A SCAM BY ANY OTHER NAME – AT 9:36 A.M. ET:  Ah, diversity, they name is hypocrisy.

The diversity crowd is firmly entrenched in Washington, making sure that all men truly are created equal.  But, of course, we all know what diversity really means –  it means a boost for those groups popular on the political left in a given year.  Check the list regularly, for it changes. 

Now the Weekly Standard rips bare the truth about diversity when it comes to U.S. Supreme Court justices.  Why, what a diverse lot we have.  Oh, yes, the justices vary by race, gender and ethnicity, the Holy Trinity of the diversity faith.  But there the diversity stops. 

On other important grounds, the Supreme Court appears as a surprisingly monolithic group of justices. Nearly all attended elite colleges and proceeded from there to a few Ivy League law schools. They come from either a few northeastern states or from California. Considered as a group, the absence of genuine diversity on the Court is more than a little stunning.

Here, then, is the line-up of the current Court, with nominee Kagan penciled in, with their colleges, law schools, religious background, and region of residence listed:

So let's see.  The march of diversity begins with the fact that eight of the nine justices went either to Harvard or Yale Law School.  A diversity blowout!  The ninth, Ruth Ginsburg, went to Columbia, another Ivy.  As for undergraduate schools, eight of the nine went to "elites."  Only Clarence Thomas went to what some would call a less-than-elite, Holy Cross. 

All of course are lawyers. Eight of the nine—excepting Kagan—were elevated to the Court from judicial positions to which they were appointed because of their training, intelligence, and connections. None has held an elected office that would have required an appeal to the common sense of voters. All have lived and worked in the hermetic world of elite colleges, Ivy League law schools, and the federal bench.

COMMENT:  Diversity has again been exposed as a kind of a racket.  We're all for diversity as long as it only includes "our" people. 

We're reminded of the famous story of Lyndon Johnson, after his first Cabinet meeting as Kennedy's vice president, rushing back to Capitol Hill to exclaim to Speaker Sam Rayburn what a spectacular Cabinet Kennedy had, with graduates of Harvard, Yale, MIT, and the other glories.

Mr. Sam, according to the story, just leaned back in his chair and replied, "Lyndon, I just wish one of them had run for sheriff."

Indeed. 

May 10, 2010