I know the Republican party has been slowly overcome by wackos in the past decade or so. (Why not be generous?) But, as I was browsing the Huff Post's coverage of Sotomayor Day 1, I saw this list of witnesses who will be testifying at the behest of the two parties...
Majority (Democratic) WitnessesMichael Bloomberg, Mayor, City of New York-got itChuck Canterbury, National President, Fraternal Order of Police-checkDavid Cone, former Major League Baseball pitcher-Sotomayor ruled on an important case for MLBJoAnne A. Epps, Dean, Temple University Beasley School of Law, on behalf of the National Association of Women Lawyers-got itLouis Freeh, former Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation-yepMichael J. Garcia, former U.S. Attorney, Southern District of New York-makes senseWade Henderson, President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights-huh? oh, it's the oldest civil rights org in the USPatricia Hynes, President, New York City Bar Association-checkDustin McDaniel, Attorney General, State of Arkansas-sure, okayRobert Morgenthau, former District Attorney, New York County, New York-checkRamona Romero, National President, Hispanic National Bar Association-yupCongressman Jose E. Serrano, New York 16th District-got itTheodore M. Shaw, Professor, Columbia Law School-teaches "advanced constitutional law"-expert on federal sentencing guidelines and other legal procedureCongresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.-sureMinority (Republican) WitnessesLinda Chavez, President, Center for Equal Opportunity-as "the nation's only Conservative think tank exclusively devoted to issues of race and ethnicity," they are anti-affirmative action, anti-bilingual education, anti-anything-that's-not-in-EnglishSandy Froman, Esq., Former President, National Rifle Association of America-self-explanatory, but, I've included a link so you can see they're nice new flash splash pageDr. Stephen Halbrook, Attorney-basically, the NRA's fave lawyerTim Jeffries, Founder, P7 Enterprises-he runs a management consulting company emphasising "planning, priorities, performance, passion, perseverance, perspective and pfun"Peter Kirsanow, Commissioner, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights-yep-runs a think tank that addresses "a variety of public policy issues from a free-market, pro-freedom perspective." In other words: GUNS.John McGinnis, Professor, Northwestern University School of Law-right-wing foreign law esxpertNeomi Rao, Professor, George Mason University School of Law-right-wing foreign law expertFrank Ricci, Director of Fire Services, ConnectiCOSH (Connecticut Council on Occupational Safety and Health)-this is the guy who sued for reverse-discrimination (against white males), in firefighter promotion testingDavid Rivkin, Esq., Partner, Baker Hostetler-advocate of limitless Executive powerNick Rosenkranz, Professor, Georgetown University School of Law-right-wing foreign law expert-radical libertarian law professor, BFF of John McGinnis, anti-eminent domain freedom-fighterLieutenant Ben Vargas, New Haven Fire Department-I'm gonna guess he's familiar with Ricci v. DestefanoDr. Charmaine Yoest, Americans United for Life-anti-abortion activist group
The Democratic witnesses are pretty self explanatory and unexciting: Various law enforcement officials including US Attorneys and a former CIA director; academics from Yale, Columbia and Temple; the Mayor of NYC; big-wigs from the Hispanic groups of the Bar and Congress; and, okay fine, a MLB pitcher.
The Republican witnesses, on the other hand, are sometimes obtusely-named and very exciting:academics from that great bastion of thought, GMU; groups that are anti-anything-that-helps-minorities; people who learn international laws so they can proclaim their lameness; gunslingers and the lawyers who love them; and, of course, anti-abortion groups.
Anyway, I found it helpful to see it spelled out in this way. What a joke.
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