"They lined up the wrong way..."

Great piece from former congressman J.C. Watts on the Sotomayor nomination and the hypocrisy of the Democrats.

Judging from the accolades showered on Sotomayor over the past several weeks, you would think that coming from humble beginnings is the benchmark for the Supreme Court.

Well, if that's the case, recall how Clarence Thomas was treated in his confirmation process. I guarantee you'll not find more humble beginnings than his birthplace in Pin Point, Ga.

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Think of Miguel Estrada, the 2001 circuit judge nominee whose confirmation was filibustered by Democrats to where Estrada withdrew. He came from humble beginnings in Honduras and arrived in the United States as a teenager with limited knowledge of English.

Think of Janice Rogers Brown's nomination to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. She took her seat only after two years of procedural delays. And you can't find more humble beginnings than being the daughter of sharecroppers who attended segregated schools in Alabama.

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The people who put these three nominees through their living hell somehow failed to slobber all over themselves concerning their paths from the valley to the mountaintops.

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The reason these three minority candidates got no credit for their individual journeys is due to the fact they lined up the wrong way on the Second Amendment -- the right to keep and bear arms. They lined up the wrong way on when life begins -- at the time of conception. They lined up wrong on how to make policy. They believe our nation creates policy through legislation -- not through the courts, as Judge Sotomayor and President Obama seem to believe.