I’ll admit it: I haven’t been following the Sotomayor nomination or hearings very closely at all. Basically, I watched Rachel Maddow’s interview with Pat Buchanan and was horrified (and clearly not surprised) by his overt racism.  I also read John Nichols’ article in The Nation about Senator Klobuchar’s engaged questions during the hearing process.  And I’ve skimmed a couple of other articles here and there that touch a bit on her record.  But that’s about it.

I’ve also come across these two images in the past few days, and I wanted to display them side-by-side, because I partially agree with both of them:

(Click the second one to read it completely.)  The first is by Bay Area artist Favianna Rodriguez, who I’ve met a few times, whose work I love, and whose politics and political commitment I admire.  (It’s also in the window of my adorable downstairs neighbors.)  The second I discovered on the Queers Against Obama blog, which reposted the image from a political web-comic called For Fuck’s Sake.

I guess I just want to hold both of these at the same time.  Like Obama’s election, I think the historic moment and feeling of victory — especially, but not exclusively, in many communities of color — are not to be completely dismissed.  On the other hand, I don’t want the symbolism of the moment to obscure the realities of our present crises (and their historical legacies).

As is often the case, I’m looking for an analysis that’s both, or at least somewhere in the middle.  Is that too much to ask for?