We received this comment. We invite further comments based on our thoughts below:
Being so woke and politically-correct, perhaps, you could be better informed about Hispanic culture where "de color" (of color) is not considered an insult but the respectful and proper manner to describe black and mixed-race persons. And, by the way, she is absolutely correct about the vagaries and craziness of political correctness and the speech police.
First: We have been clear- we do not think on any metric Ms. Aponte approaches the bar to be a county court judge much less a circuit court judge. She has not demonstrated any expertise in any area of the law. She has not written one article we can find on any area of the law. Her pleadings that we have reviewed do not pass muster of a 1-L summer intern. She worked for a law firm that used runners to chase cases which is unethical and illegal. She appears to be the stereotypical candidate who seeks the bench for all the wrong reasons (steady paycheck and benefits).
Second: The thought of her handling a death penalty case in circuit court when she appears to have NEVER tried a case or taken an adversarial deposition defies belief. It is downright frightening. It would diminish the judiciary and Miami-Dade County.
Third: We do not think she has told the truth. We are working on her claim about cooking at Camillus house. It does not add up to what we are learning are their procedures for people who volunteer. SO if that is not true, then her claims to be African-American and Indian appear to be the lowest form of pandering to the electorate. To be fair, she is not the first to do this, and will not be the last. It does not make it right.
Fourth: We will admit possible error and to being insensitive to race and ethnic origin if Hispanic is NOT a race and is only an ethnic origin. The above commentator is correct- The US Census asks people to identify their race and says Hispanics can choose any race. However other institutions characterize Hispanic as a race. Hospitals upon admission. Police reports when detailing an arrest. But we could be wrong. We readily admit that many many Hispanics (including some of our best friends*) are also black.
But on this point we concede error based on giving Ms. Aponte and her defender above the benefit of the doubt.
We have aired our dirty laundry. WHO will address our concerns about Ms. Aponte? That she has neither the experience, nor demonstrated intellectual ability to be a circuit court judge given the power of life/death/freedom over the citizens of Florida. Who will call her our best and brightest and show us where we are wrong? You see we post our critics in the comments section and at times on the post section. We have invited Ms. Aponte or her defenders to reply. Show us one trial. One depo. One brief. One legal memorandum that shows legal ability. Just one. We will take it from their. Or please be prepared to defend a circuit court judicial candidate without any of the above.
(THWACK) the sound of the ball in your court.
* Note our sarcasm and humor in writing that many of our friends are Hispanic/black. This is classic defense by racist which we are not. The truth of the matter is we have few friends and we have never even considered their race/origin. On review, some are Sith, one is a Hutt, one an Ewok.*
Shame on us. We think of other things.
* Even more humor. These are alien species from Star Wars.