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Sotomayor an appropriate choice for Supreme Court

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 1, 2009

Here are excerpts from editorials in newspapers around the world:

The Times, London, on the composition of the Supreme Court:

President Obama emphasized in his presidential campaign a wish to appoint to the bench "somebody who's got ... the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor, or African-American, or gay, or disabled or old".

Last week he nominated Sonia Sotomayor to serve on the Supreme Court. ... If confirmed by the Senate, Judge Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic justice at the Supreme Court. In his choice of Judge Sotomayor to replace the retiring Justice David Souter, Mr. Obama has given an early indication of his wish to make American government reflect better the nation's cosmopolitan make-up. ...

An opportunity to tilt the balance of opinion in the court will come later. And Mr. Obama would be wise to continue in his role as a coalition builder rather than to promote a philosophy of judicial activism. ...

It is proper that the Supreme Court should reflect both a diversity of national origins and important social changes. But liberal mores are best advanced by winning political consensus rather than through judicial fiat. This makes Judge Sotomayor an appropriate choice. ...

Korea Herald, Seoul, South Korea, on North Korea's recent nuclear test:

Analysts here and abroad generally agreed that North Korea's second nuclear test on Monday was aiming at two things - recognition of its nuclear power status by the international community, and consolidation of Kim Jong-il's internal rule with stronger support from the military. With regard to the first point, such recognition would only be accompanied by deeper isolation. As for the second, Kim is also revealing that he is highly dependent on the military to maintain his power. ...

The North is desperate to gain the capability to deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental United States by 2012, the 100th birth anniversary of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il's father. ...

Whereas he was groomed by his father for more than two decades before succession, none of his three sons have had any comparable preparation to secure political backing from the party or the military. Spectacular launches of missiles and the rumbles of underground nuclear tests can satisfy the generals of the People's Army and the Military Commission and keep them in allegiance while the succession process is underway. There seems no other convincing explanation about the North's series of nuclear and missile tests, which are otherwise seen as pointless ventures.

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