Lott clouds U-M lawsuit
His resignation may alter Bush stance on affirmative action
By Jodi S. Cohen / The Detroit News
WASHINGTON -- The Trent Lott affair has complicated President Bush's decision whether to intervene in the U.S. Supreme Court's review of the University of Michigan's affirmative-action admissions policies, experts say.
If the Bush administration decides to oppose affirmative action, it must file a so-called Friend of the Court or amicus brief by Jan. 16.
Judging by past performance, most experts would have expected the administration to side with opponents of affirmative action. But the Senate majority leader's resignation after a lengthy national flap over apparently pro-segregation remarks may have changed that equation.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in late March on two lawsuits opposing U-M's affirmative-action policies. The court will decide whether a racially diverse student body is a legally acceptable reason for colleges and universities to give a boost to African-American, Hispanic and Native American applicants. Its decision could affect colleges and universities nationwide.
A brief from the administration would carry considerable force -- the weight of the U.S. Department of Justice and the extensive law enforcement and financial powers of the executive branch.
Solicitor General Ted Olson, who represents the president before the Supreme Court, is reportedly eager for the administration to take a stand against U-M's policies. But Bush's political advisers, and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, worry that an anti-affirmative action message would alienate Hispanic and African-American voters, who the Republican Party has worked to court over the years.
"'e said I transgressed a law. That's good enough for me with old Dinsey. 'e didn't want to nail me head to the floor. I 'ad to insist".
Whatever happened to just doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do? Anybody whose convictions are modified by the rise and fall of somebody else's political star must not have had true convictions to begin with. There are many things in life worth more than political expediency.