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Sotomayor adds celebrity to court |
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 Hispanic
American Village News
By The Associated Press
Sotomayor adds celebrity to court
By JESSE J. HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Apparently, no one told Sonia Sotomayor that Supreme Court justices are
supposed to be circumspect, emerging from their marble palace mainly to
dispense legal wisdom to law schools, judges' conferences and lawyers'
meetings.
Since becoming the first
Hispanic justice, Sotomayor has mamboed with movie stars, exchanged
smooches with musicians at the White House and thrown out the first
pitch for her beloved New York Yankees. A famous jazz composer even
wrote a song about her: "Wise Latina Woman.''
In short, Sotomayor has
become a celebrity -- all without having made a single major decision at
the nation's highest court.
It's not that other
justices don't have their own particular glamour.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and
Antonin Scalia -- both opera lovers -- recently had roles in the opening
performance of "Ariadne auf Naxos'' for the Washington National Opera.
Other justices have done tours to promote their books.
But that kind of fame
rarely reaches the man on the street.
Few Americans can name
most of the justices. "Many, many, many more Americans can name the
Seven Dwarfs than they can the people on the Supreme Court,'' said Bob
Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse
University.
No so for Sotomayor.
Autograph seekers, picture
takers and well-wishers hound her wherever she goes, months after her
confirmation hearing, swearing-in and first appearance in the courtroom.
Recently, the new justice
was swarmed by people with cameras the minute she appeared in the Grand
Foyer of the White House during a celebration of Latino music.
The throng around her
didn't part until the hundreds of concert guests were ushered to their
seats in a giant tent on the South Lawn, and it quickly regrouped once
the concert ended. Some of those lucky enough to get photos with the
justice squealed and proudly displayed their happy-snaps for others in
the crowd.
At that event, only
Sotomayor got a standing ovation when President Barack Obama read a list
of famous Hispanics from government, music and acting who were present,
including George Lopez, Jimmy Smits, Los Lobos, Sheila E. and Eva
Longoria Parker. Parker later on pulled Sotomayor on stage with all the
musicians and the first family as everyone hugged and exchanged smooches
during the finale.
Hollywood and the world of
music are also paying attention to her. One of the most popular YouTube
clips of Sotomayor is her confidently mamboing -- in heels! -- with "La
Bamba'' actor Esai Morales at a National Hispanic Foundation for the
Arts just weeks after she was confirmed.
The song Sotomayor and
Morales were dancing to? Bobby Sanabria's "Sotomayor Mambo.''
And that's not the only
song dedicated to her. Grammy award-winning jazzman Arturo O'Farrill and
the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra this month debuted "Wise Latina Woman,''
penned by O'Farrill and commissioned by The Bronx Museum of the Arts and
Symphony Space in honor of Sotomayor.
The title references one
of Sotomayor's most famous statements: "I would hope that a wise Latina
woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not
reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that
life.'' That remark was criticized over and over by her detractors
during her confirmation hearing. Since then it has been adopted by her
fans as a slogan. Now it even shows up on T-shirts and other
memorabilia.
It's not as if Sotomayor
is pushing this public recognition.
In fact, apart from a
C-SPAN program that interviewed all the justices, she is refusing
television, magazine and newspaper interview requests, including a
request for comment from The Associated Press for this story. Sotomayor
even nixed plans by famed photographer Annie Liebowitz to shoot her for
a photo spread in Vogue magazine.
She did allow Latina
magazine to photograph her inside the Supreme Court building, but
wouldn't submit to a formal interview even though a friend wrote the
accompanying article. Wearing her black robe, the justice appeared on
the cover of the latest issue prominently displaying her bright red
fingernails, which White House aides had persuaded her to repolish in a
demure neutral shade last July for her Senate confirmation hearing.
Even though she's avoided
interviews, people recognize her everywhere. "There are people who can
identify her in a line of pictures who couldn't identify some of the
people who are big movie stars,'' Thompson said.
Part of the adulation
stems from the historic nature of her appointment: the first Hispanic on
the court, and only the third female, after retired Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor and current Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
"She is the first Latino,
Latina to sit on the Supreme Court and that's powerful. She's a powerful
role model,'' said Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "She will have an
effect on Latino children akin to the effect that the election of the
first African-American president has had and will have on African
American childcare and that's encouraging. And for all of that she
deservedly gets treated like a rock star.''
O'Connor got her share of
celebrity treatment when she became the court's first female justice in
1981.
"If there was a state
dinner, an exclusive theater opening, even a new panda at the National
Zoo, O'Connor was there,'' author and reporter Joan Biskupic said in her
biography of O'Connor.
But O'Connor was appointed
before the 24-hour news cycle and YouTube, where video of anything can
show up anytime. A recent search of YouTube for Sotomayor brought up
more than 2,000 videos, double the amount for any other sitting justice.
That kind of attention
will make it difficult for Sotomayor to fade into the background, like
her colleagues.
"I'm almost never
recognized, which is nice. I just do the shopping and so forth and
nobody knows who it is,'' Justice John Paul Stevens, the court's senior
justice who has been on the court since 1975, said in an interview with
C-SPAN.
Sotomayor is also only the
third nonwhite justice. The late Thurgood Marshall joined the court in
1967, the court's first African-American justice and first nonwhite.
Justice Clarence Thomas, who replaced Marshall, still serves on the
court with Sotomayor.
Times were much different
when Marshall arrived. The justice would tell stories of being mistaken
for an elevator operator inside the Supreme Court, recalled one of his
former clerks, Mark Tushnet.
These days, Thomas says
he's recognized as a justice wherever he goes. "It's easier to recognize
... to pick one person out who's different,'' Thomas told C-SPAN.
Thompson, the Syracuse
professor, said it could be a good thing for Sotomayor's fame to linger
if it draws attention away from reality television stars and the like
and toward the court.
Supreme Court justices
"should be the celebrities,'' Thompson said. "Given the nature of our
governmental system, these are the people that every citizen should
know. These are important people.''
___
Associated Press writer
Nancy Benac contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
Sotomayor doing the mambo:
http://tinyurl.com/yc8hsgq
Sotomayor and the Yankees:
http://tinyurl.com/ycetj6r
Sotomayor dancing at the
White House: http://tinyurl.com/yco3m77
Dobbs says his departure from CNN was 'amicable'
By DAVID BAUDER
AP Television Reporter
NEW YORK (AP) - Lou Dobbs
says he doesn't feel like he was pushed out of CNN, the cable television
news organization where he worked for all but two years of its existence
until last Wednesday.
"Not at all,'' he said in
a weekend interview. "I don't know if people will believe it, but we had
a very amicable parting on the best of terms. I spent 29 years there
building that company, and I wish everyone there nothing but the best,
and they have reciprocated with me.''
He announced his
resignation on his evening show "Lou Dobbs Tonight,'' finished the
newscast and walked out of CNN.
It's hard to know whether
the abruptness or the lack of rancor surrounding the exit was more
noteworthy. Dobbs' outspokenness had made him a political target,
particularly from Latino groups -- so much so that there were parties
celebrating the departure over the weekend -- and an uncomfortable
contradiction to what CNN says it wants to be.
Dobbs said he plans to
take time deciding what he wants to do, beyond his daily radio show. He
promised to reach out to groups who criticized him, most prominently
because he advocated stern measures to halt illegal immigration. A
petition campaign seeking his ouster took root in recent months after
Dobbs gave attention on his show to questions about President Barack
Obama's place of birth.
Dobbs spoke his mind
freely on his radio show, unrelated to CNN, but tried at management's
request for the past several months to do a straight television
newscast. He and CNN President Jon Klein spoke frequently about the
direction of the show.
Although the decision to
leave was characterized as mutual, Dobbs said he approached Klein to say
it wasn't working for him. There was no "eureka'' moment, Dobbs said.
"What they do is their
business and I tried to accommodate them as best I could, but I've said
for many years now that neutrality is not part of my being,'' he said.
"I have strong views about a lot of issues that are important to the
country and I think are important to my audience.''
CNN has tried to promote
an unbiased approach to establish a middle ground between opinionated
hosts on conservative-leaning Fox News Channel and the more liberal
MSNBC. Dobbs was quickly replaced by John King, the straightforward
political reporter who used to work for The Associated Press.
Dobbs said he will take
weeks -- perhaps months -- to sift through ideas before deciding his
next step.
The future could include
journalism. He said his separation agreement didn't have a non-compete
clause, something TV news organizations frequently use to keep people
off the air for a while. Dobbs denied reports that he had met with Fox
News chief Roger Ailes or had talked to anyone at Fox about a job.
He said he's eager to meet
with some of the groups that have criticized him. Most prominent are
Latino organizations that had contended his anti-illegal immigration
stance was insulting and encouraged an atmosphere of prejudice.
"This has been an
orchestrated campaign of both distortion and outright propaganda for the
purpose of the open border and unconditional amnesty agenda,'' Dobbs
said. "That's politics. I understand that. But I'm going to reach out to
everyone with whom I've had a disagreement and see if there's a way in
which we can calmly and dispassionately discuss our differences and talk
about solutions.''
Roberto Lovato, whose
Presente.org group helped organize the anti-Dobbs petition effort, said
Dobbs has called him a "flea,'' a "bozo'' and a "nonentity'' on his
radio show. He declined an opportunity to face off with Dobbs on his
turf, the radio program, and said he wouldn't be on Dobbs' CNN show
unless Klein also appeared. It didn't happen.
Still, if Dobbs wants to
meet privately to talk, Lovato said he would.
"At the end of the day, we
are human beings, all of us,'' he said.
Dobbs' outwardly congenial
departure from CNN is in sharp contrast to his exile from 1999-2001. He
feuded with then-CNN President Rick Kaplan, even making his displeasure
with management known over the air, and returned after Kaplan left.
A determined effort not to
burn bridges with an important news organization? Seeking rapprochement
with former foes? It almost sounds political.
During his CNN
announcement last week, an American flag graphic fluttered behind Dobbs'
face. On his radio show the next day, Dobbs took calls from listeners
who urged the New Jersey resident to run for the U.S. Senate, or even
for president. (His producer cued up a recording of "Hail to the Chief''
during those calls)
Dobbs didn't encourage
such talk. He didn't discourage it, either.
The former Republican
makes political independence a central theme of his radio show, which
could be a skillful positioning during a time of intense partisanship.
"I've aligned myself with no group, no organization,'' he said. "I am
truly an independent. I carry no one's water. I'm aligned with no
interest group, no organized political party, nor do I intend to be. I
relish being an independent and having my freedom.''
A run for public office
interests him, Dobbs said. It's one of several options he said he's
considering.
"I know certain things
that are immutable and one of them is that I'm going to be engaged in
the public arena,'' he said.
On the Net:
http://www.loudobbs.com
Cuba embargo money flows to lawmakers
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
AP Hispanic Affairs Writer
MIAMI (AP) - Supporters of
tough U.S. sanctions against the Cuban government have given more than
$10 million to congressional campaigns over the last seven years,
according to a study released by a group supporting campaign finance
reform.
The Washington-based
nonprofit Public Campaign said the study, released late Sunday, shows
how large sums of money from a small group can influence lawmakers.
Public Campaign cites a
number of times in which lawmakers changed their position on
Cuba-related issues within months of receiving funds from a political
action committee -- or PAC -- that supports the U.S. embargo of the
communist island.
Those who back the
U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC say they are being unfairly targeted for their
passionate views toward their homeland. They note many other groups
channel money to politicians who support their views.
"Perhaps it's the age-old
story of money and politics, but 18 members switched their votes on the
subject, some in very close proximity to when they got donations,'' said
Public Campaign's David Donnelly.
"When an issue is not in
the front view like health care, our campaign finance system sets up a
situation in which the members are more interested in the money than
deciding a rational, reasoned approach to politics, regardless of what
the outcome,'' he added.
Mauricio Claver-Carone,
the Washington-based director to the PAC, says the group is simply
exercising its constitutional right to political participation.
"For some of these folks,
it's OK for unions to support pro-labor members. It's OK for trial
lawyers to help elect pro-litigators. It's OK for the Jewish community
to help elect pro-Israel,'' Claver-Carone said, adding, "But somehow
it's not OK for the Cuban community to help elect members and candidates
that help and support conditioning business and tourism with the Castro
regime with human rights and democratic reforms.''
Like many other interest
groups, those who support the U.S. embargo of Cuba have long donated
heavily to whichever party is in power and spread the funds among
legislators across the country.
U.S. Rep. Lincoln
Diaz-Balart, who is Cuban-American and staunchly pro-embargo, called the
report a "low blow'' and a "lot of baloney'' from those who oppose the
sanctions. Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican who receives thousands of
dollars from the PAC, said the number of individual contributions and
those to PACs demonstrate the community's continued unity.
Analysts are increasingly
calling into question that unity.
Many Cuban-Americans
continue to support a ban on tourist travel to the island until
political prisoners there are released, free elections are held and
independent media is allowed to operate. Younger members of the
community and newer arrivals tend to support easing restrictions on
travel by Cuban-Americans to visit family, as well as educational and
other exchanges.
The study was released as
opponents of the U.S. travel ban to the island prepare for congressional
hearings this week on the issue.
President Barack Obama has
walked a fine line on the issue. He relaxed restrictions on family
travel and allowed U.S. scientists to visit the island, but he says he
will not call for lifting general sanctions until the Cuban government
demonstrates willingness to improve human rights and political freedoms.
On the Web: http://www.publicampaign.org/
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