The confirmation hearings for Supreme Court justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor have begun. The first day of the hearings were interrupted three times by anti-choice protesters, including "Jane Roe" of Roe v. Wade, all of whom had to be escorted out. Irritating, to say the least. Watch Judge Sotomayor's opening statement:



AND: Yesterday, President Obama announced his appointment of Regina Benjamin, MD to the position of surgeon general. A family doctor from Alabama, Benjamin has lost family members to a variety of diseases, which causes Obama to believe that she has a particularly deep understanding of the health issues that face the U.S. population. So far, I'm extremely pleased that Obama seems so committed to filling important political positions with people who have been notoriously underrepresented.