Republicans Smear Sotomayor For Being Liberal

They can't seem to nail her on this Ricci thing. Even Lindsay Graham admits her past judicial decisions have been largely "in the mainstream." They can't call her inexperienced; she has over seven-teen years on the bench. So in the end, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have resorted to a tried and true approach in attacking Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama's first appointment to the Supreme Court: they say she's too liberal.

Let's leave aside for a moment that the Republicans have been routed the past two elections by liberal Democrats elected by an increasingly liberal electorate. Let's forget conservative dogma has been repudiated by thirty years of failed Reaganomics and eight years of the most absurd and bungled presidency in our history. Let's instead focus on the real story here, a truth so dark and frightening for congressional Republicans they dare not speak it aloud: the word "liberal" is no longer a pejorative.

For fifty years now Republicans have used the word "liberal" to portray Democrats as out-of-touch elitists. They succeeded in making the word synonymous with "un-American." Frustrated Democrats began describing themselves as "progressives" or even as "moderates" rather than admit their liberal-ness.

Sucks for you, conservative Republicans, but the word "liberal" is back in vogue, and I don't mean as an insult. Bleeding hearts like Bernie Sanders (a socialist), Barney Frank (a gay man) and Dennis Kucinich (to the left of FDR) wear the word like a badge of honor. In California, Diane Feinstein has been pilloried for not being liberal enough, and the Governator has lost his Republican base by tacking ever more strongly to the left -- because the electorate demanded it.

In this political environment, hammering Sonia Sotomayor for being too liberal is like punishing Kobe Bryant for being too athletic, a tactic as ridiculous as it is pointless. That Republicans have to resort to name-calling at this stage merely accentuates how powerless and inconsequential they have become. Welcome to the wilderness, Republicans.