President to speak at 4:30 about Affirmative action..

[Dog]

President to speak shortly...

[EternalVigilance]

President Bush, stepping into a major affirmative action case, asserted Wednesday that a program of racial preferences for minority applicants at the University of Michigan was "fundamentally flawed" and unconstitutional.

Perfect.

The program "amounts to a quota system that unfairly rewards or penalizes prospective students solely on their race," Bush said in announcing that his administration would file a legal brief in the case with the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Amen, and thank the Lord.

Such policies "do not serve to lift up our country and to help the average American," presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters as administration lawyers completed work on their Supreme Court brief.

Excellent! The President's legal team hit a home run...they deserve our thanks.

"Instead, they have a tendency to divide people, to separate people who are deemed to be worthy of something and have it taken away from them not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of simply a quota or something that is driven exclusively by race," he said.

Absoloutely spot on.

He did not confirm Bush's stance on the Michigan case.

Huh? I didn't get that line.

Behind the scenes, Bush and his advisers discussed how broadly to press their arguments against the university's program, administration officials said on condition of anonymity.

Smart politics based in reality.

The politically charged issue forced the president to balance the desires of his conservative backers, who staunchly oppose affirmative action, against the potential reaction from the broader electorate if he is viewed as being racially insensitive.

Looks to me like he's handled it flawlessly.

[MattAMiller]

Well Sen. Tom Dashcle (D-Homestake Mining) made it official, he is disapointed.

Is also concerned? Does he have questions? Have people shared their concerns and questions with him?

[firewalk]

Thank you (-:

[maica]

>>
Today, in Maryland, we inaugurated the first Republican governor in over 40 years, and the first black ever elected to state-wide office in Maryland - Lt. Governor Michael Steele. He was inagurated on Martin Luther King's actual birthday.<<

I watched this on TV, too chicken to brave the cold, and Michael Steele got HUGE cheers from the crowd. As Lt Govs go he is miles ahead of the one we had here for the past eight years. It is a great day for Maryland!

[justshe]

Watching someone 'satisfy themselves' (self-gratification) in public is on MY "drives me nuts" list. (wink, wink)

[Bonaparte]

"You suppose he ignored him because he didn't know the answer?"

No, but I know you think that's why -- even though the reason would be obvious to a 6-year-old. The press were told that this would be a statement without follow-up questions from them. Ari Fleischer fielded all their questions afterword because, as I've stated, they were informed in advance that the President wouldn't. The reporter who blurted out his question to Bush was either rude or stupid or both. Probably both.

[Jim Noble]

>>Is also concerned?<<

He's troubled. It could be perceived as insensitive.

[TLBSHOW]

Don't thank me...go hold Daschle's feet to the fire.

What does Dashole have to do with this thread?

[Utah Girl]

"Conservative elites were perpetually sniffing the air around Bush for the scent of sellout..."

They still are...

[Bonaparte]

Great to hear that, aristeides, and thanks for the cite! Personal liability is key.

[Ditto]

Wouldn't it have been SO fitting for Dubya to quote MLK in his statement, using those exact words!? Talk about HOWLS of derision!

I think W is counting on us using King's words every time one of the Rat race-bating pimps pipes up.

Just quote King and demand that the Rat gives his stand, for or against, government sponsored racial discrimination.

[Howlin]

I think yours is one of the best ideas I've heard in YEARS.....

[EternalVigilance]

I think W is counting on us using King's words every time one of the Rat race-bating pimps pipes up.

I think you're right on the mark.

[cake_crumb]

Looks like we were right about GW all along, eh?

[jackbill]

I was very happy to hear that the President is going to submit a "friend of the court" brief and I was not surprised to see Dasshole and Reid - for at least the third time today call Bush and the Republicans racists.

Now what I want to see is President Bush, in his State of the Union address demand that the Congress immediately pass a school voucher bill to allow poor black inner-city children, especially those in DC, to get out of their horrible schools.

[MindBender26]

The last time I was illuminated was when a police officer shined his flashlight into the back seat of my high school year's car and told the two of us to "Stop that!"

Oh, you said "Illuminating" Sorry.......

:~)

[Ditto]

Let me ask you this, do you think that GWB has done everything he can do to protect us from more terror attacks?

No he hasn't. The Constitution has not been suspended. We can still fly on airplanes. We can still travel overseas if we choose. People from overseas can still travel here --- I meet with them on business several times a week) We can still enter public buildings. We can still attend public events. Out shopping malls and stadiums are full. We do not have road-blocks every few miles asking for our papers. We do not have secret police knocking on our doors in the middle of the night.

No, he hasn't done everything he could do to protect us, thank God.

BTW. Just how safe do you want to be?

[Keith]

In his answer, to each of these questions, Gov. George W. Bush checked "No Opinion."

that is a smart politician...it's these kinds of "no-win" baiting questions that Jesus responded to by writing in the dust when he was asked if they should follow Mosaic law by stoning the adulterous woman.

Lincoln said he was opposed to slavery, but would either free all, some, or none, if that was what was needed to preserve the Union.

W knows our priority should be the rule of law and the Constitution. He has his eye on the ball, just like the FIRST Republican president did refused to let the side issues get him distracted. Lincoln knew it would be useless to "ban" slavery if the South couldn't be returned to the Union. And there will be no "diversity" if we only use past injustices to justify new ones...

He's in good company...that's good enough for this strict constructionist.

[MeekOneGOP]

You're welcomed...

[r9etb]

disagree (strongly), and I challenge you to name even one

You know from your own dealings with people of races other than your own (I'm assuming you do know people of different races?) that they quite often have different points of view than you do, because they have lived in a different culture from you. This holds true, also, for people from different economic backgrounds.

If you introduce those different points of view into a college class, then the quality of classroom discussion can, and probably will, be better than if the class consisted of kids from the same racial and economic background.

In addition, interaction with people of different races and backgrounds is the best way to learn to treat them as human beings, and not representatives of some political pressure group.

There. I've named two good ones.

I certainly agree, however, that diversity should not be pursued according to the UM discrimination model.