New Haven Extended

GOP Senators plan to call on Ricci and friends for the Sotomayor hearings:

The two parties offered glimpses Thursday of their strategy going into the weeklong Judiciary Committee hearings that open Monday, announcing outside witnesses who will testify about Sotomayor. Republicans' list of 14 includes New Haven, Conn., firefighter Frank Ricci, a white employee whose reverse discrimination claim was rejected by Sotomayor in an appeals court decision.

Ricci challenged the city's decision to scrap the results of a promotion test because too few minorities scored high enough to qualify. Sotomayor was part of a panel that rejected Ricci's challenge. The Supreme Court reversed that ruling last week.

The cynicism is predictable. But they could be overplaying their hand. Or not. I'm just not sure how much people care, given that the case is decided. And given that Sotomayor will be replacing Souter.

Also, let's not re-debate the actual case. We spent many weeks on it. If you must, save it for the open thread at noon.

UPDATE: Closing comments. This thread is getting dominated by three or four people. You guys should take it to e-mail.