Frank Rich Gets It

Heh, on the Ancien Regime:

Among Sotomayor's questioners, both Coburn and Lindsey Graham are class of '94. They -- along with Jeff Sessions, a former Alabama attorney general best known for his unsuccessful prosecutions of civil rights activists -- set the Republicans' tone last week. In one of his many cringe-inducing moments, Graham suggested to Sotomayor that she had "a temperament problem" and advised that "maybe these hearings are a time for self-reflection." That's the crux of the '94 spirit, even more than its constant, whiny refrain of white victimization: Hold others to a standard that you would not think of enforcing on yourself or your peers. Self-reflection may be mandatory for Sotomayor, but it certainly isn't for Graham.

Read the column. It's pretty damn good.