[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official website] rebuked [text; video] Republicans who would oppose his nomination of Sonia Sotomayor [WH profile; LOC materials] for the US Supreme Court [official website] Saturday in his weekly address. The president predicted failure for "those in Washington who are attempting to draw old battle lines and playing the usual political games, pulling a few comments out of context to paint a distorted picture of Judge Sotomayor's record." Praising Sotomayor's experience and wisdom, Obama said:

Even as she has reached the heights of her profession, she has never forgotten where she began. She has faced down barriers, overcome difficult odds, and lived the American dream. As a Justice of the Supreme Court, she will bring not only the experience acquired over the course of a brilliant legal career, but the wisdom accumulated over the course of an extraordinary journey – a journey defined by hard work, fierce intelligence, and the enduring faith that, in America, all things are possible.