Remember when Republicans tried to say Sotomayor wasn't qualified because she brought empathy

[suffragette]

into her decisions.

I do.

What a contrast between then and now.

It’s clear why Republicans focused on the positive quality of empathy as a negative. They simply do not have any. And they want Supreme Justices who are bereft of that ability to care about others or to see from others’ point of view as well.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/07/how-key-republicans-have-performed-at-sotomayors-hearing/21174/

So, with that in mind, here's a rundown of how GOP senators performed at today's hearing.

As a group, Republican senators blasted President Obama's professed standard of "empathy" as a desirable quality in judicial nominees (which a senior administration official has since modified) above all . Almost across the board, they questioned Obama's judicial philosophy before delving into Sotomayor's previous decisions and statements--which they did discuss heavily. They called it a dangerous precedent for judicial appointments.

The "wise Latina" quote figured prominently in Republicans' opening remarks; they roundly questioned her impartiality, and, tying her to Obama's "empathy" preference through some of her statements outside the courtroom, they raised concerns that she's a subjectivist who doesn't think judges should keep their "heart" or "gut" feelings separate from their decisions.

Here’s a post I made back in the day about her process incorporating empathy and detailed why I thought she was a great choice:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5733426