Mario Piperni dot Com

As the angry right continues their attacks on Supreme court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, there comes a single voice of reason.

One of the top Republicans in the Senate, John Cornyn, is repudiating recent comments by Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich which claimed that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is a racist.

“I think it’s terrible… This is not the kind of tone any of us want to set when it comes to performing our constitutional responsibilities of advise and consent.”

Cornyn dismissed Limbaugh and Gingrich, adding: “Neither one of these men are elected Republican officials. I just don’t think it’s appropriate. I certainly don’t endorse it. I think it’s wrong.”

I’m having a hard time figuring out what the conservative game plan is in regards to Sotomayor.  Asking questions about her past rulings is fair game and part of the vetting process.  Making outrageous claims that she’s a racist is counterproductive to republican hopes of regaining power in 2012.  Hispanics and independents are not impressed.

Here’s some of what Cornyn thinks is “wrong”.

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Someone should propose legislation on stupidity.  Here’s Pat Robertson asking the question everyone has been dying to ask in regards to the hate crimes bill recently passed by the House.

Will the hate crimes bill protect someone who “likes to have sex with ducks” or “little boys?”

Here’s a worthy reply to Robertson’s idiocy.

And here’s Robertson’s entire pile of nonsense.

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We knew it to be true but getting it confirmed by one of their own is always nice…

Whoops. Rob Portman, a Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, has now admitted in an interview that the GOP doesn’t have a position on health care. Worse, he says he came to that conclusion after multiple discussions with GOP Congressional leaders about the issue.

Check out this nugget buried in a National Journal article (subscription only) about Portman:

Republicans have also taken some heat nationally for not focusing on health care in their campaigns in recent years, but Portman already has been speaking on the issue frequently.

“We have to have an alternative. … I will tell you, I don’t think there is a Republican alternative at this point,” he said. He said he reached that conclusion after talking to Senate leaders and lawmakers about the GOP’s position. “There isn’t one,” he said. “There’s a task force, and I applaud them for that.

A task force?  No one in the GOP realized health care was a problem until now?  The party of no ideas marches on.

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I don’t have heroes in my life.  It’s not a conscience decision or anything I’m particularly proud or shameful for – it’s just the way it is.  Besides, the term ‘hero’ seems too encompassing.  The individual would need to be someone who I would have to be able to look up to on every level or aspect of their lives and…beyond the realm of fiction, I don’t think that specific individual exists and never will.  Imperfection is a built-in human trait and  I am fine with that.

What I do have though, are people I admire.  Individuals who over a prolonged length of time have shown either remarkable courage or identifying personal traits I would want to emulate if I could.  The person need not be a world leader or war hero.  Gender or orientation have no bearing nor does age or status.

All of this to say that within the political world, Winston Churchill is one of those few individuals I do admire.  It’s hard to imagine how WWII could have turned out as it did without the leadership and foresight of Churchill.  Writer, artist, historian and politician, Churchill is regarded as one of the most influential leaders in history.

So, if you’re by your television Sunday evening, then you might want to tune in to HBO’s Into The Storm – a film which “is set against the backdrop of World War II, and offers an intimate look at the making of a nation’s hero, whose prowess as a great wartime leader ultimately undermined his political career and threatened his marriage to his lifelong supporter, Clemmie.”

Should be good stuff.

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