Powell Says He Disagrees With Bush on University of Michigan Affirmative Action Case

tbo.com ^ | 1-19-02 | ap

[Pukka Puck]

20 points for the scions of even the most wealthy and well-educated black families.

[Kath]

It doesn't matter if he disagrees with President Bush. That is not unusual. No one agree 100% of the time. However, he should never have said so in public. If you don't agree with the President and you work for him you keep your mouth shut.

[desertcry]

Powell admits that Blacks are subhuman. Blacks can not compete on level grounds, they need the superhuman liberals(mostly arrogant, feel good, hypocrit liberal, lilly whites)to tilt the field to the left. I wonder how MLK feels about this. Did he not say in his famous words: "A man should not be judged by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character"? Powell should hang his head in shame for insulting his fellow Blacks.

[Maynerd]

Your insight and experience is greatly appreciated.

I wish both parties would support outreach for the economically disadvantaged (which disproportionately help blacks and hispanics) and jettison this fixation on pigmentation. This would hopefully eliminate the stigma of affirmative action and promote excellence among all socioeconomic strata.

[guitfiddlist]

I respect Powell for admitting that he was a direct beneficiary of affirmative action - particulary his selection as Chairman of the JCS. I remember the bitter and unbelieving comments of those who were passed over - and their incredulity that Powell had never had a large command (I am not familiar with what level they were talking about), and yet was selected over several others that had all the experiences and command grades thought to be essential to be a Joint Chief.

That said, I think he's the right man for the job over at State. You've got to be a little bit of a pollyana to work with, much less lead that herd of kittens - and he seems to be a believer in diplomacy at all costs - which helps with these charades we have to endure with our foppish allies.

And he's free to have his opinions about a subject he has no policy control over. Heh-heh.

[AmishDude]

(See the Guidelines for Calculation of an Engineering Selection Index for the Professional Diversity points awarded for women applicants to the College of Engineering.)

The School of Nursing thing is a cover (what, only 5 points?) to implement it to get women to enter the School of Engineering (and subsequently flunk out, but hey, we satisfied our quotas, right?).

[montag813]

G-d forbid he keep his stupid mouth shut about policy outside his purview.

[No Truce With Kings]

"If you don't agree with the President and you work for him you keep your mouth shut."

Why? The only reason I can see for that rule is if the President lacks confidence in his own judgement, or lacks the maturity to live with criticism. It makes sense for a President like Clinton or Carter, but Reagan or Bush don't need to be coddled in that type of cotton-wool.

I suspect, that W., coming from a management background, doesn't care a flip. His style is to bring people from a diversity of backgrounds with strong opinions together, and let the solution come from the clash of ideas. That is one reason why his solutions are so much stronger than those of Clinton -- or on the Republican side, Nixon.

If Colin Powell disagrees on affirmative action or abortion, so what? Powell is Secretary of State, not Secretary of Education or Surgeon General. (You will notice that Paige agrees with the President on affirmative action.)

As we have seen, Bush does not care what his subordinates believe, only what they do. He cleaned house in the Treasury, not because those guys did not agree with him, but rather because they did not carry out the policies Bush mandated. Similarly, so long as Powell executes Bush's policies at State, his personal opinions are his to have.

[dark_lord]

Rice did not contradict herself. Stating that race can be "a factor" is not related to saying "race quotas are good".

Fact - race is a factor. Period. But quotas are not the way. She did not support quotas.

A purely "race-neutral" approach would not consider race at all. That would be fine if the colleges did not already factor in things like "applicant is a child of an alumnus." So - one could argue that only academic test scores should be used. Or academic test scores plus grades. But what about high school athletics? Club participation? How well the kid writes their essay? Maybe they have superlative musical skills? Etcetera. In the latter context, where all those other things are already being considered, then yes, ethnic background (not skin color) can reasonably be considered as "a factor". With NO QUOTAS being applied. And if it is dealt with like that, no constitutional issues apply.

[siliconpatriot]

Race should never be a factor. period.

Rice and Powell are wrong.

All those things you mentioned, as bad as they are, are race nuetral. And those factors are never considered as a means to the end of diversifying a student body anyway.

Maybe Rice didn't suggest diversfication would be the goal by considering race to be a factor, but it would be impossible let someone in because of race without denying someone else just because they aren;t the right color.

To tell someone just because they are the wrong ethnic background or wrong color that they are not allowed to attend then you are making an unconstitutional arguement.

Maybe Rice and Powell would like to speak to a group of white high school kids, in person, and tell them they might have to accept being denied admission to college because of their skin color or ethnic background.

DO THEY HAVE THE GUTS FOR THIS???

[Kryptonite]

I don't like the idea of telling kids that they might be denied because they were raised by two parents either.

[ZULU]

This is a rant.

In any conflcit of interest between this Country and any other of which an individual is also a citizen, there will be generated a similar conflcit of interest in the mind of anyone holding dual citizenship with that other Country.

Such should not occur. Your loyalties can only lay with one Country.


Dual citizenship is a bogus creation set up years ago and should be dispensed with - NOW.

[KC_for_Freedom]

Yes, he supports some form of "Don't ask don't tell" and believes that gays serving openly in the military would hurt the effectivenes of the military. In other words, the military is not a social improvement facility, it is a group of warriors with a mission to protect and defend this country.

[dark_lord]

Okay. I'll agree that race should not be a factor, as long as:

(1) We don't let in someone with lower academic scores over someone else because of their "athletic" background.
(2) We don't let in someone with lower academic scores over someone else because daddy was an alumnus.
(3) We don't let in someone with lower academic scores over someone else because they participated in a number of clubs and activities.

As far as I am concerned, all of those are equally as "bad" as wanting someone for their ethnic background.

I have already said that I am against quotas, and against choosing for or against people for skin color. But if a school is willing to accept applicants with lower test and grade scores on other factors, then it is hard to argue - well, those factors are okay but ethnicity is not.

[wingnuts'nbolts]

You may be correct in your stance, but I suspect it isn't easy being where G.W. is.