Lines of Attack

Gingrich: Sotomayor a 'Racist'

WH fires back, while GOPers line up with Newt.

At least they didn't call her "Maria"? Attacking Sonia Sotomayor, Newt Gingrich wrote on Twitter, "Imagine a judicial nominee said 'my experience as a white man makes me better than a Latina woman' new racism is no better than old racism,” and then “White man racist nominee would be forced to withdraw. Latina woman racist should also withdraw.” White House Press Secretuary Robert Gibbs fired back: "I think we’re satisfied that when the people of America and the people of the Senate get a chance to look at more than just the blog of a former lawmaker that they’ll come to the same conclusion that the President did." But as more Republicans jump into the fray, they're lining up with Gingrich: Former congressman Tom Tancredo also called Sotomayor “racist.” Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) questioned Sotomayor's race and gender will "influence" her decisions, and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) said Sotomayor has a "personal bias based on ethnicity and gender." He'd know, we guess. And just for giggles, here’s Mark Krikorian attacking the “Spanish” pronunciation of Sotomayor’s name: “But one of the areas where conformity is appropriate is how your new countrymen say your name, since that's not something the rest of us can just ignore, unlike what church you go to or what you eat for lunch. And there are basically two options—the newcomer adapts to us, or we adapt to him. And multiculturalism means there's a lot more of the latter going on than there should be.”