Sotomayor hearing: Wisdom in watching your words

AP Washington's wordsmith Cal Woodward gives his take on the first day of the Sotomayor hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee:

For one day, at least, a wise Latina was a Latina who made no waves.

Sonia Sotomayor delivered a crisp account of her distinguished career as a judge and of her childhood doing homework at the kitchen table, that favorite homespun venue of American public figures.

Republicans in the opening act of her Supreme Court confirmation hearing couldn't help but praise the little they heard from Sotomayor even as they prepared to rake through all she's said and written other places.

It was a day to pick your words carefully and everyone did.

Senators lavished admiration from the left, guarded criticism from the right and grace notes from both sides.

Live from Washington, former Saturday Night Live comedian Al Franken kept his sarcasm well in check -- no high court jester is he.

Five days on the job as Minnesota senator, the Democrat plodded through his chuckle-free opening statement and concluded by saying: "I'm just going to start listening."

So it went on a day when senators took up the historic nomination of a judge who would be the first Hispanic on the high court and only the third woman. Everyone had reason to keep the lid on.

Still, all the comity did not mean unity, a reality that will become ever clearer once the questioning begins Tuesday.

Prefacing the GOP line of criticism today, Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions warned of a "brave new world" of jurisprudence in which judges vote with their biases.

He noted Sotomayor's now-famous comment that she hoped a wise Latina would come to a better judgment on the bench than a white male without the same life experience.

History was in the making, but Arlen Specter has seen it made before. The Republican-turned-Democrat, a veteran judger of judges, skipped the morning session, showing up in the afternoon to deliver his remarks and listen to Sotomayor.

He said he had other business to attend to and knew he'd only be missing pontificating senators.

Sotomayor walked unaided into the hearing, her right leg in a walking cast after she broke her ankle in an airport tumble last month.

"The progression of my life has been uniquely American," she said, recounting her upbringing as the daughter of Puerto Rican parents in the Bronx. She told of how her dad died when she was 9 and her mother kept the family going.

After her brief introductory remarks closing the day's proceedings, she turned back to her family, kissing and hugging them one by one.

There was nothing for Republicans to argue with there. "It was from the heart and direct and made some important points," Sessions said.

Now it's on to the tougher stuff.