earthmann

With all do respect to Arnold Garcia Jr., he wrote an absurd column in Sunday's Austin American-Statesman. Garcia asserts Democrats blocked the Estrada nomination because his conservative stance defied what Democrats expect from Hispanics. This is ludicrous.

Democrats filibustered Estrada not because of his race, but rather in spite of his race. Rather than viewing Estrada as a two-dimensional demographic, they treated him the same way they treated other staunchly conservative nominees.

Estrada wasn’t filibustered because he didn’t think like a Hispanic, but because he thought like a Bushite.

And I for one thank congress for their rare diligence. I am wary of all Bush’s nominees. After all, the man he picked to enforce the laws, Attorney General Ashcroft, can’t walk by a Renaissance nude without violating his conscience, and I’d rather not see similarly narrow minds interpreting the law.