Gay Judge Good! Native American Next?

In the media storm over the appointment of Paul Oetken as a US Federal Judge, the nomination of Arvo Mikkanen, who is of Native American descent has been almost entirely overlooked. Only two people of Native American heritage have been appointed to the Federal Bench in the history of USA and one of those discovered his heritage long after his appointment. ( a mere) 170 black people have become federal judges in US history, but the land's original human inhabitants have been systematically denied representation.

When Senator Schuman spoke to formally welcome Oetken to his role, he spoke of the encouragement his appointment would give to young aspiring Gay lawyers as proof that they could rise to the highest offices in the US judiciary; Mikkanen's appointment could have a similar effect on Native Americans. But: six months after President Obama nominated Mikkanen, there have been no speeches in his support and no movement at all despite many other appointments like Oetken's. Oaklahoma's Congressional Delegation were quick to denounce Mikkanen's nomination six months ago, but they have not (yet) publicly explained why.