Paul Waldman on the Kabuki theater of the courts:
With John Paul Stevens‘ impending retirement, Barack Obama now has his second opportunity to appoint a justice to the Supreme Court. Republicans surely know that they won’t be able to actually stop Obama’s nominee from being confirmed. So they are no doubt hoping to create a teachable political moment, one that clarifies distinctions between the parties and keeps our political clash of civilizations humming along. At times like this, when the outcome is not much in doubt, we should ask: Is there anything to be gained from the theatrical presentations we will soon be witnessing?
The answer to that probably depends on where you sit. The last time around — during the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor — the Republican opposition was able to steer the conversation, unified in its approach and rhetoric. Unfortunately for Republicans, the message was one of hostility toward minorities in general and Latinos in particular. All of the core arguments they made against Sotomayor were variations on this theme of white grievance: She once ruled against a white firefighter, she had given a speech brazenly extolling the benefits of her personal experience, she got into Princeton because of affirmative action. The message came through loud and clear, and Latino voters found the exercise quite enlightening.