The Real Race-Baiters.

Looking through the criticisms of Sotomayor from the right you find many complaints, but her being Hispanic is not one of them, naturally.

That was not the case with another certain Hispanic (emphasis mine):

From Brian Garst at American Thinker:

The most shocking case, however, is that of Miguel Estrada. Estrada was nominated by President Bush for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a position he was, by most accounts, more than qualified for. Estrada graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was also editor of the Harvard Law Review, a post that would later be highly touted on Obama’s thin Presidential resume. In addition to time spent in private practice, Estrada went on to clerk for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and then joined the Department of Justice during the Clinton Administration as an Assistant to the Solicitor General.

In 2001, President Bush made the Estrada appointment to the Court of Appeals. The democratic response was apocalyptic, and Estrada was eventually forced to withdraw after 2 years of stonewalling and filibusters. Thanks to a slew of leaked memos between democratic Senators and liberal interest groups, we now know the despicable motives behind this opposition: Estrada was a Hispanic who might one day be appointed to the Supreme Court, and by a Republican, no less. One memo highlights that Estrada was “especially dangerous” in part because he “is Latino.” In the twisted world of identity politics, advancement of minority groups is only acceptable when it’s made through the appropriate political party, namely the democrats. Conservative minorities are not afforded the same benefits of identity politics as liberal minorities, because they are a threat to the condescending notion that minorities may only think and vote democratic.

Naturally, Estrada’s opposition had to come up with better reasons than blatant racism to publicly oppose a candidate even they admit in the memo was “clearly an intelligent lawyer.” In their “talking points” section, they justified opposition on the grounds that he “has serious temperament problems,” and is a “right-wing zealot.” This last line of attack is somewhat baffling given the repeated claims that he “has virtually no paper trail.” And far from being the asset touted with Sonia Sotomayor, Estrada’s “compelling life story” was dismissed as evidence of nothing more than “affirmative action.” It’s hard to imagine the uproar if a similar statement were to be made about Sotomayor today.

The left never ceases to amaze me. When they are looking for race-baiters, they need look no further than the closest mirror.

via Protein Wisdom