In a largely partisan vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the nomination of Judge Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court by a margin of 13 to 6. From the NY Times:

As expected, all 12 Democrats on the judiciary panel voted for Judge Sotomayor, after praising her intellect, character and inspiring personal history. But among the seven Republicans on the committee, only Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina voted in favor.

The committee action sends the nomination to the full Senate, where her confirmation by a comfortable margin seems to be assured. setting the stage for a full Senate vote next week.

…

Republican critics of the judge expressed displeasure with her rulings as a member of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, as well as with some of her public comments. The rulings and comments show that she is a judge who is too “activist” and liberal and has too little commitment to the rights of gun owners, the critics complained.

Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the committee’s leading Republican, said just before the vote that he was compelled to oppose the nomination because in some important cases the judge’s decisions were “unacceptably short” and showed a “liberal, pro-government ideology against the individuals asserting their constitutional rights.”

Pior to the vote, freshman Senator Al Franken (D-MN) pledged his support to Sotomayor, hoping her presence would counter the judicial activism of the Supreme Court.

Bill Maher has a politically incorrect visit on CNN today with Wolf Blitzer. Even the police and their “bad attitude” aren’t safe.

Note his play on word’s with “Stupid Country” when discussing Sarah Palin. He’s gonna catch some flack for this…

I don’t know what’s more disturbing. The ranting of this bigot or that no one called her out. She should have been ejected from the train. Watch:

Stephanie Chu who shot the video said the following on SFIst:

I filmed this on a MUNI T train this morning on my way to work. I found it appalling that this woman would be so hateful towards a gay/transgender person – so I had no qualms about putting her face on the Internet. At one point, it got physical. The train was held up for about 10 minutes until she calmed down, then the cops came to take their statements. I thought it might be interesting to share how intolerance is still very much alive, even in liberal cities like SF.

Apparently, she works at a hospital (she wore scrubs) off of the T line, I am guessing UCSF Mission Bay.

Anyone know who this lovely person is? Apparently she was wearing a lanyard that said “I love Jesus.” Boy, what a surprise.

The Senate Armed Services Committee has agreed to hold hearings on Don’t Ask, Don’ Tell (DADT) this fall thanks to a commitment secured by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) who is trying to overturn the policy. The agreement comes on the heels of an amendment floated by Sen. Gillibrand two weeks ago which would have placed a temporary moratorium on discharges under DADT. The amendment was never introduced as Gillibrand failed to gather the 60 votes necessary for passage.

This will be first time Congress has evaluated the policy since it was enacted in 1993 under President Clinton. There are also efforts to overturn the DADT in the House under the leadership of Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA), an Iraq war veteran.