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Gibbs On Sotomayor: "I Think She'd Change That Word"
The White House is now walking back Sonia Sotomayor's statement from 2001 that she would hope a wise Latina woman could reach better conclusions in some cases than a white male, which was meant to be a point about how people's life experiences can affect their judgments.
At today's press briefing, Robert Gibbs said: "I've not talked specifically with her about this, but I think that -- I think she'd say that her word choice in 2001 was poor, that she was simply making the point that personal experiences are relevant to the process of judging."
He later added, "I think if she had the speech to do all over again, I think she'd change that word," citing discussions with other people as his source.
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Josh
Matt
Eric
I hope she sticks with the speech as given and tells Gibbs, Gingrich, Limbaugh and any other offended white boys to shove it. Read the whole damn speech and stop pulling shit out of context!
May 29, 2009 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
exactly
May 29, 2009 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Schmedley,
agreed. The most ugly of the ugly Americans are swift boating her, she should ignore them.
Any walk back in what she said, by her, Gibbs, or Obama is just encouraging these cretins to make the next atack more vicious.
May 29, 2009 6:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would have wished they had said nothing, but on the other hand, they DID NOT SAY that what she said was wrong did they? It's the same thing with Obama's bitter remarks during the primary, they did not say that Obama was wrong, but they did say that his wording could have been better. I think what they are saying is that the words being bandied about could have been worded in a "better way", but in context, they were NOT RACIST or OFFENSIVE.
May 29, 2009 5:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wish Gibbs had pointed out that the quoted sentence begins "I would hope that..." a Latina with world experience would have better judgment than a white guy without that experience.
She was, afterall, talking about Latinas.
May 29, 2009 5:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
See, this is the thing that drives me crazy about Democrats - the constant backtracking and apologizing. She said NOTHING wrong - in the context of her statements, it makes perfect sense because she was comparing a Latina woman with a white male. It's only when the statement is cherry picked that it can be misconstrued (and only by people who want to read racism into it). No apology is necessary - if conservatives are too stupid to read the entire speech and understand the context, then tough crap. Let them scream racism all they want - it's not sticking as is seen in her poll numbers.
May 29, 2009 5:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
Waiting for you to show me where Gibbs or Dems "apologized" for her statement.
May 30, 2009 7:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
Robert Gibbs has a "Joe Biden" problem. He did the same thing with the prsion photos, he has not seen them yet makes definitive statements about them. He shouldve kept his mouth shut and let the judge speak for herself. He did not speak to her directly, he is making statements based on 2nd hand information.
May 29, 2009 5:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
If you think this wasn't co-ordinated with the entire WH team and Sotomayor then you're out to lunch! Exhibit A: the president said the same thing as Gibbs.
Also, the judge CAN'T speak for herself until her confirmation hearing. She's in a mandatory media blackout.
May 30, 2009 7:34 AM | Reply | Permalink