In comments, Rea said:
One way of telling whether an opponent of affirmative action is a sincere man of principle--or a bigot-- is to watch how he argues. If he presents a reasoned argument based on the facts of the case, he may be sincere. If he starts sloganeering about "quotas" in a case involving no quotas, he's a bigot.
I'd add - or lying more generally as well.
Bush yesterday:
President Bush, stepping into a major affirmative action case, asserted Wednesday that a program of racial preferences for minority applicants at the University of Michigan was ‘‘fundamentally flawed" and unconstitutional.
The program ‘‘amounts to a quota system that unfairly rewards or penalizes prospective students solely on their race," Bush said in announcing that his administration would file a legal brief in the case with the Supreme Court on Thursday.
and more:
He said the undergraduate admissions program awards black, Hispanic and native American students 20 points, one-fifth of the total normally needed for admission. At the law school, some minority students are admitted to meet percentage targets while others with higher grades are passed over, Bush said.
"Quota systems that use race to include or exclude people from higher education and the opportunities it offers are divisive, unfair and impossible to square with the Constitution," Bush said. He declined to take questions.
race-baiting bigot. This is absolutely outrageous. This "1/5" number is patently false.
