Who knew 2009 would turn out to be THE year of minority “firsts.” In January, Barack Obama became the FIRST African-American President of the United States. Soon after, Michael Steele became the FIRST African-American Chairman of the Republican National Committee. And as of yesterday we were able to add one more name to the list, when Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed to be the FIRST Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.
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Judge Sotomayor was easily confirmed in a 68-31 vote, led by a unanimous Democratic caucus that also included nine Republicans. Excluded from the list of supportive Republicans was Sen. John McCain, who voted against Judge Sotomayor, saying her “excellent resume and inspiring story” was not enough to qualify her for the Supreme Court (although McCain tried helplessly to convince Americans that HIS “excellent resume and inspiring story” WAS enough to qualify him to be President. Can anyone spell D-O-U-B-L-E S-T-A-N-D-A-R-D?). The 55-year-old Federal Appeals Court Judge will become the 111th person to sit on the nation’s highest court and only the third female justice. She will be sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts on Saturday.
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President Obama said he was “deeply gratified” by the Senate vote. “This is a wonderful day for Judge Sotomayor and her family, but I also think it’s a wonderful day for America.”
