Back Door

ColumbusGuy (who somehow missed the story where John McCain called the press fair and objective or he would have written about that) wonders if Barack Obama isn't lying when he implies he'll end affirmative action as we know it. Well, I've read the statements in question and I don't think he said anything of the sort--in fact, like a good politician, I don't think he said anything.

But let's say Mickey Kaus is right to believe that Obama "seem[s] to be abandoning the affirmative action idea and shifting toward embracing a class-based preference system." Even then, I'm not sure this means much.

Let's assume class-based preferences, in principle, are a good idea. Still, anyone with eyes can see that people around the country--whenever judges allow them to--vote to end race-based preferences (as they would have at any time in the past 40 years), and it's also possible the Supreme Court will soon end such preferences, or at least make them highly suspect. It seems to me, then, an effective way to ensure race remains a major factor in admissions is to use some proxy that can pass legal scrutiny.

So when someone moves from race to class-bassed preferences, it can be a strategic retreat. Once educators are left alone, these standards may be flexible enough to give them a free hand.

Columbus Guy says: You mean to say that even Republican John McCain says the press is fair and objective? Well, Hell's bells, I stand corrected. Talk abut egg on my face.