The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in Ricci v. DeStefano, a reverse discrimination case in Connecticut involving the New Haven Fire Department. The department administered a test to promote 15 people to captain or lieutenant, but no African-Americans passed. The city trashed the exam and refused to promote the folks who did pass, concocting a new test instead. One of the firefighters who was denied was a 34-year-old dyslexic named Frank Ricci, who had worked his tail off to pass the test.

When the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals got to the case, Sotomayor joined a short opinion dismissing it. It prompted her colleague Jose Cabranes -- appointed by President Bill Clinton and widely considered a liberal -- to claim that Sotomayor's "opinion contains no reference whatsoever to the constitutional claims at the core of this case."

Maybe Sotomayor's deep experiences have predisposed her to believe that reverse discrimination is not possible. Maybe not. But Republicans are on solid ground if they go after Sotomayor regarding this case. They have a duty, in fact, to grill the Supreme Court nominee aggressively on many of her decisions.

But whatever they do -- actually, this is sound advice for all organisms in the galaxy -- never, ever follow Joe Biden's lead.

During the contentious Clarence Thomas hearings, in 1991, then-Sen. Biden claimed that "the only reason Clarence Thomas is on the court is because he is black. I don't believe he could have won had he been white."

Imagine how much anger would be unleashed if a comparable statement were made about Sotomayor and Latinas. (Thomas, by the way, had a compelling personal story, graduated from Yale Law School and served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.)

Unless some unforeseen ethical questions emerge about Sotomayor, Republicans should follow their own advice and allow an up-and-down vote. Sotomayor's professional qualifications are impeccable, and her experience is impressive.

But Republicans have no reason to shy away from ideological debates or the vetting of Sotomayor, because neither is personal or "racist."

On the other hand, those who contend that a minority candidate should be treated with kid gloves? That suggests something quite ugly.