Nominee

President Obama today picked a Latina for the Supreme Court position-judge Sonio Sotomayor. A critic might say this is not right because the choice should go to the best nominee rather than to any group based on gender or race. But the premise behind this statement would be wrong because the unstated premise assumes the following:

1. There is a "best nominee" waiting to be picked versus
2. the "less than best" nominee that was picked.

But this is assumption is unfounded, and it assumes the nominee is not best because she is a woman or person of color or both. Instead, the premise for this nominee should be

1. This nominee has every possibility of being the "best nominee" just like any other nominee picked.