Ifill "never hear[s] people say that for a white male that it's identity politics if he is shaped by his white maleness"

I agree

Actually, this is an absolutely horrid counterargument. And truthfully, no counterargument is needed. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with what Sonia Sotomayor said if one knows the FULL context within which she made the statement. And that does NOT just include the full reading of the text, as some of the jerks in the media seem intent on focusing on, even her defenders, but what the entire speech was about, which is to say a discussion about the importance of diversity in the judiciary in regard SPECIFICALLY to racial and sexual discrimination cases.

THAT context is NOWHERE within the text of the speech, because it's not like she's going to say in the text of her speech, "Okay, we're talking here today about..." This has allowed all of the Right-Wing talking heads, and frankly most of the media, even those supposedly trying to defend her, not to mention all of the idiots on her side who are attempting to defend her, to ignore that part of the context.

Frankly, if you defend someone poorly, you're actually doing them harm, not good. Gwen Ifill didn't defend her properly, because instead of taking the issue head on, she's trying to dance around the subject. Instead, she should simply say, "Listen, it's common sense that in cases of racial and sexual discrimination, a wise minority woman is MORE OFTEN THAN NOT going to reach a better conclusion than a white male on those cases."

She could then go on to say, "This does not mean that a white male can't reach a conclusion on those cases that is just as good as a wise minority woman, but simply that if you had say a hundred instances of this happening, the white male might reach the right conclusion 80% of the time whereas the minority woman would probably reach it 95% of the time, because the minority woman's real life experiences would make it much easier for her to recognize when real racial and sexual discrimination has taken place, whereas the white male would really have to examine the case and the facts hard in order to discern the truth in the case."

THAT is how you defend Sonia Sotomayor's statement. HEAD ON!

Exactly. I defy anyone to read her dissenting opinion on Pappas v. Giuliani and then tell me she's Judge Killwhitey.

He is the epitome of her point. Remember his dismissiveness over the misleading statements on global warning. The attitude was "how dare you question the great George Will?"

Good catch! That's the old "Shut up and let me speak, I'm superior!" table tap. I'll leave race out of my analysis and just point out that it's a maneuver almost always practiced by guy's with fake hair. Also, judging by his folded arms and bad posture, it's clear that he forgot to take care of some highly important on-line baking prior to taping.

Will was outraged again when, later in the day, he saw her wearing jeans.

I'm glad you included the non-heterosexual and non-Christian groups. :)