Sotomayor, whose rounds on Capitol Hill are said to be both preparation and preview of the upcoming confirmation hearing, fractured her ankle en route to Washington, D.C. The judge tripped while rushing through the airport to meet her plane, and now sports a cast and soft boot.
While several senators reportedly made good-humored, tongue-in-cheek comments and accommodated her injury, Rush Limbaugh went for the jugular when discussing Sotomayor on his radio show.
"I hope she can find a wise Latina doctor to set that ankle as opposed to an average white doctor, because the wise Latina doctor has much richer experience with broken ankles, and would probably do a much better job of setting that ankle than an average white doctor who has not lived the rich experiences of a Latina med student," Limbaugh said.
Although the talk show host used the opportunity to slam Sotomayor, Barack Obama (or the staff members who manage his online presence) are using the incident to garner support for the nominee. Today, Obama Twittered an invitation to sign Sotomayor's virtual cast, praising her for not skipping a beat after taking the stumble and calling on Americans to stand with her.
Regardless of whether you support Sotomayor becoming the next Supreme Court justice, it's pretty interesting to note the differing responses. While I wait to hear more about the judge's stance on key issues, I am personally pretty impressed with the White House's clever use of technology and this unfortunate accident to build support for her.
Where do you stand? Are you concerned about Sotomayor's injury? And how do you view the political response to her injury?
[photo via Yahoo! News]
