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What is the purpose of the line of discussion? In what universe is the sexual orientation of any judge relevant to ANY case?
Should straight judges recuse themselves from a case involving sexual orientation? What about religious conflict of interest – is that on the table now as well?
It’s yet another example of how the the MSM shouldn’t assail the journalistic chops of new media when asinine matters like this come up.
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When all else fails – start a smear campaignI have heard very good commentary from Toobin and always liked hearing him, but this sounds more like a Fox News story. Whether Walker is or not, he based his decision on the Constitution, and previous rulings by the US Supreme Court. He documented his ruling explicitly. This is no more than a last attempt in a litany of pawltry arguments against same-sex marriage. The proponents of P8 really don’t have much else in their bucket to throw at same-sex couples. I really pray that the Ninth Circuit Court will say that Walker is correct.
Total Double StandardWhat the hell is Rick Sanchez referring to when he starts out about “this judge and the problems he has”? I commend Toobin for saying that it’s ridiculous to argue that Walker should have recused himself because he is gay. What I find most offensive is that Toobin practices the double standard so many in the MSM follow. You can tell he is even uncomfortable about it as he hems and haws ludicrously claims that it’s “fairly universally acknowledged that Vaughn Walker is gay.”
I actually have no problem with the media discussing Walker’s sexual orientation. But notice that they would never ever apply the same standards to other public figures. It’s much more commonly known that Congressman David Dreier is gay. But Toobin would never mention that. There is even more in print about Charlie Crist being gay than there is about Vaughn Walker. So would Toobin say that it’s “fairly universally acknowledged that Charlie Crist is gay”?
Signorile Article: “Judge Vaughn Walker Gets Smeared By the Media”There was a great article a few days ago on HuffPo by Mike Signorile that described this double standard perfectly: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…
Can’t blame Toobin.Sanchez was, in his usual style, clearly prompting him. If Toobin had said, “Why Rick, I have no idea what you’re insinuating,” the whole exchange would have been even more ludicrous. And Toobin says it’s ridiculous.
I think it’s fairly clear that Sanchez is on our side on this, but… Ugh, I really, really hate his show.
It’s CNN…You would never hear them say it’s “fairly universally acknowledged that Anderson Cooper is gay.”
LOL, perfect!!
Clip missed the whole discussionUnfortunately this clip missed the minute before it started and the minute after it ended. The discussion began based on the right wing nut jobs claiming bias by JW. Following the clip above, it ended by Sanchez and Toobin stating that the right wing nut job claims were utterly rediculous. So in the end, it was a very supportive discussion. Cheers!
Recusal of Roman CatholicsIf one believes that an allegedly gay judge has to recuse himself in a case in which he might have some personal reason to judge one way or another, I suppose that means that Roman Catholic judges (Scalia, Alito, Thomas–I’m looking at you) will have to recuse themselves because their personal, religious affiliation will predispose them to judging one way or another, right? Funny how that point hasn’t been made in these discussions.
Ah, but don’t forget Sotomayer in that discussion.
Curious how NOM would feel if we asked all Christians to recuse themselves from cases involving Church and State? Clearly they cannot be unbiased and objective when asked to rule against the Lord.
Just another reason why “The most trusted name in television news”is, in my opinion, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I long for the day when I hear “More Americans get their news from The Comedy Channel than from any other source.”