Why Sotomayor Is A Terrific Nominee

The vultures were circling overhead within nanoseconds of the announcement that Sonia Sotomayor was President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee.

Some thoughts:

* She more than passes muster as a replacement for David Souter and is a brilliant pick politically, and no more so than when the Party of Southern White Men tries to go after her since most voters are no longer susceptible to the GOP's brand of dog-whistle politics.

* Oh, it was a president from that party who nominated her to the federal district bench and 25 of its senators, including seven who are still sitting, who voted to elevate her to the federal appeals court.

* To call her a judicial activist, let alone a far leftist, as conservatives are, is downright hilarious in the era of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito.

* Although the comparison is being made, she is not a stupido like Harriet Miers. Stupidos do not graduate from Princeton and Yale Law at the top of their classes.

* Opponents pigeonhole her at their own risk. She has ruled against a pro-life group and the oft-quoted "wise Latina" passage from another opinion is out of context.

* John Yoo, who willfully ignored the law in justifying the use of torture, says she won't adhere to it.

* While the High Court makes the man . . . er, woman in many cases, there is unlikely to be a shift in the balance of power once she puts on the black bathrobe and gets her feet on the ground.

* As with Alito, who faced similar attacks from the other side of the aisle, it is a president's decision and only his decision whom to nominate.

* The Democrats have a filibuster-proof majority. She will be confirmed, but only after much breast beating and all-around wingnuttery.