Sotomayor - Really?

I have to weigh in on this and I must admit that some of these thoughts come from Thomas Sowell. If you don't know who he is you might want to check him out as his writing is very good.
Nominee Sotomayor has on many occasions said that it is okay for her to consider race in her ruling and has even on many occasions said that because of her race she would make better decisions. Her actions support what she has said. A group of firefighters took an exam to determine who would be promoted. According to nominee Sotomayor, the results should be thrown out because too many caucasion firefighters did better than the other races and therefore the results were not diverse enough. Does this really make any sense? Which firefighter to you want leading the fire team when they respond to your house on fire, the one who did the best on the exam or the one who ensures the mix of the group makes the whole group diverse enough for a judge? Which paramedic do you want responding when your loved one is having a heart attack? The one who performed the best on the test or the one who makes the the group of paramedics diverse enough to satisfy a judge. You see, when you put logic and realism into the mix, the answer is clear. The trouble is, nominee Sotomayor sees it just the opposite. She seems to think that we need to make up for the wrongs of times gone by. I agree with Mr. Sowell on this in that there are two problems with this thinking. First, you are punishing people who by and large have not committed a wrong. The people who did wrong are long since dead and buried. Second, if it's okay to discriminate against a group now who have committed no wrong, why wasn't it okay to discriminate against another group who committed no wrong 100 years ago. The answer is, neither is acceptable and discriminating now does not correct the earlier wrong nor does it punish the offender. I personally think there is a reason the lady holding the scales of justice is blindfolded. She isn't supposed to be able to see the race of the parties or anything else. She is supposed to provide equal protection under the law for all. Our President and nominee Sotomayor think that empathy has a place in a judge's ruling. I think there is no place for this in the application of the law by a judge. If we want empathy in our laws, that's a different matter and it is one for those who we have elected to make our laws, our legislators. Legislators create laws and judges should apply the law and neither should get involved in the others business.