In Softball, Press Corps Beats Congressional Women - First Read - msnbc

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Related article: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Shows Softball Is Not Just For Lesbians Anymore

After a five-run rally in the top of the seventh inning that invoked the “mercy” rule -- forcing the side to retire with only one out -- the Washington D.C. women’s press corps softball team defeated the Congressional women's squad 13-7.

They let the members play the bottom of the seventh (of a seven-inning game) even though technically they couldn’t have tied the game without also invoking the mercy rule they use, which says a team can't score more than five runs in an inning.

Star players on the losing congressional team in the second annual congressional women's softball game were pitcher Kirsten Gillibrand (photo to left), slugger Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Jean Schmidt, and Linda Sanchez. The congressional women are 0-for-2 in two years. Last year, they lost 14-8 to a staffers of the national committees.

The victorious scribes were led by MVP Trisha Turner of Fox and Dana Bash of CNN. Spouse John King was seen on the field in anchorman suit and tie trying to argue with the umpire about the mercy rule.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Yankee fan justice Sonia Sotomayor, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), and other fans were in the stands.

Photo credit: Lez Get Real

Stand with Judge Sotomayor Against the Right-Wing Attacks - Presente.org

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Stand with Judge Sotomayor Against the Right-Wing Attacks

[Poster by Favianna Rodriguez for Presente.]

Sonia Sotomayor is an accomplished scholar, celebrated judge, and devoted public servant. But despite her impressive credentials, right-wing critics have responded to her historic nomination with thinly veiled sexist and racist attacks. Please join us in standing with Judge Sotomayor and urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to give her a swift confirmation.

Presente has organized a grassroots campaign to let ordinary citizens send the following message to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

We are outraged by the smear campaign against Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Instead of discussing her record, right-wing activists have sought to question Sotomayor’s intelligence and temperament, and suggested that her racial identity will prevent her from ruling fairly. This thinly veiled racism and sexism is not only insulting to Sotomayor, it's an affront to anyone who believes that a nominee should be judged on her record, not her heritage or skin tone.

The reality is that Sotomayor is an accomplished judge who would start with more federal judicial experience than any Supreme Court justice in 100 years. In her more than 3,000 panel decisions and almost 400 opinions, she has consistently protected the rights of working Americans and become one of the nation’s most respected legal minds. Sotomayor is not only a superbly qualified nominee; she is a powerful example of the American dream and knows how the law affects the daily lives of Americans.

I stand with Judge Sotomayor, and urge the Senate Judiciary Committee to give her nomination a speedy hearing and a positive confirmation.

Go here to sign it.

Wayne Barrett: Bloomie, Sonia, and Barry -- A Tale of Influence? - Village Voice - New York - Runnin' Scared -

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OK, say you're on an early May visit in the Oval Office with the new president. Say you didn't support the man in 2008, won't answer press questions about who you did vote for, and are reported to have quietly told Republican leaders back home that you backed John McCain. Say you're not a lawyer and your only appearances in court have occurred as a witness in sexual harassment cases.

The first thing you'd do when you get a private moment with the president as the two of you move toward the door after the meeting, at least if you're Mike Bloomberg, would be to tell Barack Obama, who happens to be a constitutional scholar, who he should appoint to the Supreme Court, right? Especially if you're chasing New York's vast, swing, Latino vote in the upcoming mayoral election and your candidate for the court, coincidentally, is Sonia Sotomayor.

What's the Spanish word for chutzpah?

To make sure everyone knows who to credit when the nomination actually occurs a few weeks later, you immediately rush to the city's Hispanic daily, El Diario, and tell them all about your Supremely Self-serving recommendation to the president. Not only does the paper run a
story then, but when Sotomayor is named by the president, you dip into your bottomless till and buy a full-page ad in yesterday's El Diario with a giant picture of Sotomayor and a small headshot of the beaming mayor, tying the package together.

The statement on Bloomberg's website yesterday that he "took the opportunity" to tell Obama that Sotomayor would be "an outstanding choice" left open the question of how the subject came up. I called Stu Loeser to ask him, just to make sure that Obama hadn't actually sought the mayor's views on a judge from his city. "As they walked out," said Loeser, the mayor and the president were exchanging how-you-doing chitchat and Bloomberg said, "I know this is your call to make," but "people whose legal opinion I greatly respect speak very highly of her." Isn't that hearsay?

Is there anything the mayor won't milk? Did he do half a week of photo ops on the Terrorist-Gang-That-Couldn't-Buy-A-Gun-That-Shot-Straight?

The mayor used to imply that he supported George Bush so he could talk to him about things that would be good for the city. Apparently he thinks Obama is such a chump he can get what he wants from him -- photo-ops, glomming on to a Supreme Court nominee -- without supporting him.

Rep Weiner on the Nomination of Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court

After urging President Obama to nominate the first ever American of Hispanic descent to the Supreme Court, Representative Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn and Queens), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on the nomination of Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor:

“Another New York woman on the Supreme Court would be truly historic. President Obama has seized a golden opportunity to add both talent and diversity to the highest court in the land. Judge Sotomayor’s intellect, pragmatism and ability to understand the plight of everyday Americans will serve our nation well.”

Photo caption: Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor smiles as President Barack Obama applauds, Tuesday, May 26, 2009,in the East Room Ceremony of the White House in Washington.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)