In what is sure to be a contentious battle over President Barack Obama’s nominee for the Supreme Court, former Governor Mike Huckabee fired the opening salvo from the Republican opposition… right into his foot.
In a statement attacking the President’s choice of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Huckabee mistakenly referred to her as Maria Sotomayor.
From a high-school auditorium in downtown Little Rock, Huckabee sang his statement to a packed house that included his family, friends, and all his awkward Drama Club buddies who will be scattered to the four winds after graduation next week.
The audience was silent as Huckabee broke into his statement:
"The President’s choice of Maria Sotomayor is the clearest indication that the truce between the Democrats and Republicans is over and there is going to be a rumble tonight.
The GOP is going to have its day tonight.
We’re going to jazz it tonight! Tonight!
Obama began it, and we’re the ones to stop em once and for all!
The GOP are gonna have their way!
The GOP are gonna have their day!
We’re gonna rock it tonight.
Tonight!
TONIGHT! TONIGHT!"
After the production Huckabee was asked to comment on the error. Huckabee looked stunned, but recovered quickly and immediately responded to his mistake:
“I’m so sorry for any offense taken by Judge Sotomayor or her family. I just literally thought that they were all named Maria.
I obviously intended no disrespect to Anita Sotomayor, my mistake regarding her name was merely the result of a complete and utter lack of interest in a minority group for whom my only real understanding comes from a 1961 movie musical. But what a musical it was.
WEST SIDE STORY taught regular Americans that Mexicans are a proud group of immigrants who love knife fights and dancing.
And while I will not back down from my harsh criticism of a candidate that I am so opposed to, that I didn‘t even deem it necessary to learn her name, I would never dream of disparaging Anita Sotomayor‘s cultural identity by somehow implying that she is simply a generic stereotype in my mind. I have looked into Anita Sotomayor‘s eyes (on TV) and what I have seen staring back is a proud Mexican who loves dancing and knife fights and a gentle Italian man named Tony.
Te amo mi marron amigos. Viva Mexico! Viva America!”
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Joan Walsh
Kerry Lauerman
Salon.com
Comments
(Don't ask me how many times I've seen West Side Story.)
I'm getting very confused.
The Sharks gang in West Side Story was Puerto Rican, not Mexican...a little irony here I guess.
I will settle for condescending Spanish but NOT gramatically incorrect condescending Spanish!
Well, that's what I'm wondering...
What a disgrace!!!
We're left wondering if the author knows that the Sharks were Puerto Rican and Tony is Polish, or if she's just speaking as a befudled Huckabee. (Well, maybe only I'm wondering.)
And, surely everyone (including Salon) understands that this is satire, right?
There's a place for Sonia, and it's with the Supremes in Judiciary Square.
For some reason some commenters appear to believe this article was meant somehow ironically or humorously. I for one fail to see what is so funny about an infanto-American bravely posting to her blog, in defiance of society's natural prejudice. She clearly just wants to be in America.
What's with the American-non American discussion? Does anyone know the name of our continent? Are people from American countries other than the U.S. space aliens?
This is satire but the odds are he really thinks all of the above.
Next thing you know, we'll have Cheney, Palin, Rove & company singing...
Gee, Officer Krupke, we're very upset;
We never had the love that ev'ry child oughta get.
We ain't no delinquents,
We're misunderstood.
Deep down inside us there is good!
there is good! there is good!
Uh oh.
@Lainey, Very funny!
We gotta pass a law!
PS: If you haven't traveled to Puerto Rico you may wish to consider it. What a beautiful place with friendly people.
So anyway, Kressskin is cool with me. In fact, I've bookmarked her -- because if the economy gets any worse, and I get hungry....
Kind of demonstrates how the detractors aren't even bothering to do any research on their own, just parroting the party line. If they'd even googled her someone would have caught that mistake.
To issue a press release and get her name wrong?? That's inexcuseable, and yet very telling.
That's part of today's political problem - things have moved so far to the right in the past 8 years that people who were labeled 'extreme' a decade ago, are mistaken for 'moderate' today.
There is nothing moderate about Mike Huckabee.
If you liked this post you should check out some of Kressskin's other stuff. I especially love Obama's and Palin's "inner monologues" from October of last year. Just click on "Editor's Pick" above or cut and paste this http://open.salon.com/blog/kressskin/editor_picks/page/2
Great Satire ... for the record, I got to the end and found myself saying "And NOW he's calling her ANITA?!?!?!?!?!" It was at that point that the satire slowly dawned on me. You had me going for most of the post though ... VERY well done.
The man is an embarrassment.
"Maria
Maria
I once met a boy named Mariiiiiiiaaa"