Dianne Feinstein looked to contradict some of the rumors about Judge Sotomayor's temperament in her introduction to her questioning.
"If there's a test for judicial temperament, You pass it with an 'A plus plus,'" Feinstein said. Commenting on the line of questioning from her Republican colleagues, Feinstein said, "I want to congratulate you, my adrenaline was pumping, I wanted to respond.” Many observers, including our own Dana Goldstein have noted that complaints about Sotomayor's "temperament" have been thinly veiled gendered critiques often directed towards women in positions of authority.
Feinstein also criticized her Republican colleagues for bringing up Miguel Estrada, a Republican whose nomination was derailed, and whom Republicans have referred to several times in these hearings. “I’m puzzled as to why Mr. Estrada keeps coming up -- he had no judicial experience. The nominee before us has lots of judicial experience," Feinstein said.
Well, I mean, they're both Latino right? Why wouldn't he come up?
-- A. Serwer
