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Sen. Whitehouse No Habla Espanol

— By Stephanie Mencimer | Wed July 15, 2009 12:15 PM PST

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has done a good bit of babbling over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor this week. He's so proud of her that today, he confessed that she gives him "piel de gallina." That would be "goosebumps" for all you gringos out there.  The good senator was obviously trying to be nice by, you know, speaking her language. But throwing bad Spanish at the country's first Latina Supreme Court nominee is akin to questioning Justice Clarence Thomas in Ebonics. How much more patronizing can these guys be? Next we'll have Sen. Kyl demanding, "comprende Senora?" after one of his windy questions. It just shows why it might be a good idea to have a little more diversity in high places. A "wise Latina" might have prevented Whitehouse from making such an embarassing gaffe. Or at least she could help him with his accent.

Follow our live coverage of the Sotomayor hearings here.

 

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      4 Comments | Post Comment
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      Comments
      no profile pic for comment author

      That sucks

      Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on July 15, 2009 - 6:10pm.

      Whitehouse is normally one of the few Senators I don't hate. I guess everyone makes mistakes, but this was a bonehead move.

      no profile pic for comment author

      Guess what

      Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on July 15, 2009 - 10:44pm.

      She doesn't even speak Spanish. Wow, Sotomayor, Franken, Whitehouse, Barney Frank, Kennedy, Biden, Maxine Waters, Charlie Rangel, Ogabe, etc, etc-

      You leftists must be so proud!

      no profile pic for comment author

      I heard that one of our

      Submitted by Pete (not verified) on July 16, 2009 - 7:08am.

      I heard that one of our esteemed Senators also told Sotomayor that she "had some 'splainin' to do", in full Ricky Ricardo accent. (Never mind that Desi Arnaz was Cuban, not Puerto Rican.) Can you imagine the outcry if a Democratic senator had questioned Clarence Thomas in jive during his confirmation hearings?

      no profile pic for comment author

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