Who is Maria?

First, let me congratulate Judge Sonia Sotomayor on her nomination to the Supreme Court by President Obama.

Second, Governor Huckabee (do you refer to former governors as "Governor"?), what the heck? Here's what he said, I go off below.

Huckabee Statement on Sotomayor

"The appointment of Maria Sotomayor for the Supreme Court is the clearest indication yet that President Obama's campaign promises to be a centrist and think in a bi-partisan way were mere rhetoric. Sotomayor comes from the far left and will likely leave us with something akin to the "Extreme Court" that could mark a major shift. The notion that appellate court decisions are to be interpreted by the "feelings" of the judge is a direct affront of the basic premise of our judicial system that is supposed to apply the law without personal emotion. If she is confirmed, then we need to take the blindfold off Lady Justice."

I am not even going to touch the substance of his comments. I cannot. I am too confused to even get to that point. Why is he calling her "Maria"? Is he trying to be cute? Is he just ignorant? Does he really not know that her first name is not Maria? If that is the case, did he just luckily guess the name "Maria", which happens to be Judge Sotomayor's middle name? Does't that seem too lucky to be possible?

Now, I don't want to jump to racism or the allegation that someone is once again trying to deny minorities their individuality (akin to calling all black men "boy" without regard to their names), but something seriously seems amiss here.

If you have a more salient explanation, I'm all ears.