Sotomayor

I like her.  Of course the right wing bullies in the senate don't, goes without saying.  But what really drives me nuts is why do we have to go through this ridiculous game of trying to get the nominees to hide their personal opinions?  Last time I checked, judges were human and I have never met a human being who didn't have personal opinions, especially those who have spent their lives in the pursuit of knowledge and a career in law.  In fact, last time I checked, having an opinion was still legal.  The issue is whether that opinion or "prejudice" is going to influence the judges decision and that is the only matter, in my opinion, that should be up for debate.

But when it comes to the Supreme Court, those opinions might translate into actual changes in the law you say.  Bottom line is yes, of course it could and of course it does.  There's no way it couldn't.  But a good judge bases their judgements on their very best interpretation of the Constitution, as it pertains to the matter(s) at hand.  Still, bottom line is there is no way to REMOVE someone's personal opinion.  Rather, we should only be concerned as to the fairness with which a nominee has ruled in the past, which is unfortunately open to a great deal of interpretation depending on which side of the fence you stand on.  And no matter how fair she has been in upholding the Constitution prior to this, she will now have the power to effect changes in the law.  Bottom line.  End of story.  Get over it.  The Republicans want to stack the deck with their guys and the Democrats theirs.  Democrats are in power now, so they get more people.  YES, she's pro-choice, probably pro-gay marriage.  Oh well.  Too bad, so sad.  Get over it.