Thursday, January 31, 2013

Social Justice

By Bill Maher

The other day I drove past a huge new campus in Northeast L.A. called "Sotomayor Learning Academies." I thought to myself, "It can't be that Sotomayor, can it? She's not even 60." Sure enough, it's Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. She’s already an icon in many neighborhoods across this country. Hell, in L.A., most of them.

Her autobiography just came out, and I expect it to do very well. Every time I see publicity for it, I think of how stupid Republicans were to oppose her. You know how many current Republican senators voted to confirm her? Three. Thirty one voted not to, and nine voted yes, but five of those nine were retiring and one lost his primary, which tells you how hard it is for a Republican to support a Hispanic without paying a price.

There are a lot of reasons Hispanics voted against Republicans in November, but this is a big one that people who aren't Hispanic seem to have forgotten about completely. What made voting against her so insulting wasn't that she was the first Latina nominated to the Supreme Court -- I wouldn't be complaining if Obama had nominated J-Lo and Republicans said "no" -- but Sonia Sotomayor had the most judicial experience of any Supreme Court nominee ever, and all her other credentials were impeccable. The only reasons to vote against her were empty-headed talking points farted right out of Rush Limbaugh's ass, but somehow they became the mainstream Republican position. Hispanics could only be thinking, "Wow, if they reject her, they're rejecting all of us."

What they really hate about her is that her autobiography is a great testament to affirmative action working. Sotomayor wasn't given any handouts in life. But in her book, she acknowledges getting into Princeton through a "special door." There's a huge part of the Republican Party hell-bent on keeping that door closed to anybody who didn't have an ancestor on the Mayflower, regardless of their ability to succeed once they get into the club.

Wasn't her rejection by the right a perfect example of the Republicans' "dark vein of intolerance" Colin Powell was talking about on Meet the Press?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bill, can you please explain to me why my moronic coworkers hate Obama and blame all their problems on our dear president. They seem to believe that he’s taking all our money and giving it to the poor.

Walter TingTang said...

Hi Bill,

My post to YOUR Facebook page just got CENSORED (removed) by Facebook! My post said:

"Hey everyone, let's make a difference. Let's urge the progressive, activist company, Credo Mobile, to break up with Bank of America (or at least discuss why they won't.) Please go to Credo Mobile's Facebook page and copy and paste Bill Maher's funny video urging people to get out of abusive relationships with their "Too Big To Fail" banks!

I then posted a link to your video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsirVYT2Ayk&list=PLB00DD7BE6F3340F1&index=2

Apparently I got their attention, because they censored me!

Does my post deserve to be removed from your Facebook page for making that comment? I made similar comments on Credo Mobile's page. I was always respectful, but they must have complained.
I emphasized that the Credo people were good people in an abusive relationship with the Banksters-and I urged others to refer Credo to your video in order to persuade them to talk about it.

I was trying to do a good thing. Any thoughts?
(They booted me off Facebook-I really must have hit a nerve...)

Sincerely,

Walter TingTang
nuttin@me.com

Anonymous said...

this is just something that I seen happen to me, injustice, based on arrest record for employment you are guilty even after no charges. arrest records are a damaging tool used to keep people in very controlled bubble they hold the same weight as a convicted person that served time for any crime the judge and jury being people that live in a bubble its a bad deal for people trying to work, raise family buy a home etc... live the dream in society

Anonymous said...

Corporate slaves
The corporations are enslaving us by working us harder with less employees,so that we have no time to think but only to work on autopilot. Corporations have lobbied to reduce regulations to the point that for all intensive purposes they treat us as propety that they own rather than an employee that does a job for them.

Anonymous said...

Republicans have no problems with the latino community. Nor do they have problems with any minority in the U.S. The just have problems with liberal socialists *no matter what color they may be*. It's the left that labels everyone by the color of their skin. Oh, and check your facts about who supports civil rights in our nation. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was supported and passed by Republicans and vehemently opposed by Democrat Governors. Of course most liberals don't know this because instead of being properly educated they have only been indoctrinated through four-year socialism concentration camps. Wake up.

Anonymous said...

Bill.
Love your show and common sense ideas, enough of the niceties.

I was just watching Bill Flores congressional representatives from the Texas district where the fertilizer plant exploded. Representatives Flores is one of the congressmen that want to see almost zero government regulation. I would like to ask the victims of today’s blast why his office thinks so little of them that this plant was allowed to operate so close to schools, nursing homes and residential areas. I feel that this is the prime example of what government lacks in common sense. The first roll of government is to protect its citizens against types of events like this. After the Oklahoma bombing I would think along with the strict regulations put on all explosives, representatives such as Bill Flores would use simple common sense and see that where these explosive agents are produced should be placed in isolated areas. I’m sure of ask before today’s event Rep. Flores would have said “that’s to great of a cost for this small company” but what is the cost now.

I also want to comment on the Boston bombing. Just as it is impossible to stop all catastrophic events such as this (and I mean no disrespect to the victims in any way) it is the cost of freedom. Not to be constantly stopped and have your papers checked by armed guards. To not see swat-team like presents on every corner and on the top of every buildings. To have the freedom to go where we want, when we wont to. This carries a high cost. Just as the members of the Continental Armey laid down their lives, so must we accept the continuing cost of this freedom. We can’t live in fear of these isolated acts; we must hold our heads high and cherish all that have fallen to give us the freedom we have.

Thank you Bill for your show that challenges us to think and reflect on the events in this great country of ours,

Jack Bridges

aminaraifi said...

As well as being a hard-working woman Sonia is a representative of those who are struggling in their lives. Someone is a Linkedin profile maker in UAE, and someone is working for a company. These people should learn from Sonia has faced many difficulties in her life. But she did not give up, and today she is in her place.