Blood and destruction shall be so in use
And dreadful objects so familiar
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quarter’d with the hands of war;
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:
And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
Cry ‘Havoc,’ and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.
Related
Americans may not have the stomach for another protracted war in Afghanistan: Robert Gates [Link]
The above interview is a troubling example of the mistake of looking at historical workplace demography and then applying it to what is the present day demography in society. Pat Buchanan, while an irritable and humourless bore, makes a few relevant points that Ms.Maddow simply doesn’t get. If you ask the question why so many “white males” hold positions of power and responsibility in the United States, it’s because demographically whites have typically been the vast majority in the country, and so their numbers are reflective of that in the workforce at the upper levels. For some reason, liberals seem to think that workplace demography should shift as soon as it does in society. So if we increase our population of Hispanics over a ten-year period, a liberal will expect a proportionate increase in workplace representation. Which, of course, ignores some basic flaws in logic.
As the United States grows more diverse through immigration, both legal and otherwise, there will be more Sonia Sotomayor’s in the upper echelon’s of power. But these things don’t happen overnight, and it isn’t because of racial discrimination. What Rachel Maddow focuses on is the fact that of 110 supreme court justices, 108 are white men. But this seems to gloss over the fact that these 108 white men worked extremely hard, in competition with thousands, even millions, of other lawyers and judges, to get into the position they enjoy. Affirmative action only recognizes a racial disparity between a workplace demography and the one represented in all of society. But the solutions it seeks aren’t actually solutions at all, since it attempts to artificially enhance the profile of minorities, rather than focus on individual merit. And that is essentially Pat Buchanan’s point here.
Is it racist to say that white men are primarily responsible for building America? Of course not. In the same way that Indians built India, the Chinese built China, and the Egyptians built Egypt, it’s silly to interpret Mr.Buchanan’s statement in that way.
I’m not going to argue whether Ms.Sotomayor is qualified for her nomination or not, since I honestly don’t know. But I do think that there’s a very serious flaw in deliberately attempting to artificially enhance the profile of recognized minorities in public office for the purposes of politics. The main problem with the liberal proponents of affirmative action is in perpetuating the idea behind race, which in and of itself is becoming increasingly a racist ideology. By obsessing on who is white or brown in office, we reduce the uniqueness of the individual to nothing more than a designation of one of two categories. White or not-white.
Ms.Sotomayor may very well be qualified for her position, but what Ms.Maddow doesn’t understand in her smirking, gloating, patronizing argument with Mr.Buchanan, is that there isn’t a systemic and conspiratorial agenda to maintain the presence of white males in the corridors of power. These men hold such positions because they sought out and earned their place through hard work. If women and minorities want to share those positions, and they will in time, they need to work just as hard. It really is that simple.
Related
Rasmussen Reports national telephone polling conducted Tuesday and Wednesday night shows that 87% of U.S. voters expect Sotomayor to be confirmed as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court . Thirty-seven percent (37%) favor her confirmation while 41% are opposed. [Link]
