes and watch it.

Now comes the rant. These hearings are nothing more than political puppet theater, a charade. The truth is that Sonia Sotomayor will be the next Supreme Court justice. Unless her hair catches fire and we all are witness to her screaming for Allah to save her while dousing herself with the blood of virgins this is nothing more than a exercise in futility. Speaking as somebody who has watched the hearings up to this point it is painfully clear that Judge Sotomayor is simply going through the motions of answering questions and walking back from statements made in her speeches and writings in the past. She has shown herself to be a capable jurist and someone who has some judicial qualifications but I find it hard to believe that out of the entire legal field she stands alone as the brightest and the best. Looking at her comments and listening to the dissection of some of her rulings like Ricci v. DeStefano or more commonly known as the New Haven firefighter case, it is obvious that she is not the "lone wise Latina" sitting on top of the mountain. I want everybody reading this to understand that when we select a Supreme Court justice that position is a tenured position for life. Keeping that in mind my only wish is that we as a people and those we elect to represent us would in fact treat this with the respect and deference of that reality instead of using this venue as a means to flex their highly partisan muscles. I want to be clear about this, both parties are guilty of politicizing this process, both parties are guilty of politicizing an office that should remain separate from either political ideology and an office that should operate solely within the legal framework of the Constitution. It just so happens that today I am roasting the Democrats because they are running the show.

Of course that is just my take.

Have you picked up your copy of "Conspiracy of Fear" yet?

If you have, have you written your review on Amazon yet?