So what? Political wrangling over political nominees happens regularly. But this time the Emmy-nominated film of my family’s journey, Traces of the Trade, is tangled in the intriguing web.

Thank you to my cousin James DeWolf Perry for alerting me to this latest action through his excellent blog The Living Consequences.

Earlier this year President Obama nominated Goodwin Liu, an Associate Dean and Professor of Law at UC Berkeley School of Law, to serve on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Opponents to the nomination seized upon comments Liu made during a panel discussion on May 6, 2008 following a screening of Traces of the Trade at the Newseum in Washington, DC.

Much like the recent controversy over comments made by Shirley Sherrod, in which clever video editing gave a false impression of her views, Goodwin Liu’s comments from 2008 have also been taken out of context.

Senate Republicans have now employed a rarely invoked rule to send Liu’s nomination back to the White House. My cousin James notes that President Obama plans to re-nominate Liu when Congress returns from recess in September.