February 4, 2013 — Sonia Sotomayor
EPISODE NUMBER: 9055 (February 4, 2013)
GUESTS: Sonia Sotomayor
SEGMENTS: Intro - 2/4/2013 | Super Bowl XLVII | Bipartisan Immigration Reform | Skeet Shooting Skeptics | Sonia Sotomayor | Sign Off - The Second Amendment
SUIT REPORT: Navy suit | Blue Shirt | Purple Tie
VIDEOS: Monday, February 4, 2013
Great interview with Justice Sotomayor. Even though she just appeared on The Daily Show last week, it was a great honor for the Report to have a sitting Justice of the Supreme Court on the show. Love how muddled the interview got at the end there though…check out an interview transcript and lots more for you after the jump.
Stephen clearly relished the opportunity to speak directly to a sitting Justice of the Supreme Court. I am looking forward to seeing Justice Sotomayor’s decision on the gun control debate, but we’ll have to stay tuned, I guess. This episode also delved into immigration reform (an issue that’s important to Stephen), and those who dare question our President’s familiarity with guns. As if physical evidence of holding a gun in your hand proves that you are more likely to understand the concerns of gun owners. Ah, the twisted rationale of Fox News.
What did you guys think of the ep? Comment strong, or else I will need photo evidence.
Intro - 2/4/2013
- Tonight! The GOP tries to appeal to Hispanics. First step, learning to speak Hispanish.
- Then, can President Obama get the support of gun owners? Yes, after a four year waiting period.
- And my guest, Justice Sonia Sotomayor is the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court. I will ask her questions in Hispanish.
- Fidel Castro made his first public appearance in three years. Then he saw his shadow, so 50 more years of communism!
Super Bowl XLVII
- I am still coming down from last night’s Super Bowl rager. I had the whole wreckin’ crew over, and the brought it! And by “it,” I mean a lovely spinach dip bread bowl. Courtesy of Lou Dogg! Woof woof! The dog is loose! The dog is in the house! And he wants his serving tray back at some point!
- There was one part of the game I didn’t care for: the halftime show. Beyonce. Was she great? Of course. But a young, vital singer at the top of her game is just unnatural. Traditional Super Bowl halftimes are supposed to be arthritic legends decades past their prime, shambling through their catalogue of oldies. I mean look at her- she doesn’t even have a visible neck waddle!
- That’s right, 35 minutes without power. Only two months short of New Orleans’ personal best.
Bipartisan Immigration Reform
Skeet Shooting Skeptics
Interview - Sonia Sotomayor
Stephen: Do you guys when you come out in your robes do you ever get a response like that [referring to the studio audience] from the peanut gallery?
Sonia: Never
Stephen: You got to get a really pumpin’ song, like a really kickin’ base beat and get out there (impersonates sports hall announcer) “Ladies and gentlemen, your Supreme Court Justices!”
Sonia: Do you know that when I was sworn in, the security guards threatened to eject anyone from the room who clapped? And they scared my family so much, that for the first time in my entire life they stayed silent.
Stephen: Wow! So you’re not supposed to enjoy yourself in the Supreme Court. Do you enjoy yourself in the Supreme Court?
Sonia: Well, actually some of my colleagues are pretty funny, so occasionally we do laugh.
Stephen: I hear that, so who’s the funniest?
Sonia: Oh no, I am never going to pick among a colleague, but did you know that there’s an article that actually measures the number of laughs? I’m pretty low on that scale.
Stephen: [The book] is a very revealing portrait of where you grew up in the Bronx. Why do we need to know this much about Supreme Court Justices? Because it used to be sort of 9 faceless white guys up there. And America ran great. (audience reacts) I mean for the most part, here, there -
Sonia: - here there, Dred Scott (overlapping each other)
Stephen: You always say Dred Scott.
Stephen: How did your childhood growing up in the Bronx influence your job now?
Sonia: Well I don’t know if it influences my job now, but it’s made me the person I am. There’s a lot of people who interested in that. And I think the most important message of the book is, no, we’re not 9 faceless people. We’re 9 human beings, and each of us with our own story, each of us an ordinary human being, with an extraordinary job at times. We’re still people. And I wanted everyone who read this book, because I know most people share an experience I’ve had, or a feeling I’ve had about an experience, that everyone who read it would ultimately come out and say something like, “you know, she’s just like me. And if she can reach her dreams, I can reach mine.”
Stephen: You grew up poor, your father died when you were 9, you had to look after yourself a fair amount, you even had to inject your own insulin as a child who had diabetes, you are so self reliant. That seems like a value that conservatives embrace all the time. Why aren’t you a Republican if you believe in self-reliance?
Sonia: How do you know I am not?
Stephen: Because Obama appointed you. That’s the only litmus test I need. I am not a Senator, you can’t walk around me.
Sonia: Surprisingly enough to you, I am not a Democrat, I’m an independent. I am registered to no party.
Stephen: What’s the most conservative belief you have?
Sonia: I believe in the Constitution.
Stephen: Alright, alright. Then, you know what? I believe you’re not a Democrat.
Sonia: You don’t believe that we all share common values?
Stephen: Not all of us believe in the Constitution. The Second Amendment is never to be questioned. Do you believe we have the right to have any weapon we want?
Sonia: Well, you’ll find out soon enough, when the case comes up.
Stephen: (looks pretty blown away) This is what I like!
Stephen: (leans in) How sweet is that lifetime thing? How long before you just start phoning it in?
Sonia: Never. There isn’t a justice, not one that I know in the history of our Court, that hasn’t cared passionately about what he or she is doing or has done on the Court. I don’t ever expect anybody to “phone it in.”