The Emperor Has No Clothes: Why the Sotomayor Hearings were Disappointing

WILL SOMEBODY out there say it please: The hearings that were supposed to provide insight into Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s suitability for the United States Supreme Court were a disgrace and an outrage. Not just the Republican bloviators posturing for the cameras and toadying to their right-wing constituency, not just the Democratic yea-sayers singing the judge’s praises and feeding her softballs and sweet talk, but Sotomayer herself.

I have no doubt that Sonia Sotomayor is a remarkable woman, nor do I fail to appreciate that hers is an inspiring story.  But am I the only one who t... More

Equality Deferred: What Happened in the Proposition 8 Vote

ON MAY 16, 2008 the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.  The ink hadn’t yet dried on the landmark decision when opponents filed an initiative, Proposition 8, to appear on the November 2008 ballot that would amend the state’s constitution to read: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

But it didn’t dim the celebration because no one seriously thought it would pass.  Not here in California; not now in 2008; not our neighbors, our friends, our allies in a hund... More