PrintJuly 14, 2009
Franken gaffes it up at Sotomayor hearings
The Senate's newest member exhibited his inexperience in his public debut appearance on Monday. Non lawyer and Harvard political science major, Senator Al Franken (D-MN), who was immediately appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke at the opening session of the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is an incredible honor to be here. Less than a week into my term as a United States Senator, my first major responsibility is here, at this historic confirmation hearing.
I am truly humbled to join the Judiciary Committee, which has played, and will continue to play, such an important role in overseeing our nation's system of justice.
(snip)
Judge Sotomayor, welcome. For the next few days, I expert to learn from you as well. You are the most experienced nominee to the Supreme Court in 100 years.
Oh really? Whatever one's opinion of Ms. Sotomayor--or the other justices past and present--stating she is the most experienced in the past century merely demonstrates that Senator Franken forgot all he learned in his college classes--or, conversely, that he never learned anything there. Or since then.
Maybe he's never heard of Justices Benjamin Cardozo, Oliver Wendall Holmes, William H. Taft, Felix Frankfurter, and numerous other distinguished justices or shamefully rejected nominee Robert Bork, not to mention some of the present justices, to name a few who also had/have impressive experience.
But mentioning them wouldn't have been funny.
