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October 28, 2003

Have They No Shame?

Conservatives are complete hypocrites on affirmative action. They claim no one should be able to promote someone as a racial role model and that all discussions should be done on a "color blind" basis.

Then, they nominate a slew of latino and black appellate judges and trumpet this fact to the sky. And then, as Jane Galt does here accuse Democrats of racism for rejecting some of them because of their radical political views. They are essentially saying that Democrats have to accept any black or latino candidate nominated by Bush, a caricature of affirmative action that no real supporter of affirmative action would ever make.

Democrats have blocked a range of white Bush nominees as well, from Charles Pickering to Carolyn Kuhl to a slate of Michigan nominees. It would be frankly patronizing if the Democrats exempted from filibuster nominees of color with similar radical views to those blocked white candidates.

Republicans can be pissed that Dems are holding up nominees, just as Democrats were mad when the GOP held up Clinton's nominees-- but this hypocritical charge that Dems are racist is beneath contempt.

To me it just is evidence that their opposition to affirmative action as based on the principle of color blind hiring is a flat lie.

Anyone like Jane Galt who turns around and makes this charge against the Democrats just shows that their opposition to affirmative action is without principle and just a mask for defending current racist results in hiring.

BTW Alkali in Galt's comments pretty much destroys this whole hypocritical conservative trope, by listing all the nominees of color confirmed by the Democrats:

"Confirmed, Hispanic: Christina Armijo (NM), Phillip Martinez (TX), Randy Crane (TX), Jose Martinez (FL), Alia Ludlum (TX), Jose Linares (NJ), Edward Prado (5th Circuit), Consuelo Callahan (9th Circuit), S. James Otero (CA), Cecilia Altonaga (FL), Xavier Rodriguez (TX), Frank Rodriguez Montalvo (TX)

Not confirmed, Hispanic: Miguel Estrada (DC Circuit)

Confirmed, African-American(*): Beggie B. Walton (DC), Julie A. Robinson (KS), Legrome D. Davis (PA), Percy Anderson (CA), Lavenski R. Smith (8th Circuit), Henry Edward Autry (MO), Morrison C. England, Jr. (CA)

Not confirmed, African-American: Janice Rogers Brown (DC Circuit) (at least not yet)."

So it's pretty clear that Dems are making their decisions based on the "content of the nominee's character", something that the GOP rhetorically says they support. But they seem to flip easily from using racism to recruit white supporters to using charges of racism to try to recruit black and latino supporters. Racial divisiveness is the GOP stock in trade for politics.

Maybe some day they'll try supporting civil rights laws instead as a recruitment tool.

Posted by Nathan at October 28, 2003 05:21 PM