Friday, November 12, 2004

The New York Times Editorial: The Bush Record on Civil Rights

The 'forest for the trees' analogy of this editorial is almost comical:
"The report, which is still available online, is a scathing 166-page assessment of an administration that has, at best, neglected core civil rights issues. It cites numerous examples of administration attempts to replace affirmative action with 'race neutral' alternatives, to focus on voter fraud rather than the more insidious problem of voter disenfranchisement and to recast taxpayers' support for religious institutions as a civil right for people of faith, rather than as a constitutional issue involving the separation of church and state. "
Again, the left is more concerned about the language and policy of government, rather than the actions and results. In the paragraph prior to above, there's this:
"...the apparent aim of the Bush administration is to break with long-established civil rights tactics and priorities. This question takes on a new urgency with the appointment of the White House counsel, Alberto Gonzales, as the next attorney general because he was deeply involved in the formulation of administration policy on these issues in the first term."
Forgive me, but isn't Alberto Gonzales an Hispanic. In fact, if approved, he would become the first Hispanic, Attorney General in US history! Was Colin Powell not the first African-American Secretary of State. And what about Condoleezza Rice, Linda Chavez, Norm Mineta, et al?

Are these appointments because George Bush wishes to have an affirmative action cabinet? Or is it because he really sees things as race neutral (i.e. equality) and selects the best candidates he can?

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