A small, real moment: At the end of one of the breaks this morning, Sotomayor moved into the witness chair. She looked around and smiled and generally had that air of someone who knows the camera is on her and doesn’t quite know what to do with her hands. She saw a man walk by who she must know, and turned and smiled more widely at him, and looked like she was dying to stand up and say hello. Maybe get a reassuring hug. But he kept going, and her smile froze in place. Oh, the many small awkward indignities of being in the hot seat. May the gates of empathy open for her.
Also, at the risk of being utterly frivolous, Sotomayor looks all the more human today because as far as I can tell, she is the rare woman on TV not protected by a mask of make up. I’m most curious at the moment about whether she addresses the “wise Latina” words straight up in her introduction, or waits to play defense when the senators ask her about it.
