Business Insider
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Steven Loeb Apr. 27, 2011, 11:45 AM
Donald Trump has gone from questioning President Obama's citizenship to questioning his education, wondering how he got into Columbia and Harvard calling him "a terrible student."
Appearing on Hardball last night, Pat Buchanan refused to go as far as Trump has with really questioning the President's background, he did have his own theories about how Obama wound up getting into Ivy League schools.
"I think he's affirmative action all the way."
"He's an African-American kid at a time when everybody's saying bring those guys in, give them an advantage, move them ahead...it's about whether he benefited from affirmative action. Is that an illegitimate question?
"Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chris-matthews-pat-buchanan-obama-affirmative-action-video-2011-4#ixzz1KopCDPk8
Showing posts with label Harvard law Schol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harvard law Schol. Show all posts
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Monday, May 17, 2010
Why elites do belong on the Supreme Court
The Washington Post
By Christopher Edley Jr.Sunday, May 16, 2010
Judges should be able to understand and empathize with just about anyone, because the law is about everyone. With that in mind, is what's good for Harvard and Yale good for America?
If Elena Kagan is confirmed, we will have an entire Supreme Court educated at Harvard and Yale law schools, demonstrating again the grip that academic elites have on the levers of power. Some worry this homogeneity is too anti-democratic, even for our most anti-democratic of institutions. I don't hear a claim that even knuckleheads deserve a spot on the court, but surely some brilliant possibilities attended, say, Berkeley? Or Tulane?
Full Editorial: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/14/AR2010051403641.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
By Christopher Edley Jr.Sunday, May 16, 2010
Judges should be able to understand and empathize with just about anyone, because the law is about everyone. With that in mind, is what's good for Harvard and Yale good for America?
If Elena Kagan is confirmed, we will have an entire Supreme Court educated at Harvard and Yale law schools, demonstrating again the grip that academic elites have on the levers of power. Some worry this homogeneity is too anti-democratic, even for our most anti-democratic of institutions. I don't hear a claim that even knuckleheads deserve a spot on the court, but surely some brilliant possibilities attended, say, Berkeley? Or Tulane?
Full Editorial: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/14/AR2010051403641.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
White House seeks to defend Kagan's diversity record
By Krissah Thompson and Hamil R. Harris
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The White House rushed Tuesday to allay concerns raised by some civil rights groups about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and the hiring record of Harvard Law School when she was dean.
Some black activists were already dismayed that no African American woman has reached President Obama's short list in two searches. The selection of Kagan, the U.S. solicitor general, served to irritate them further, as they described her tenure at Harvard -- which administration officials highlight as evidence of her practicality and her ability to work across ideological lines -- as one lacking in racial inclusion.
Leaders of the NAACP and legal groups discussed their concerns Tuesday with White House officials, including senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Afterward, the Rev. Al Sharpton said Jarrett had described the role civil rights groups could play in supporting future nominees for solicitor general and district and appellate judges. Kagan's nomination, Sharpton said, "is already made, and most of us are inclined to support it."
Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/11/AR2010051103390.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzhead
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The White House rushed Tuesday to allay concerns raised by some civil rights groups about Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and the hiring record of Harvard Law School when she was dean.
Some black activists were already dismayed that no African American woman has reached President Obama's short list in two searches. The selection of Kagan, the U.S. solicitor general, served to irritate them further, as they described her tenure at Harvard -- which administration officials highlight as evidence of her practicality and her ability to work across ideological lines -- as one lacking in racial inclusion.
Leaders of the NAACP and legal groups discussed their concerns Tuesday with White House officials, including senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.
Afterward, the Rev. Al Sharpton said Jarrett had described the role civil rights groups could play in supporting future nominees for solicitor general and district and appellate judges. Kagan's nomination, Sharpton said, "is already made, and most of us are inclined to support it."
Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/11/AR2010051103390.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzhead
Monday, May 10, 2010
Kagan´s Affirmative Action Achilles Heel
American Chronicle
Earl Ofari Hutchinson
May 10, 2010
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan will plop an issue back on the nation´s table that hasn´t been seen or heard from or about in what seems like ages. And that´s affirmative action. Even before her nomination the word furiously circulated in some circles that during her six year tenure as dean of Harvard University Law School, Kagan had an abominable record on recruiting and hiring minority professors. At first glance, her record indeed looks atrocious. There were 29 new hires. They were 23 white men, 5 white women, and one Asian American woman; not one black or Latino professor in the bunch. When the dismal figure was released, the White House quickly pushed back. It issued a detailed fact sheet that essentially said that her zero hire of a black or Latino faculty member was grossly misleading. That Kagan had offered several African-American and Latino candidates visiting offers; visiting offers meaning invites to be a visiting lecturer. That´s not the same as a permanent offer for faculty spot. But the inference was that a visiting offer, if accepted, could lead to an offer of a permanent faculty position. That didn´t happen. The visiting offers were not accepted. That in itself is not a prima facie case to say that Kagan deliberately pushed diversity to the back burner at Harvard. Or even that she did not make a sincere effort to recruit minority faculty members. There are always factors, big, little and unseen in the business of faculty hires at major, even prestigious, universities. But Kagan´s motives and the effort she may have made to get a diverse faculty at Harvard Law in the end or a moot point. Her record on minority hires still stands-- 29 faculty hires, and no black or Latino hires. This is hardly a moot point.
Full Commentary: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/155363
Earl Ofari Hutchinson
May 10, 2010
Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan will plop an issue back on the nation´s table that hasn´t been seen or heard from or about in what seems like ages. And that´s affirmative action. Even before her nomination the word furiously circulated in some circles that during her six year tenure as dean of Harvard University Law School, Kagan had an abominable record on recruiting and hiring minority professors. At first glance, her record indeed looks atrocious. There were 29 new hires. They were 23 white men, 5 white women, and one Asian American woman; not one black or Latino professor in the bunch. When the dismal figure was released, the White House quickly pushed back. It issued a detailed fact sheet that essentially said that her zero hire of a black or Latino faculty member was grossly misleading. That Kagan had offered several African-American and Latino candidates visiting offers; visiting offers meaning invites to be a visiting lecturer. That´s not the same as a permanent offer for faculty spot. But the inference was that a visiting offer, if accepted, could lead to an offer of a permanent faculty position. That didn´t happen. The visiting offers were not accepted. That in itself is not a prima facie case to say that Kagan deliberately pushed diversity to the back burner at Harvard. Or even that she did not make a sincere effort to recruit minority faculty members. There are always factors, big, little and unseen in the business of faculty hires at major, even prestigious, universities. But Kagan´s motives and the effort she may have made to get a diverse faculty at Harvard Law in the end or a moot point. Her record on minority hires still stands-- 29 faculty hires, and no black or Latino hires. This is hardly a moot point.
Full Commentary: http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/155363
Politico.com: Kagan is Obama's pick for top court
UnionLeader.com
By JOSH GERSTEIN
Politico.com
May 10, 2010
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama will announce Monday that he has selected Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his second nominee to the Supreme Court, according to an administration official.
If confirmed, the former Harvard Law School dean would be the first justice to join the court without prior judicial experience since William Rehnquist nearly four decades ago.
Kagan would be the third woman on the nine-member court and only the fourth woman among 112 justices ever to serve, following Obama’s choice of Justice Sonia Sotomayor last year. She would replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who is retiring after 35 years.
At 50, Kagan is among the youngest of the potential nominees who were widely thought to have been seriously considered by Obama for the high court slot.
Kagan has a lengthy pedigree as a Democratic attorney. She served for several years as the deputy director of domestic policy under President Bill Clinton and earlier as an attorney in the White House counsel’s office. She made history by serving for six years as the first female dean of Harvard Law, where Obama had attended years earlier.
Full Story: http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=a6045a65-b6a5-4bef-ae24-b1afe2265d75&headline=Politico.com%3a+Kagan+is+Obama%27s+pick+for+top+court
By JOSH GERSTEIN
Politico.com
May 10, 2010
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama will announce Monday that he has selected Solicitor General Elena Kagan as his second nominee to the Supreme Court, according to an administration official.
If confirmed, the former Harvard Law School dean would be the first justice to join the court without prior judicial experience since William Rehnquist nearly four decades ago.
Kagan would be the third woman on the nine-member court and only the fourth woman among 112 justices ever to serve, following Obama’s choice of Justice Sonia Sotomayor last year. She would replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who is retiring after 35 years.
At 50, Kagan is among the youngest of the potential nominees who were widely thought to have been seriously considered by Obama for the high court slot.
Kagan has a lengthy pedigree as a Democratic attorney. She served for several years as the deputy director of domestic policy under President Bill Clinton and earlier as an attorney in the White House counsel’s office. She made history by serving for six years as the first female dean of Harvard Law, where Obama had attended years earlier.
Full Story: http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=a6045a65-b6a5-4bef-ae24-b1afe2265d75&headline=Politico.com%3a+Kagan+is+Obama%27s+pick+for+top+court
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