The NYT‘s Adam Liptak was on MSNBC this afternoon defending his Sotomayor-is-temperamental story.
We explained earlier how the Sotomayor battle has blown up the until-now simmering fight between GOP pragmatists (want to get reelected) and fire breathers (want to fundraise and burn heretics at the stake) by injecting the explosive issues of race, nativism and gender into the equation. Now Newt Gingrich has responded to Sen. Cornyn’s call to basically shut the hell up by turning the volume way up on the Sotomayor as anti-American racist freak by invoking the Civil War, civil rights and arguing that American civilization itself may be at stake if her brand of ‘racism’ isn’t defeated.
Full-size video at TPMtv.com.
I had not heard that Amos Elon, the great Israeli writer and intellectual, had died. Bernie Avishai remembers him.
If you’re not familiar with Elon you can pick a copy of this book to get some sense of the loss.
The Republicans come out against imperialism…from New York and California imposing cap and trade policy on the Midwest, that is. That and other political news in today’s TPMDC Saturday Roundup.
From the Wichita Eagle …
George Tiller, the Wichita doctor who became a national lightning rod in the debate over abortion, was shot to death Sunday morning as he walked into church services.
The Sunday talk shows this weekend were all Sotomayor talk, all the time. Check it out at today’s TPMDC Sunday Roundup.
A few readers have objected — in a few cases, quite heatedly — to our use of the phrase “abortion doctor” in our feature headline about the murder of Kansas Ob-Gyn George Tiller — the idea being that by not referring to him simply as a “doctor” or an “Ob-Gyn” we’re buying into the rightwing hysteria/demonization of doctors who carry out abortions.
I thought of this when we put together the feature. But headlines can only contain a few words. And referring to him as a “doctor” or “ob-gyn” wouldn’t have provided any information or context for why he was murdered or what the story was about. Some doctor got murdered in Wichita … Why is that a feature story? So, I understand and respect the criticism. But I thought this was the clearest and most appropriate way to headline the story.
Late Update: Several readers suggested some version of the headline we’ve now switched to in the feature spot to the right: “George Tiller, Doctor Who Provided Abortions, Shot and Killed”
Gitlin on who gets to shout ‘identity politics’.