He doesn’t have a clue what the word diversity means

There is a lot of pundits discussing a case before the Supreme Court. They heard oral arguments in the case, which is about race being used as a factor to decide who gets to be admitted to Harvard or the University of North Carolina. Pundits are saying the case will give the conservative majority a way to say race cannot be used (all that blather about society should be “colorblind”). The ruling, expected sometime before July, could also affect hiring in private business and military recruitment and promotion. Lauren Sue of Daily Kos discussed some of the oral arguments. There is Clarence Thomas declaring he doesn’t have a clue what the word diversity means. Sue responded:

In this conversation of racial diversity at universities, the term is hardly ambiguous, and this implication that “diversity” isn’t definitive enough to have real benefits simply demonstrates how out of touch Thomas continues to be.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson recused herself from the case because she is a Harvard grad. Even so she posed a hypothetical. What if one applicant’s essay said his family has been in North Carolina since before the Civil War and he will be the fifth generation to attend UNC. What if a second applicant’s essay said her family has also been in North Carolina since before the Civil War – as slaves – and she is the first generation to hopefully attend UNC. The first person’s essay would be allowed. Would the second’s person’s story not be allowed? Why is that not a violation of Equal Protection? Justice Elena Kagan also spoke and she summarized her view as, “White men get the thumb on the scale, but people who have been kicked in the teeth by our society for centuries do not?” Which is exactly what conservatives want. Laura Clawson of Kos briefly discussed the case. It is in the first block of comments that I learned about another advantage many white people have in college admission. This comes with the acronym ALDC, which is Athletes, Legacies, Dean’s list, and Children. Athletes because we in America (and quite puzzling to Brits) seem to value a school based on its reputation in sports, usually football and basketball. It is athletics that draw the donor bucks. Legacies are the children of alumni. An extra donation by mum and dad won’t be turned down, but that’s something children of minorities would not be able to afford. Dean’s list refers to those of interest to the Dean. I’m not sure, though I suspect that means they made the Dean’s list in high school. Children mean children of the university employees (especially professors). Again, that’s likely not something a minority can use. This is important because the ADLC students are about a quarter of the students (about 40% of white students) and they tend to not be as academically strong. Though if one gets in, one might meet the children of Jeff Bezos – which may, or may not, make a difference a decade from now. Philip Bump of the Washington Post tweeted a link to an article that discussed a dramatic increase in the discussion of crime on Fox News. Such discussion also increased on CNN and MSNBC. Bump wrote:

Beginning in late September Fox began talking about crime more than the baseline set in the first six months of 2022. It's climbed since. There's literally no obvious reason except politics. And that gas prices suddenly weren't as useful to talk about. So you're telling me, what, that in late September there was an uptick in crime and it has been climbing since? Is that what happened?

Several cartoons that I got from Kos pundit roundups: Adam Zyglis of the Buffalo News tweeted a cartoon of an elephant shouting “Crime is surging!!” along with images of Steve Bannon in jail, the nasty guy under investigation, and Paul Pelosi in the hospital. Michael Martin tweeted a cartoon of two TV screens. In the first a Fox News host says, “Crime is out of control under Biden.” In the second Anderson Cooper of CNN says, “Nine of the ten states with the highest crime rates are under G.O.P. control.” Ann Telnaes of WaPo tweeted a cartoon of a woman in a doctor’s office. Instead of a doctor there is a local political leader who says, “I’m not a doctor but I play one in your life.” Clay Bennett of the Chattanooga Times Free Press tweeted a cartoon of The Elephant in the Room – a woman in a medical gown walks into a room marked “OB/GYN” and sees an elephant instead of a doctor. Bennett also tweeted one of a man in a “Trump Won” sweatshirt with a MAGA cap and beside him is a boy with a cape and mask saying “I like playing make-believe too!” Phil Hands of the Wisconsin State Journal tweeted a cartoon of a chess set where one of the pieces is a school child being moved about by an elephant with the sign behind saying, “Pawns in the Culture Wars.” queer wizard tweeted:

Everytime I hit a paywall on some respected journalism site and then simply don't read the article rather than subscrining, I think about how Fox, Breitbart, The Daily Mail, et al. never ever ever paywall their content. I think about this constantly. The truth is expensive, the lies are all free.

Kerry Eleveld of Kos reported a new poll from Public Religion Research Institute. Eleveld discussed two statements from the poll (the article doesn’t say whether there were other statements) and participants were asked whether they agree. The first statement is “Things in this country are going in the wrong direction.” Of all Americans 74% agree, as do 93% of Republicans, 76% of Independents, and 53% of Democrats. I also agree with that statement – I think we’re in grave danger of losing democracy to Republicans. Of course, that’s not what Republicans think of as the wrong direction. Their thinking is revealed in the second statement, “Since the 1950s American culture and way of life has mostly changed for the worse.” Of all Americans 49% agree, as do 66% of Republicans, 50% of Independents, 30% of Democrats – and 71% for white evangelicals. Let’s see, LGBTQ rights came in the 2000s and 2010s. No, I don’t want to go back to the 1950s, though I consider 2015 (when marriage equality was declared) was a good year for the country and things have changed for the worse since then. Natalie Jackson, research director at PRRI, tweeted, “This 1950s question has been a key predictor of support for Trump/Republicans over the years.” Eleveld wrote:

It appears that some two-thirds of that discontent isn't about charting a new or different path forward for the country. Rather, it's at least partially driven by a desire to turn back the clock to a different era—one in which women were still effectively confined to the home, abortion was banned, a Catholic and a person of color had yet to be elected president, segregation was still rampant, landmark civil rights and voting rights laws hadn't been enacted yet, and LGBTQ Americans still lived in fear of losing their friends, family, and livelihoods if anyone uncovered their secret. As veteran journalist John Harwood noted, "Two-thirds of Republicans believe America's culture and way of life were better in the 1950s—a concise explanation for this political moment."

Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweeted a cartoon of villagers with torches and pitchforks and facing them in Frankenstein’s monster saying, “OK, OK, I’ll get vaccinated!” Nilo Tabrizy tweeted:

From my friend in Tehran: These days, young women without Hijab put these notes on our hands secretly in the streets as we walk without Hijab. The note reads “thanks for making the city more beautiful with your hair. Women, Life, Freedom.”

Merriam-Webster announced they added 370 new words to their online dictionary (do they still produce a print version?). Some of the words added are dumbphone (a retronym needed now that we have smartphones), supply chain, greenwash, virtue signaling, mud season, terraform (they’re just adding this one now? It’s been in use in science fiction for decades), adorkable, the abbreviation FWIW, shrinkflation (reduce the size rather than raise the price), subvariant, false negative, pumpkin spice (about time!), and plant-based.