We just live in his world

The Sonia Soromayor hearings have gotten Dahlia Lithwick of Newsweek wondering about what it means. The GOP senators ranted and raved and in response Sotomayor disavowed all her previous liberal sounding statements -- judges are only mechanical umpires of the law, a judge should not have empathy, the Constitution is not a living document. Does that mean it's John Roberts' world and we just live in it? Is Sotomayor now bound by the legal rules conservatives have been claiming for years? Will Obama's future nominees be bound by the "Sotomayor test" or is he now free to nominate a genuine liberal? Will Obama have the political capital for such a move in the future? Why didn't he spend it while he knew he had it? Alas, a recent poll shows that 83% of those surveyed said judges "should apply the law equally to all Americans rather than using the law to help those who have less power and influence." We like the John Roberts court even if we don't like its outcomes. Is that a failure of liberal constitutional thinking or only in salesmanship?

My friend and debate partner has commented several times that free speech should be coupled with discerning listening. You may talk all you want but I don't have to listen. My friend goes on to say we as a country are listening too closely to what the GOP is saying -- to our detriment. We -- including many news sources -- should not be listening to them at all. While thinking about that and hearing the GOP talking points reiterated in the news (and this is NPR!) I understood part of the problem. When news outlets don't repeat the GOP party line a member of the party is very quick to shout, "YOU'RE NOT LISTENING TO ME!" by claiming the news is not balanced.