Air America radio host Montel Williams displayed a brain cramp last Thursday on the Sonia Sotomayor nomination. He suggested the Constitution protects the right of the president to nominate Supreme Court justices and "doesn’t have to get it cleared from Congress, Senate or anybody."
Montel at least suggested his awareness that there is such a thing as a Senate confirmation process (without recalling it was created by Article II of the Constitution). He also suggested Sotomayor’s critics from Gingrich to Buchanan were racists who might want to go back to the days of segregation. Here’s his Constitution-mangling quote:
People seem to forget that this is one of those things that's protected by the Constitution of the United States. The president has the right to select who he wants. [He] doesn't have to get it cleared from Congress, Senate or anybody...No president before this has come under this kind of scrutiny...before the committee hearings even begin.
A few minutes earlier, he played audio of Pat Buchanan calling Sotomayor an affirmative-action pick, and took exception to Newt Gingrich calling it a racist comment to insist that a wise Latina would make a better decision than a white male. Montel suggested conservatives are nostalgic for a time when racial minorities were second-class citizens:
Do you want to take us back, Newt? You want to go back to before Thurgood Marshall, when it [the Court] was all white? How about you, Buchanan?...
The country still had segregation laws. We still had separate-but-equal laws. We still had Jim Crow laws. Is that what you're saying? Are you so angry that you lost that the only image of America you can remember that makes you feel good is when it's as racist as you [are] when you open your mouth?...
The majority of all this rhetoric has nothing to do with anything other than racism.
Montel has a pattern of disparaging Gingrich.
[Hat tip: Saddam Has AIDS]
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Civics for Dummies
June 2, 2009 - 06:20 ET by danebramageSo the lefties want to bash Rush? Fine. Here's an anchor we can hang around their necks.
We should play this one up to high heaven. I hope Rush and every talk host out there takes it and runs with it.
Another
June 2, 2009 - 06:53 ET by Long Island PeteAnother Constitutional scholar heard from. Montel must be taking lessons from Whoppie on the Constitution. I dont know if her comments were racist, but I will say they were bigoted. If she is able to make bigoted comments in public, I tend to wonder what she has said in private conversations. I am sure it would be eye opening. As long as there are those who cry racism when people of color are questioned, racism will always be around in their own hearts. These are the true racists.
Constitution?
June 2, 2009 - 06:57 ET by FranksamWe don't need no stinking constitution. We only need a wise Latina who will make the kind of decisions that Montel likes.
I'm sure that Montel's defenders think that even if he's ignorant of the confirmation process, he was only making a point that Sotomayor's critics are racists who want slavery brought back to Amerika.
I'm guessing that Montel went to public schools.
The other howler of the piece:
June 2, 2009 - 07:07 ET by motherbeltNo president before this has come under this kind of scrutiny...before the committee hearings even begin.
<Chris Matthews imitation> HA!
Any opposer of Sotomayor wants to go back to the days of segregation, it's that simple.
The majority of all this rhetoric has nothing to do with anything other than racism.
He sounds like Garofalo...This is racism, straight up.
(emphasis added)
They always have to get that definitive phrase in there; it's not an opinion, it's a fact.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Has he ever heard of....
June 2, 2009 - 07:13 ET by superconBork,Thomas,Alito and Roberts....? Let's throw in Pickering,Owen and Estrada too. Geez....does this guy even have a GED?
Why can't I be a talk show host too? That way all I have to do to be rich is go on T.V. and be a bleepin' retard.
"Fire can't melt steel"-Rosie O'Donnell
Hey Janet Napolitano...I'm proud to be a Right-winger.
Why can't I be a talk show host too?
June 2, 2009 - 09:36 ET by nolotrippenSorry, I've read your job qualifications and here's the problem:
1) you actually have job qualifications.
2) you think before you talk or write.
3) you don't tow the liberal party line (which is lighter than dental floss, so you SHOULD be able to tow it).
4) you read and post on NewsBusters.
Next! No talk show host job for you! Come back, one year.
Just further proof that
June 2, 2009 - 07:22 ET by nadadhimmiJust further proof that black America considers Obama an absolute ruler. And liberals have proven themselves anxious to become subjects rather than citizens. If you want to see socialist black rule, look at Zimbabwe, Congo, or any other place in Africa. In America, look to Detroit, New Orleans or Newark. These cities, and indeed America in the last 5 months, are decending into fractious, tribalism. The parallel of existing on the wealth built up in the past, building nothing, and then sliding into squalor as that wealth is exhausted, is perfect. It would appear, from the evidence, that White Males, in the richness of their experience, make better civilization judgements than both Latina's and blacks. WHAT?????????????, Surely such a statement isn't RACIST now is it???????????? Not to Sotomayor, Obama or the Old York Times it's not. Oh,, wait, er, um ahhh.
Sotomayor Environmental Extremist?
June 2, 2009 - 07:27 ET by young_schoolEven though Montel getting it wrong is funny, Sotomayors stance on the environment is very alarming, imagine if Algores has a supreme court judge behind his money grab.
Young School
Where would we be
June 2, 2009 - 07:32 ET by kongwithout the political knowledge of celebrities?
I remember, don't YOU?
June 2, 2009 - 07:35 ET by AJBYeah, Montel said the same thing about Bork, Roberts, Clarence Thomas and that other woman they chargrilled from Texas. Right? Or am I remembering wrong. Hmmm.
Oh wait! Wait!
June 2, 2009 - 07:38 ET by GecksSince he is in the "Hate the right, hope they die party" can we hope his MS kicks in big time? I'm just sayng, since it's funny for them to hope that Rushs' kidney's fails, is it humorous to hope for his muscles to fail?
Destiny rarely calls on you when it is convenient!
Were the democraps racist
June 2, 2009 - 07:45 ET by eaglewingz08Were the democraps racist for opposing Miguel Estrada and Clarence Thomas to be justices? What say you Mr. TV guy?
I guess anyone can get a TV show.....
June 2, 2009 - 07:47 ET by crazymountainSo, Montel had a TV show, which, for the left, constitutes a degree in Constitutional Law. Sotomayor also thinks that the State of New York banned felons from voting because the rascist lawmakers there had a plot to only make blacks and hispanics felons, so they could violate the Voting Rights Act.
It seems that all the reading I have done on the founding and the documents that were produced by those radicals in 1787 are just more right wing propaganda. Nice to know.
By the way, I am a proud right-wing extremist. I believe in all those radical causes like Christianity, the Second Amendment (thank you, Heller!), a right to life and all those other radical causes. I reckon I will have to turn myself in at the nearest DOJ office.
No no no no no no no
June 2, 2009 - 08:35 ET by danebramageGet with the times, man. You're no mere criminal. You're a full-on terrorist. Please report to the nearest DHS office instead.
Alternate reading of the quote
June 2, 2009 - 07:52 ET by bluefeetbrewsMy reading of the quote above is that Obama doesn't need anyone's approval to nominate a particular candidate- that Obama presents his choice without pre-approval and then the confirmation process begins. Montel was commenting on the amount of criticism that has been poured on Sotomayor prior to the start of formal hearings.
Montel was commenting on
June 2, 2009 - 08:02 ET by motherbeltMontel was commenting on the amount of criticism that has been poured on Sotomayor prior to the start of formal hearings.
True, and he claimed that this had never happened before.
He has a short, selective memory.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Short selective memory
June 2, 2009 - 08:15 ET by bluefeetbrewsThat's why I love this site- folks do research and support their opinions with facts.
"Before" the formal hearings?
June 2, 2009 - 10:19 ET by CobraManBefor the formal hearings? It started before the nomination process took place! It started the day Bush took office!
"Soon after the inauguration of Bush as president in January 2001, many liberal academics became worried that he would begin packing the federal judiciary with conservative jurists. Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman wrote an article in the February 2001 edition of the liberal magazine The American Prospect that encouraged the use of the filibuster to stop Bush from placing any nominee on the Supreme Court during his first term. In addition, law professors Cass Sunstein (University of Chicago) and Laurence Tribe (Harvard), along with Marcia Greenberger of the National Women's Law Center, counseled Senate Democrats in April 2001 "to scrutinize judicial nominees more closely than ever." Specifically, they said, "there was no obligation to confirm someone just because they are scholarly or erudite.""
Link
Williams has a very short memory indeed.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus.
The US Supreme Court
Black Racism
June 2, 2009 - 07:57 ET by The Smokin FrogThis has been happening for years. We are all to accept the charge of racism and beg forgiveness. Everyone is a racist but black people.
Why white people have been so willing to accept these charges is beyond me. Racism is a sin just like any others, and last I read in the Scripture, there is no one with out sin, including blacks.
Montel is showing what a racist he is. And we ought not to accept charges that are false and worship at this black altar. Speaking for myself, I have plenty of sins you could go after me for. Those I will confess. But I will not accept this false premise from haters.
Obama did listen very well to Jeremiah Wright and he is acting on what he heard and believes. This is why he is at ease with Sotomayer's racist remark. This is racism and the liberals are the racists in America today.
TSF Protests!
I thought he was a former
June 2, 2009 - 08:18 ET by ricklailI thought he was a former Naval officer in the SEALS. He took an oath to defend the Constitution and doesn't know what it says? He would fix right in Congress.
Semper suprene nitens
Whatever happened to Montel
June 2, 2009 - 08:30 ET by HockeyKidWhatever happened to Montel Williams? I remember back before he became a celebrity, he and another former Navy officer used to tour the country giving motivational speeches to high school kids, mostly in inner cities. Their message was to get ahead, you have to work hard and persevere.
Now he's just another politicized Hollywood leftie.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
Most people have never read the Constitution
June 2, 2009 - 08:41 ET by c5thenand have no clue what it actually says. Montel is apparently in that group too. as far as the racisim comments go...Why is it that so many people (regardless of their ancestry) think that the way to "fix" racism and bigotry is to reverse it, as if that is justice?
Judge Sotomayor should get the same fair treatment and fair hearings (and hopefully a vote) that Judges Thomas, Bork, Allito, and Roberts got upon their nomination.
Hey, I got the wrong "CHANGE"!
www.loyaltoliberty.com
There is nothing....
June 2, 2009 - 09:00 ET by Gecksmore satifying as to listen to people quoting the constitution, and then whipping out the copy that I carry with me at all times, asking them to show me what article they are refering to. It really irks me when they "quote" the constitution, and then can't point it out.
A bit of advice to the libs, if your going to quote the constitution, make sure your not talking to someone who loves the ideas and values of it, and can smack you down if you get it wrong.
Your right to the persuit of happiness ends at my front door and not in my wallet.
Destiny rarely calls on you when it is convenient!
Looks like all of the pot
June 2, 2009 - 09:12 ET by rwesleyLooks like all of the pot smoking Montel has done for his "illness" resulted in a deeper understanding of the Constitution. All that's missing is "you know, man?" after every sentence he speaks.
Disinformation Czar?
June 2, 2009 - 09:22 ET by BigSpoon65I believe Montell wants in the Obama inner circle of fascist Czars who are appointed to circumvent the constitution and the congress.
Winston Churchill ~ "Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy."
Montel doesn't believe in our Republic or our Constitution
June 2, 2009 - 09:47 ET by nolotrippenMontel doesn't believe in our Republic or our Constitution
But he does believe in Sylvia Browne. He had this charlatan psychic on once or twice a week. Now, he definitely knew the woman (and all those like her) is a fraud. He and his staff have to be in on it for the act to work. They feed her the information that makes her look semi-believable.
So, he is willing to delude his gullible audience on something phony, to make them think there are people who have "gifts" (the gift is taking people's money) to let them know that mommy from the great beyond forgives little Timmy.
So, where some might think he doesn't know about how our government works -- he does. He simply doesn't believe in our government and is willing to lie to the gullible to reach his own ends: ratings, power, influence, money (hmm, sounds like the MSNBC pundits).
Sorry for the long rant.
PS: For those of you who believe in psychics, Houdini wanted desperately to believe, too, but never found one that wasn’t not only a phony, but no where as smart as he was. He knew the tricks.
Oh Montel, Montel, Montel
June 2, 2009 - 09:53 ET by 1611LilacLadyAnother pathetic ignoranmus . . .
Isaiah 5:20a Woe unto them who call evil good, and good evil. . . KJV
Its Official
June 2, 2009 - 11:30 ET by Snappy"No president before this has come under this kind of scrutiny...before the committee hearings even begin"
It looks like Montel needs an intervention as he is obviously on crack!
Sotomayor will not be
June 2, 2009 - 15:59 ET by melpolSotomayor will not be confirmed as a follower of the law because there is no law to follow. She will be confirmed because she will follow the law of the other eight judges. That means twisting the law to observe popular opinion. Laws might be etched in stone but even an adulterer can be forgiven by a corrupt judge. Extreme marital stress gets a cheater off the hook. An accepted plea of temporary insanity will free a rich murderer. The letter of the law is rarely used because it only looks good etched in stone. Sotomayor will assimilate, follow precedent,and remain in the shadows of the other eight judges.
http://www.associate...
He's only on the air
June 2, 2009 - 15:59 ET by George S PattonHe's only on the air because he's black! Another negro racist. The future of America is Detroit.