I swear, Republicans don't have a clue about much of anything, do they?

They want to avoid depicting her as a Christian. Same as with Obama.

What, they couldn't find a Western / Christian icon for "enlightened"?

They're even incompetent as bigots!

This is rather thin gruel for accusations of racism. Jesus, they are portraying her as someone from a culture other than her own ethnicity. It's not like they gave her a taco in one hand and put a sombrero on her head.

National Review's cover might be lame and inane, but racist? It's sad to see such accusations hurled so effortlessly.

You know, the amazing thing about those brown-skinned people who hail from different parts of the world - even though they're not white, THEY'RE ALL DIFFERENT!

/snark

It is as if no hispanics, latino(a)s, Latin or South American descendant's can read or remember.
This hardly is an invitation to the republican big tent. I have to say the 'lynched pinata' image of the future Justice, by some cracker in an oklahoma paper's editorial page was more crass than this. It is all they got. Pathetic

wisdom is not western?

It's like some stone deaf old man with strong lungs blowing as hard as he can on a ear-piercingly shrill whistle that he mistakenly believes to be a dog whistle.

Wow. The slanty eyes and everything. Just wow.

They even went with Asian buckteeth, Breakfast at Tiffany's-style.

Is this perhaps a clue?

According to VD Hanson, who was complaining again about the fast-tracking of white oppression, Asians were interned during WWII, yet only yesterday California's Universities were worried that there were too many Asian students.

The University of California system, for example, not so long ago worried about too many Asians on its campuses. Yet Japanese-Americans were once put in internment camps and Chinese immigrants denied civil rights. Had Asians lost their aggrieved status because per capita they were doing too well? And does that suggest that race ipso facto is no longer a hindrance to success?

The focus on the eye slant is because the powers that shouldn't be at the NR were worried that liberals would not be able to piece these obvious facts together and come up with the correct response. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Its almost too much to bear.

If you consider the demographic of TNR readers, you have to wonder who was the "brain donor" editor that signed off on this cover. Do they really think this BS would work. Buddhism? Really?

The so-called conservative movement has gone into hibernation for the time being. The reactionary elements that remain and call themselves GOP should be taken seriously only in as far as they can continue to embarrass the nation.

I would submit that the general mood of the populace on balance is that of semi-informed acquiescent pragmatism and certainly not leftist or whatever bimodal category the MSM chooses to label the country.

G-dammed simpletons!

So now in addition to offending our Hispanic population, the conservative brainiacs are offending our Asian population.

Hey Conservatives, go ahead. Go for it. If you keep it up, you neo-cons can become completely marginalized by the end of 2009. Why wait for a 2010 campaign to show us your crazies?

So now that you have offended the latino americans, asian americans, african americans and the educated whites, what is your next target group?

Is it really worth kow-towing to the ignorant white vote at the expense of everyone else?

Honestly, I see this more as a piece about anti-intellectualism and and anti-elitism than about race. I'm sure most readers of National Review hold little respect for, or understanding of, Buddhism, but hold several stereotypes which the artists uses to paint Sotomayor as just another condescending, granola chomping, leftist hippie freak who thinks wisdom and empathy drips from her lips like pearls of honey. He's trying to frame her as the type of intellectual who gives "us practical people of the NR" the hives.

Yes, given the track record of the GOP (and the Nat'l Review), it's the go-to position to believe they're pushing racist swill, but I don't think that's the case this time. Given their track record though, it was a really stupid cover to do. It demonstrates a totally lack of awareness of how they are viewed and how people are likely to interpret the cover.

...not to rain on the offense-taking parade here, but "wisdom" is central Buddhist theme (along with compassion, ie empathy). They aren't portraying her as "Asian" but obviously as a Buddhist.

Am I the only one whose knees aren't jerking over this?