Civil Rights Commission Chair weighs in on affirmative action dispute

[Skwmom]

For Immediate Release
Date: January 30, 2004


Dr. Mary Frances Berry Responds to Senator Kerry's Remarks On Affirmative Action

Today, in a conference call with reporters, Dr. Mary Frances Berry, Chair of the United States Commission on Civil Rights, made the following remarks:

Back in 1992, when I read what Senator Kerry was saying about affirmative action, I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach. I was deeply disturbed, because Senator Kerry was saying exactly the same thing that opponents of affirmative action were saying - that it was reverse discrimination, that the policy was a failure, that all it did was perpetuate racism. And even worse, he made no suggestions about what legal steps should be taken to improve it.

Last night, at the debate, I was surprised when he invoked the name of Bill Clinton in discussing the "mend it, don't end it" approach to affirmative action. President Clinton was not yet in office when Senator Kerry made that 1992 speech. And once Clinton was in office, and we were engaged in the difficult debate about the future of affirmative action, Senator Kerry was nowhere in sight. While we were struggling to do all we could to make progress on these issues, he was simply missing in action.

[girl gone mad]

1. "Senator Kerry was nowhere in sight"

Seems to be a recurring theme..

[blm]

2. Clinton said it when he was campaigning in 1992.

And that quote was taken out of context.

Kerry wanted the legal language tightened up in the bill so that the Repubs couldn't keep taking it to court trying to get it thrown out.

[girl gone mad]

17. Did you miss this part?

" I was deeply disturbed, because Senator Kerry was saying exactly the same thing that opponents of affirmative action were saying - that it was reverse discrimination, that the policy was a failure, that all it did was perpetuate racism. And even worse, he made no suggestions about what legal steps should be taken to improve it. "

[xultar]

23. Didn't miss, used the ignore function on that part. n/t

[blm]

26. Wrong. That was misinterpreted by Ms. Berry.

In context that is not what Kerry wa saying at all.

Kerry was describing what the other side uses to poke holes in AA to make their case while making his case to tighten the legal language.

[PVnRT]

3. I don't see what's wrong with that statement

"Mend it, don't end it"

Is affirmative action perfect? Is there nothing in there that could be written better? I find it very hard to believe that there aren't at least some problems with it.

[dogman]

4. Re-read

Clinton said "Mend it don't end it". She says Kerry was not there to do this.

[Cocoa]

5. important info to know

seems Berry thinks Kerry is misrepresenting his history on this position. I hope this comes up in future debates, and I'm surprised no one has brought this up before now, especially Al Sharpton.

[blm]

14. Clinton said it while campaigning in 92 and many Dems agreed.

Kerry was on the side of tightening the legal language in the bill so the Republicans would be unable to keep taking it to court on the original language.

[krkaufman]

6. Wow. That's harsh criticism

I was kinda bummed to hear Clark "go negative" on this, thinking he might be making it up. (Which surprised me, since he's been straight as an arrow up to now.)

But I now expect that it was this letter that spurred Clark's comments; though none of the news orgs that have covered the flare-up have referenced the letter. (sigh)

I'm still not thrilled that Clark appeared "negative", but I suppose there's gotta be some gray area between naively positive and ROG-like negativity. Like David Brooks (gag) said on News Hour tonight, they need to show contrast.

[robbedvoter]

10. He is still straight as an arrow. When a veteran compared him and kerry

in an introduction at a NH townhall, Clark made a point to distance himself - saying he respected Kerry's accomplishments.
The week before, in Iowa, Kerry beamed over a veteran spewing Shelton smears. Then pushed the Bob Dole created "lieutenant" obfuscation.
Eventually had to relent and admit on FTN that it was BS, but allowed his attacks unedited on 60 Minutes to go on. Now his surrogates (Blumenthal) perpetuate the smear in spite of Kerry's "good cop" BS on FTN.
Kerry accused Clark of corruption as lobbyism. Clark's records are open, Kerry's are not. This turns to be the case:

  Kerry no stranger to lobbyists' donations

Senator among top recipients in Congress from special interests
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20040130-9999_1n30kerry.html

By Dana Wilkie and Joe Cantlupe
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE


And you have the chiutzpa to say Clark is not a straight arrow? An honest man is smeared by a rich elitist as ...elitist, and by a senator on the take as...lobbyist(cue sinister music) and he is supposed to smile and take it?

[blm]

12. Kerry's not on the take. Those are lifetime donations over 18 years.

And that biggest donor is his BROTHER and his coworkers.

That article is deliberately misleading. 220,000 over 18 years when Bush gets more than that from ONE Pioneer in ONE election.

[krkaufman]

24. Wha?

> That article is deliberately misleading. 220,000 over 18
> years

Are we reading from the same article? Kerry took more than $500,000 from just the health care industry THIS YEAR, not over 18 years.

This election cycle, Kerry took $531,251 from the health care industry, putting him among the top four recipients of such money – just behind President Bush and Democratic presidential contenders Howard Dean of Vermont and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.
...
As a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Kerry is in a key position to influence laws that affect the airline and automotive industries.

This election cycle, the senator was among the top 10 recipients of money from such transportation interests – $87,925.

The construction industry, whose contractors and engineers make billions of dollars from federally funded transportation projects, gave the senator more than $306,000 this cycle, putting Kerry among the top three recipients of this sort of money.

He took $160,220 from general contractors, the companies that typically work in public transportation projects. Only Bush took more – $1.4 million.

[blm]

29. Those figures come from LUMPING TOGETHER every donation

from individuals by the category of work they do.

Kerry never took CORPORATE PAC MONEY. Doctors and nurses who donate as individuals would be grouped as healthcare industry. And so on.

If you want to cite some CORPORATE PAC MONEY, please do.

[krkaufman]

19. Read beyond the first paragraph

Read beyond my first paragraph above, Robbed. I wasn't criticizing Clark.

I said I was surprised by his criticism since he's been nearly 100% positive to now; then said that the letter must have been what spurred the comments; and then finished by emphasizing that contrasts between candidates need to be made.

There's a difference between "contrast and compare" and negative campaigning like push-polling, lying, misrepresenting an opponent's position, etc.

Clark's comment was a criticism of Kerry's misrepresenting his position the night before. Perfectly reasonable; especially since it's backed up by a letter from the chair of the Commission on Civil Rights.

[robbedvoter]

7. In a related attitude:

A few months later, with President Bill Clinton locked in combat with the Republicans, Mr. Kerry voiced some doubts in a closed-door meeting of senators about the wisdom of trying to raise the minimum wage. And as Mr. Kennedy later recalled, he told Mr. Kerry, "If you're not for raising the minimum wage, you don't deserve to call yourself a Democrat."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/25/politics/campaign/25RECO.html?pagewanted=1&hp


Kerry's view of Clark's middle class tax cuts

He questioned whether Clark's plan, unveiled this week, to eliminate taxes on people earning less than $50,000 a year "kind of excuses them from a sense of responsibility for the country."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A63270-2004Jan7¬Found=true

I won't get here in Kerry's personal wealth - suffice to say they hire 23 people full time just to pay the bills and their DAILY interest is 42,000. Glad they keep me honest and responsible!

[tinanator]

8. I could almost like Kerry now

Anyone that gives that MISERABLE NASTY PERSON a "kicked in the stomach" feeling, is fine with me on at least one point. Wish I could do it myself.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

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[sandnsea]

9. Clark Endorser

I see Lehane. Here we go.

[robbedvoter]

11. She endorsed him because "she knew them all, from Tricky Dick

onward - and this is a decent man" (paraphrase). Trying to discredit an icon of civil rights movement only reveals yourself.

[sandnsea]

15. No, this is Clinton politics

It was clear what he said in 1992. It was reported IN 1992. Clark is the Clinton/DLC boy. Dean is the anti-Clinton boy. Kerry is stuck out there fighting off both of them and the RNC.

1992 Kerry Speech at Yale University Verifies His Support for Affirmative Action - “I support affirmative action. Affirmative action has opened doors for women, persons with disabilities and countless minorities. It has helped create a large and growing black middle class. It has helped minority businesses and opened up bastions of prejudice like the Alabama State Police, which had no black members at all in a state that is 30 percent black. It has caused employers to rethink the standards and tests they use to qualify people for employment. And it has given the benefit of the doubt to diversity over uniformity on campuses and in workplaces across America.” – John Kerry

John Kerry: “We Don’t Want to Lose” Affirmative Action - "I thought I left it very clear - evidently not clear enough - that affirmative action is necessary and is something we have to have. We don't want to lose it."

In Yale Speech, John Kerry Expressed His “Commitment to the Cause of Civil Rights” – “Kerry expressed his commitment to the cause of civil rights and the ‘positive side’ of affirmative action, which he said ‘has opened doors for women, persons with disabilities and countless minorities. It has helped create a large and . . . growing black middle class. It has helped minority businesses and opened up bastions of prejudice like the Alabama State Police, which had no black members at all in a state that is 30 percent black."

Progressive Group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Says Media Distorted Kerry’s True Message Supporting Affirmative Action - The self described “progressive, national media watch group” known as Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting noted that there was a detectable level of “distortion” in the reporting of Kerry’s 1992 speech to Yale University supporting Affirmative Action. “In the case of Sen. Kerry's comments on affirmative action, however, the spin of some coverage approaches distortion. In his speech at Yale, Kerry did say that affirmative action should not be the overriding focus of a civil rights agenda, because workplace gains do not necessarily touch the lives of those most in need. But he also said, "I want to be clear here. I do support affirmative action, not rhetorically but really." The "negative side" of the policy was, for Kerry, the "perception" it engendered in many whites: He cited a poll by People for the American Way that indicated white people believe they are more discriminated against than minorities. Congress, Kerry said, has an obligation "to correct whatever false data or preconceptions have fed the belief that is evidenced in this poll." Affirmative action, Kerry said, has "made our country a better, fairer place to live," but public misunderstanding of the policy --which Kerry acknowledged has been "exaggerated and exploited by politicians eager to use it" --has created an "obstacle" to interracial communication. http://www.fair.org/extra/best-of-extra/new-candor.html>

http://www.politicsus.com/presidential%20press%20releases/Kerry/112503d.htm

[krkaufman]

27. Clark is the Clinton/DLC boy

> Clark is the Clinton/DLC boy

Huhwah? Almost got a hernia reading that one. Chuckle.

[incapsulated]

30. Didn't you hear?

Kerry is the real outsider.

Well, if that makes Clark the "insider", then I want out. I thought the Clintons and the DLC had some power, I guess I was all wrong.

[MidwestMomma]

31. Looks like the only power the Clintons & DLC have is to make a candidate

INVISIBLE!

Which is an awesome power for a superhero but not so good for a candidate. :shrug:

[in_cog_ni_to]

16. "missing in action"

That is one powerful statement and I must say, makes Kerry look very, very bad.

[girl gone mad]

21. He seems to support things..

when it is politically expedient to do so, then backs down when it is politically expedient to do so.

[incapsulated]

18. Guess what?

I believe Dr. Berry over Senator Kerry any day, on civil rights issues.

Or is she running for some position against Kerry, too?

[sandnsea]

20. Clinton politics

I don't care who she is. I know hardball politics when I see it. That speech has been gone over numerous times and totally debunked. Kerry is the outsider in this election. Kind of funny. The insiders are the outsiders and the outsiders are the insiders. Bush upside down world runs amok.

[incapsulated]

22. "Kerry is the outsider in this election"

In which dimension?

[sandnsea]

25. Yes

And it's looking like people won't see it until it's too late. He's never been a Washington insider partisan guy. Dean was doing well and Clinton didn't want him. He stuck in Clark. The anti-Clinton's went to Dean. Kerry is the one who always does exactly what he thinks and doesn't give a rat's ass about party politics or any of the rest of it. If you want change, he's the guy.

[incapsulated]

28. Excuse me, but

Clinton didn't get Clark into the race, the Draft Clark movement did.

And if being a lifer in the Senate makes you an outsider, then I must be on another planet, I'm so out of the loop.