http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2008/11/08/transition-team-wont-discriminate/
Apparently, the Obama/Biden transition team has announced or stated that they will not discriminate when selecting candidates for employment.
Specifically, Christopher Anders of the ACLU says, "As the new Administration gears up, it should be focused on hiring the best people for the job. By including sexual orientation and gender identity in its non-discrimination policy, the Obama-Biden transition team makes clear that it will focus on the relevant qualities that actually predict an applicant’s success on the job – professional experience, character, skills and education."
Now, I've been reading and listening to all my commie pinko leftist podcast and bloggy comrades, all either falling over themselves in praise and hosannas, or warning that the Bushes can still wreak horrible vengeance upon what remains of the Constitution, or even climbing the barricades to scream that Obama isn't left wing ENOUGH for their tastes, and sometimes I still have to remind myself that it really happened. That 200 years on, old Tom's bit about being entitled by our Creator to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness has been, far, far too late and not yet completely,but still, redeemed.
After hearing it, and hearing it, and hearing it, all day long, while I was supposed to be, y' know, working, this quote reminded me. It's over. Our long national nightmare, as my parents' generation used to say, is over.
We're actually going to start giving jobs to the people who deserve them. Imagine that. Not the person we went to school with, not the person who went to Liberty University, not the person who has no experience but was a good fundraiser. The person who can actually do the job, no matter what their personal life is. The person that will come in at 9 and leave at 5 and give the taxpayer value for their dollar. THE BEST PERSON FOR THE JOB, THE RELEVANT QUALITIES! Imagine, picking people on merit again!
No more "we won't do that because the last president did it and everything they did is yucky-ucky-poo-poo." No more "well, we locked them up because they're bad. And they're bad because we say they're bad. No, we can't let you see the evidence why they're bad, but trust us, they're bad." No more, "I'm going to sign this law, but I'm not really going to do what it says." No more, "Press conference? What business is it of yours what your government is doing?" No more of Chimpy McFlightsuit and his rotten, evil little smirk. No more of , in Ann Richards' glorious phrase about Bush Senior, being born on third base and thinking you hit a triple.
Now bear in mind, I'm exaggerating. I know full well that there will surely be legacy hires, and screwups, and goofballs, and money being wasted foolishly. I wasn't born yesterday. Lincoln had war profiteers too.
But I just get the feeling Obama won't be PROUD of it, the way the current president seems to be. Returning shame to government-what a gift!
BART: "What's the opposite of shame?"
HOMER: "Pride?"
BART: "No, not that far from shame."
Curious that the ACLU is quoted here. The ACLU goes on record as being pro discrimination, siding with racists, and opposes initiatives to ensure equal rights regardless of skin color (such as that famous proposition in California).
ReplyDelete"The person that will come in at 9 and leave at 5 and give the taxpayer value for their dollar. THE BEST PERSON FOR THE JOB, THE RELEVANT QUALITIES! Imagine, picking people on merit again!"
A great idea that directly contradicts the parts of affirmative action that have anything to do with goals, quotas, and preferences.
"I know full well that there will surely be legacy hires"
It is not Obama-bashing to say that yes, he will hire incompetant people and cronies. All presidents do this some. Obama will appoint a "Brownie", unfortunately, somewhere along the way. I sure hope he does not hire John Kerry as Secretary of State. His statements that the "reeducation camps" North Vietnam forced the South Vietnamese to go to weren't bad at all is atrocious. I've looked at a lot of the list of possible Obama cabinet and they look OK actually. Except for Kerry, who comes across as sort of an apologist for what the people who escaped South Vietnam consider to be a sort of holocaust.
The ACLU is not pro discrimination. The ACLU supports racists' right to free speech, sure-they support everyone's rights.
ReplyDeleteWe can argue about affirmative action until the cows come home. The foundation of the anti-affirmative action logic is the same logic that kept African Americans out of baseball: "if they are good enough, they will be there on merit."
In a word, no.
In the late 1940s, a Red Sox scout saw the young Willie Mays play baseball. When he sent a telegram back to the home office with his findings, he said "not our sort of player".
Anyone with two eyes who understands the rules of baseball had to know that the young Willie Mays was the type of player who was going to dominate the game for years to come. His ability was without question, and an experienced baseball scout would take about 10 seconds to notice this.
The answer, obviously, is racism. The Red Sox had a well deserved reputation for being racists which, arguably, they have only recently begun to shed.
Life, and baseball, should be a meritocracy. Talent should win out. Top organizations know this, and groom their talented people accordingly. Hopefully, our government will follow their lead.
Is affirmative action the right remedy? Hell, I don't know.
But I'm not prepared to say it isn't. Until we live in a world where people really are judged by the content of their character, something should be done to make sure everybody gets a shot.
The ACLU is for everyone having a fair shot, AS LONG AS IT'S REALLY A FAIR SHOT. A law with no one willing to enforce it is just words on a page.
The ACLU is indeed pro discrimination. Look at their opposition to the California Civil Rights Initiative (CRI) and other efforts in other states. They opposed these equal-rights efforts and specifically used arguments that it is OK to punish people for their skin color.
ReplyDeleteNot only this, the justification that the ACLU uses for racial discrimination could easily be used to justify law-enforcement "racial profiling".
The foundation of anti-affirmative action logic is that racism is bad, in all its forms. It has nothing to do with keeping blacks out of baseball, which was a form of discrimination.
Is affirmative action the right remedy? Yes, the parts that include outreach to other communities to encourage them to apply for jobs, etc. But an unequivocal "no" when it uses skin color in any way for evaluation, hiring, promotion, college applications.
In this, the ACLU is clearly opposed to giving everyone a fair shot. No one can help their skin color, after all.
"not our sort of player" is a clear example of racism, just as quota and preference policies are. Is it so hard to oppose all of it?
(As for other efforts by the ACLU to undermine the Constitution, they have weighed in in frivolous lawsuits to try to censor the free speech of individuals if that speech happens to have "religious" content. This has happened many times. The ACLU has done many great things, but they have also spent a lot of money to deny people's rights and support racism.).
Why is the race that had the 400 year head start on education, privilege, and accumulated wealth crying "racism"?
ReplyDeleteWhy is the religion that gets all their holidays, observances, customs, and traditions kowtowed to by the government running around demanding more expression?