Should We be Surprised by Sotomayor’s Radical Views?
Time to put the heat on your Senators as hearings begin.
“I will be talking [to Judge Sotomayor] about the question of foreign law and the question of [her] commitment to the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms…. President Obama, who nominated Judge Sotomayor, has a rather limited view of what the Second Amendment guarantees.” — Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), June 2009
Washington, DC – -(AmmoLand.com)- Today, the U.S. Senate commences hearings on Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was nominated by President Obama to replace the retiring Judge David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court.
In many ways, Sotomayor’s views are out-of-step with our American heritage and with the views of Americans in general. For example, Sotomayor believes that our fundamental law is constantly evolving and that rights are constantly changing with the times.
But should we be surprised? The President who nominated her holds some of the most radical views ever held by a resident of the White House. His take on the Constitution — and the Second Amendment in particular — has stationed him to the far left on the political spectrum.
Consider just a small snapshot of his record over the years:
* As President, Obama has nationalized much of the car and banking industry and is now looking to do the same with health care. Even the Marxist President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, joked on live television last month that he and Fidel Castro need to be careful or else “we are going to end up to [Obama’s] right.”
* As a U.S. Senator, Obama was ranked by the National Journal in 2007 as the most liberal legislator in that chamber. Realize that such a ranking put Obama to the left of 99 other Senators — including an open, self-avowed socialist, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
* Like many socialists, Obama has supported some of the most extreme positions on gun control: supporting a ban on handguns, opposing the repeal of the draconian DC gun ban, opposing the right of self-defense for residents in the Chicago suburbs, and much more.
Obama’s brand of far-left politics sees the Constitution as moldable as a ball of wax. In a 2001 interview, he criticized earlier Supreme Courts for “never ventur[ing] into the issues of redistribution of wealth…. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution.”
Sotomayor appears to have the same view of our highest document, as she stated in 1996 that law is not “static and predictable,” but “constantly overhaul[ed] and adapt[ed] [by lawyers and courts] to the realities of ever-changing social, industrial and political conditions.”
ACTION: Please urge your two Senators to vote AGAINST the Sotomayor nomination. Tell them to cast a pro-gun vote on EVERY vote related to Judge Sonia Sotomayor (whether it’s a vote on sustaining a filibuster or a vote on final passage).
Please use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at https://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your legislators the pre-written e-mail message below.
Gun Owners of America—– Pre-written letter —–
Dear Senator:
Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s views are out-of-step with our American heritage and with the views of Americans in general. Not surprisingly, the Rasmussen polling firm reported on July 1 that more Americans oppose her nomination than support her.
Sotomayor believes that our fundamental law is constantly evolving and that rights are constantly changing with the times. But a majority of Americans disagree. Multiple polls have found that almost three-fourths of all Americans believe that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the rights of “individuals” to own guns. Not so for Judge Sotomayor:
* She ruled in United States v. Sanchez-Villar (2004) that “the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right.”
* And earlier this year, Sotomayor was part of a three-judge panel which ruled in Maloney v. Cuomo that the Second Amendment does not apply to the states. This makes her more liberal than the Ninth Circuit, which stated in the Nordyke case in April that the Second Amendment does apply to the states.
Please cast a pro-gun vote on EVERY vote related to Judge Sonia Sotomayor (whether it’s a vote on sustaining a filibuster or a vote on final passage).
I would like to hear back from you on this. Although rest assured, Gun Owners of America will keep me up to date on any further developments.
Sincerely,
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8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102
Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585
FAX: 703-321-8408
www.gunowners.org