brief note on the Sonia Sotomayor nomination

There's obviously nothing particularly progressive about Sonia Sotomayor. But that won't stop stupid Republicans (are there any other kind left who are up to publicly identifying themselves? I know a few closet ones, but they all voted for Obama) from calling Judge Sotomayor both "radical" and "racist."

So I just wanted to share what I wrote in response to one such charge, from a well-meaning imbecile saying that charging her with racism is simply a fair-minded instance of placing the "shoe on the other foot." I replied:

Placing the shoe on the other foot is an abstract exercise at best. In reality, such "shoe flipping" across history and political power makes zero sense. I needn't even be a defender of affirmative action to see through the self-serving falsity of charges of "reverse discrimination." Your concern about one culture oppressing another rings hollow because it spontaneously rises up just as the historical hegemony of whiteness is on the decline. Think about that.

Think about that next time some right winger starts bellyaching about "reverse discrimination." Remind them that nothing they have said or done in the past expressed any real concern with "discrimination" categorically. Add the word "reverse" and suddenly arbitrary hierarchies are unacceptable.