Obama sure Sotomayor would restate 2001 comment

Latest entry in the on-going saga here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Friday personally sought to deflect criticism of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who finds herself under intensifying scrutiny for saying in 2001 that a female Hispanic judge would often reach a better decision than a white male judge. "I'm sure she would have restated it," Obama flatly told NBC News, without indicating how he knew that.

The quote in question from Sotomayor has emerged as a rallying call for conservative critics who fear she will offer opinions from the bench based less on the rule of law and more on her life experience, ethnicity and gender. That issue is likely to play a central role in her Senate confirmation process.'

So now we have heard the president say he's "sure" she would have "re-stated" what she said. He did not say she said that she would. She did not actually say so herself, as near as anyone can tell. You'd think she was camera-shy given how much others seem to be speaking for her, or on her behalf, or at least speculating about what she might do or say if she were to actually say something herself in front of other people. I wonder why she is so not-visible now, since she never seemed to be that way in the past.

"I heard someone say someone said that someone else said that he honestly and truly believed this about her: That if she had it to do today, she probably would say what she said using different words."

OK, guess that'll have to do.

Oh, did we forget what she actually did say, what all this talking about talking about talking about what she said or might have said or may say is all about? Her actual, real words, from her own lips, spoken in public (wow, took a long time to get there!) were in fact:

"Justice O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases. I am...not so sure that I agree with the statement. First,...there can never be a universal definition of wise. Second, I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."*

Your turn to be the judge.

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*As quoted by the WSJ. They said she said that. :)