by Cheryl Rofer
Could we make a rule that anybody who hasn't questioned the ability of Justices Roberts or Alioto to judge without being influenced by their ethnicity (white establishment male, Catholic if you care to add that in) is not allowed to question Sonia Sotomayor's ability on that count? (cf. Kevin Drum, Steve Benen) It's a tired frame: white establishment male equals the norm. Not any more.
And could we stop using child-discipline words to describe North Korea's behavior or possible responses to it? Yes, some of this looks like tantrums, but so did some of George W. Bush's statements on international affairs ("Bring 'em on!). What the childish descriptors do is to mess up our thinking on the matter. We can't spank North Korea, and putting sanctions on them is not an equivalent. The Washington Post and the New York Times do pretty well in today's reports, the Huffington Post, not so well.