Suddenly Being a "Wise Latina Woman" Is Not Such an Advantage

The effort is now underway by Sonia Sotomayor to walk back most of what she's said during the last 15 years:

After declaring Tuesday that a "wise Latina" woman has no advantage in finding judicial wisdom, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor faced a hammering from one senate Republican who claimed the judge had changed her previous statement.

"My play on those words fell flat. It was bad," Sotomayor told Sen. Jeff Sessions, responding to sharp criticism of a 2001 speech in which she suggested a "wise Latina" would usually reach better conclusions than a white man without similar experiences.

"I do not believe that any racial, ethnic or gendered group has an advantage in sound judgment," Sotomayor told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, the second day of her confirmation hearing to become the first Hispanic to sit on the high court. "I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge."

The federal appellate judge said her 2001 remarks to students at Duke University were meant only to to "inspire them to believe that their life experiences would enrich the legal system" and not to suggest that any one group was more likely to reach a better conclusion.

Sotomayor also responded to criticisms over her ruling in the reverse discrimination case -- Ricci vs. Destefano -- that was later overturned in a 5-4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. Sotomayor said the case was about an examination for firefighter promotions -- "not about quotas, not about affirmative action" -- and said she and other judges based their ruling on precedent.

At least one Republican senator vowed Tuesday "to expose" Sonia Sotomayor as "extremely liberal" when he gets to questioning the Supreme Court nominee.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., said he expects the appellate court judge to win confirmation to the high bench, but said he plans to "expose her record to what I think it was as a lawyer: extremely liberal."

Graham and other senate Republicans plan to confront Sotomayor with her own words, taken from speeches dating back 15 years, as her confirmation hearing resumes in the Senate Judiciary Committee with question-and-answer rounds that are expected to stretch over two days and possibly into a third.

Her response to Sessions would imply that she made the "wise Latina woman" comment on only one occasion, and yet according to CQ Politics she made numerous speeches over the years in which she referred to "wise women" or "wise Latina women".

Which Sotomayor are we supposed to believe? The one who made the comment numerous times in situations where her future was not in peril, or the one we see today who is trying to protect her nomination to the Supreme Court?

It must not be much fun to have to sit in front of the Senate committee and the national television audience and disavow what you really believe.

Too bad they don't allow lie detectors in these hearings. That would be entertaining.