"If I knew then what I know now I would have picked my own damn cotton!"

I bet that infamous quote has been on the lips of lots of white folks lately. I know it was running through poor Mr. Ricci's mind back in 2003, when he thought he passed a test given by the New Haven fire department to promote 15 captains and lieutenants; only to be told that the test would be tossed because none of the black applicants passed.

Well worry no more Mr. Ricci; today the supremes vindicated you and they said that the city of New Haven was wrong to throw out the test. Yep, it was 5-4 for your team and zero for the black guys. That will teach them to pass over more qualified firefighters for less qualified blacks. Well, actually field, that isn't exactly true, no one was passed over. And field, what about the poor black firefighters? Haven't black fire fighters all over the country been discriminated against and suffered racism from their supposed comrades on the various ladders? Really? Prove it. Well, how about this:

".. In New Jersey in 2006, two black fire officers from Camden won a suit that included evidence that African-American firefighters were abandoned by white ones at the scene of a fire, that beds in the firehouse were divvied up by race, and that a white fire chief had told one of the plaintiffs, "I am better than any 10 of you fucking black guys." A federal appeals court the same year found Cleveland liable for putting most of its African-American firefighters in one battalion, which became known as "Monkey Island."

Oh that's you black folks just being sensitive again. You people are so sensitive and always causing trouble. Look, you won a few of these battles in the early seventies due to some isolated incidents but........but field, they won battles in Philadelphia, New York, Newark, Baltimore, San Francisco, St. Louis, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Bridgeport (which just happens to be the city over from New Haven). Okay, so there were a couple of cases. But what does that have to do with now? You blacks need to study and work harder if you want to be rewarded. The poor guy (Ricci) was dyslexic for crying out loud!

The truth is, the "New Haven 20" (That has a nice civil rights sounding ring to it) are great A-merry-cans, they challenged the political correctness police and won. No more affirmative action? Well, not quite, field. The court's ruling was very narrow, today. They didn't actually address the issue of affirmative action but chose to focus on Title VII and work place discrimination. The city of New Haven anticipated a lawsuit from the black firefighters and the supremes were all over that. And the ruling was still pretty close. "The court noted that despite what otherwise would have constituted a "prima facie" showing of disparate impact race discrimination, several defenses were available to the city--namely that the exam at issue was job related, consistent with business necessity, and there existed no equally valid, less discriminatory alternative that suited the city's needs but was not adopted.."

Hmmmm, well, whatever, you democrats can spin it all you want, it's still a punch in the gut for Ms. Sotomayor. Some of my republican friends sure seemed thrilled:

“Every citizen has a right to have his or her case heard by a judge who will rule on the laws, the facts, and the Constitution—and not play favorites. This case sharpens our focus on Judge Sotomayor’s troubling speeches and writings, which indicate the opposite belief: that personal experiences and political views should influence a judge’s decision. That theory is a breathtaking departure from the proper role of the American judge and will clearly be the subject of questioning at the upcoming hearing.”..This case will only raise more questions in the minds of the American people concerning Judge Sotomayor’s commitment to treat each individual fairly and not as a member of a group.”

That was my main man, Jeff Sessions, the ranking republican on the Judiciary Committee. You go on Jeff, you might as well score some political points to go along with your victory. Way to throw that Obama pick, Sotomayor, in the mix. Yeah wasn't this her baby? Well, not really field, she was on a three Judge panel of the Second Circuit Court Of Appeals who simply refused to hear the case. And the full Second Circuit court voted 7-6 to deny a rehearing. So from a legal standpoint, what she did was not that radical. Actually, she practiced what republicans are always calling for: "Judicial restraint". Besides, read this quote:

"...[in] Ricci, five justices of the Supreme Court narrowly reversed the ruling of the Second Circuit, which had been supported by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Justice, many states, the National League of Cities and the National Association of Counties. The lower court’s ruling in Ricci was also supported by the majority of the Second Circuit, including judges appointed by Democratic and Republican presidents. "

Ahh that's just democrats talking, again. What do they know?