<p>LakeWashington:</p>
<p>How do we know Thomas and Rice benefited from AA? We might speculate about it, but I am not sure we know this for sure. Also, they likely had no control over whether they would personally receive a benefit from AA. They may have been personally against it, but still received the benefit. I dont think we can really support a case of outright hypocrisy even if we assume they benefited from AA. I think despite receiving the AA benefit, they still retained a valid freedom to reject the program especially if they found AA having a general effect upon other peoples lives that differed from the effect upon their own lives.</p>
<p>Whether we agree or disagree with them, I think as long as these folks are willing to support a point of view on this issue, they ought to be allowed to do so without incurring hatred from us. We ought not call them Uncle Toms and House ■■■■■■■ and all this ugly stuff they are getting from us. I cant readily accept that Connerly suddenly turned hostile to blacks when I have seen and felt for myself just how nasty we can be to each other. I am pretty convinced this cat took some serious and invalid heat just for sharing his view. If he was nasty in California, it could easily have been that he had internalized some of that heat and was sending a little of it back at us. I am just not pleased at all by how we are treating Clarence Thomas. I mean, I dont like the guys politics in the least. But I think a lot of us have been just downright mean to this guy and that there is no excuse for it. I have no doubt that Bush pushed him on us because he is black. But cmon. Plenty of white guys have sat on that same court, and mostly because they were white. I think Bushs main reason for selecting Thomas wasnt race at all. He selected the guy because of his views. That he is black was a bonus because, I suspect he thought the Democrats would be afraid to go after Thomas (boy was he wrong). Anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is that we ought to hammer the view not the man.</p>
<p>I have been meaning to get John McWhorters stuff. His name has been popping up a few times recently.</p>