If White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs is to be believed, "no one" includes Barack since Gibbs claims the president never asked Sotomayor where she stood on abortion.
As Betty pointed out Friday, this happened the last time a woman was nominated to the Court. For those who've forgotten, Harriet Miers refused to say where she stood publicly on abortion as did the White House then led by Bully Boy Bush.
Almost four years later and despite the White House switching parties in the process, we're still stuck with not knowing.
That's not good enough.
Not by a long shot.
Green Change explains:
Here's what we know so far.
In 2002, Judge Sotomayor upheld President Bush's "global gag rule" which forced groups receiving U.S. assistance to pledge not to support or carry out abortions.
In 2004, Judge Sotomayor ruled mostly in favor of anti-abortion protesters in a case regarding police use of force against them.
In 2007, Judge Sotomayor joined an opinion that upheld a school district's policy of requiring teachers to notify parents if they thought that a girl was pregnant.
What a bunch of bulls**t. Especially that last one. A teenage girl is pregnant, she's frightened, she wants to speak to someone she can trust and, thankfully, there's one adult in the world she thinks she can: A teacher. But Sotomayor would have that teacher be compelled to tell a parent. Based on what?
Is pregnancy a crime and by being silent the teacher aiding and abetting? We find it disgusting that a teacher has less rights of confidence than a priest -- especially considering the sexual conduct problems in the priesthood over the last two decades.
In the photo below, Sotomayor clearly enjoys speaking.
So we'd urge her to get honest about where she stands on abortion and do so pretty damn quick.
There is no excuse for her confirmation hearing to start tomorrow and for the American public to still not know where she stands on this issue.