Undernews For May 3, 2009

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3 June 2009

WORD

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. - Thomas Jeffferson

SHOP TALK

Your editor and his historian wife did a farewell interview with Kojo Nnambi on WAMU, DC's NPR station,about their decades in local Washington prior to their move to our New England regional headquarters in Freeport, Maine. Click to hear

PAGE ONE MUST

OBAMA SEEKS POWER TO HIDE WAR CRIMES

Glen Greenwald, Salon - It was one thing when President Obama reversed himself last month by announcing that he would appeal the Second Circuit's ruling that the Freedom of Information Act compelled disclosure of various photographs of detainee abuse sought by the ACLU. Agree or disagree with Obama's decision, at least the basic legal framework of transparency was being respected, since Obama's actions amounted to nothing more than a request that the Supreme Court review whether the mandates of FOIA actually required disclosure in this case. But now -- obviously anticipating that the Government is likely to lose in court again -- Obama wants Congress to change FOIA by retroactively narrowing its disclosure requirements, prevent a legal ruling by the courts, and vest himself with brand new secrecy powers under the law which, just as a factual matter, not even George Bush sought for himself.

The White House is actively supporting a new bill jointly sponsored by Sens. Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman -- called The Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act of 2009 -- that literally has no purpose other than to allow the government to suppress any "photograph taken between September 11, 2001 and January 22, 2009 relating to the treatment of individuals engaged, captured, or detained after September 11, 2001, by the Armed Forces of the United States in operations outside of the United States." As long as the Defense Secretary certifies -- with no review possible -- that disclosure would "endanger" American citizens or our troops, then the photographs can be suppressed even if FOIA requires disclosure. The certification lasts 3 years and can be renewed indefinitely. The Senate passed the bill as an amendment last week.

Just imagine if any other country did this. Imagine if a foreign government were accused of systematically torturing and otherwise brutally abusing detainees in its custody for years, and there was ample photographic evidence proving the extent and brutality of the abuse. Further imagine that the country's judiciary -- applying decades-old transparency laws -- ruled that the government was legally required to make that evidence public. But in response, that country's President demanded that those transparency laws be retroactively changed for no reason other than to explicitly empower him to keep the photographic evidence suppressed, and a compliant Congress then immediately passed a new law empowering the President to suppress that evidence. What kind of a country passes a law that has no purpose other than to empower its leader to suppress evidence of the torture it inflicted on people? Read the language of the bill; it doesn't even hide the fact that its only objective is to empower the President to conceal evidence of war crimes.

THE SAME SORT OF PEOPLE WHO CRASHED THE ECONOMY NOW RUN OUR SCHOOLS

Helen Zelon, City Limits - When Mayor Michael Bloomberg was elected, he vowed to improve the city's schools, initiating far-reaching overhauls that began with mayoral control: The demolition of the independent and often mayor-opposing Board of Education, the creation of a Department of Education, and the formation of the mayor-vetted Panel for Educational Policy. Critical to Bloomberg's vision was his appointment of Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, the former head of publishing giant Bertelsmann and U.S. Department of Justice antitrust attorney who sued Microsoft – and won.

Historically, educators lead departments of education. But of the 16 individuals on Klein's leadership team, only two are educators. In the Bloomberg era, lawyers and MBAs dominate. . . Others come from the political sphere. . .

Klein's nomination as chancellor required special state waivers, to permit him to assume the post without advanced academic credentials in education or experience in education leadership. "You can make the argument that the head of the schools should be an experienced pedagogue," Klein said at an education journalists' roundtable last fall. But fixing the schools posed "a massive management challenge," he said, and the mayor needed "to try outside strategies.". . .

It's not as though the city's public schools were perfect when teachers rose to the highest levels of leadership. School quality and safety varied wildly by neighborhood. Local political clubs controlled school boards. Bureaucracy was impenetrable to all but the most crafty or connected. Teachers were grossly underpaid; their professional growth was hobbled. And most critically, students were failing by the tens of thousands: dropping out, or being neglected by low-functioning schools. .

The wholesale restructuring in 2003 that eliminated the city's 32 districts, substituting 10 regions in their place, gutted existing structures for communication and professional development, say school leaders and education advocates. Reforms were needed, but went too far, spearheaded initially by consultants from McKinsey and later by Ron Beller, a former Goldman Sachs partner who was considered "their hit guy." . . .

CEOs and investment bankers allied forces with Klein, as did business titan Jack Welch and high-profile management consultants like Noel Tichy, who with Welch created the GE corporate training center that later served as a model for the NYC Leadership Academy for school principals. Sir Michael Barber, former advisor to Tony Blair, also joined the effort, as did activist philanthropists like Eli Broad and later, Bill Gates. More than a dozen private-sector business leaders participated in the Klein-Bloomberg reform efforts, in a kind of "patrician liberalism," according to United Federation of Teachers Vice President Leo Casey, citing a long American tradition "of elite reform from above" by individuals sincerely motivated to serve the greater good, but with little personal stake in the system, in the form of their own children in the public schools, for example. . .

The DOE's increasing focus on data management as an instructional tool, and as a tool to motivate and reward leadership, in the form of $25,000 bonuses for principals at the schools making the greatest gains on state standardized tests, means that teachers have become technicians, according to the founding principal of a highly regarded and high-performing elementary school in Manhattan. . .

The extent of the reforms, many say, is a direct reflection of the diminished role of educators in the upper echelons of the DOE. Consider the department's endorsement of unconventional educator-training programs, for example, which one veteran high school principal says shows "contempt for the profession." Teach for America and the city's Teaching Fellows program both recruit top grads and career-changers and thrust them into the classroom while earning their Masters degrees in education. Many of these unorthodox recruits end up teaching only briefly, studies show, before going on to other career options. "The idea that teaching is charity work, where young people parachute in for two or three years – what does that do for children?" the principal asked. . .

"They have no idea of the human relationships and of the community educators need," said the Manhattan principal. "That's not a business model. Business is about selling things, not about people.". . .

Klein recognized teachers as "welcome assets" to learning, but envisions an education world where students will "basically work it out on their own," and where, in two or three decades, schools will be "a hybrid model where there is a physical school, a place where they go and have clubs and sports activities and drama, but then, for their academic course work, they might take most of it online."

"He is so enraptured with accountability, Report Cards, and driving the test scores up that he's forgotten that the primal scene for all education reform is in the classroom," said Manhattan Institute senior fellow Sol Stern, who writes frequently on local education. "It matters what you do in a classroom. Teacher quality and a curriculum stressing strong content knowledge are the keys to raising achievement.". . .

"Bloomberg and Klein are geniuses at marketing their products," says Stern. "But then, so was Enron. If all these investment banks were cooking the books, it's becoming clearer to me that this is also happening in the education world."

"It is absolutely bizarre that the head of the DOE has no education background or experience," said State Assembly Member Rory Lancman of Queens. . . "No one would accept a police department head without a background in law enforcement. The Chancellorship should not be someone's first job in education."

THE BANKRUPT APPROACH TO GENERAL MOTORS

Robert Weissman, Counterpunch - The GM bankruptcy -- entirely avoidable -- seems designed to hurt every constituency it is supposed to assist. . .

There's no doubt that chronic mismanagement and the deep recession have left GM in dire straits. But with the government pouring tens of billions of dollars into the company, it is clear that needed restructuring could have been done outside of bankruptcy. By last week, even the problem of bondholders who sought $27 billion from the company (the government and GM were offering a 10 percent stake in the new company) was moving to resolution. Yet the Obama administration's auto task force has plunged GM into bankruptcy nonetheless. Why? There's no obvious answer to that question. . .

It matters because bankruptcy may further tarnish GM's already very weakened brand, and make recovery for the company much more difficult. It matters because it creates some unique problems. And it matters because it forecloses -- or, at least makes more difficult -- other ways to reorganize the company.

The GM/auto task force plan for bankruptcy and restructuring -- shaped by a secretive, unaccountable group of Wall Street expats without expertise in the industry -- seems designed above all to perpetuate GM as a corporate entity. Preserving corporate GM should be not an end, but a means to protecting workers and their communities, preserving the U.S. manufacturing base, forcing the industry onto an innovative and ecologically sustainable path, and advancing consumer interests. It fails to meet any of these objectives, in entirely avoidable ways.

GM probably needs to be downsized, but there are questions about the extent to which it should be downsized and the method. There are very significant questions about decisions being made to eliminate brands, close factories and terminate dealer relationships. The auto task force may well be needlessly costing tens or hundreds of thousands of jobs at auto plants and suppliers. It has authorized the closing of many hundreds of GM and Chrysler dealerships, even though these dealerships do not impose meaningful costs on the manufacturers. Dealership closings alone will result in more than 100,000 lost jobs.

While there is probably a need to reduce GM's capacity, there is no need to cut worker wages and benefits. Auto worker wages contribute less than 10 percent of the cost of a car, so even the most draconian cuts will do little to increase profits. Yet the Obama administration's auto task force helped push the United Auto Workers into further acceptance of a two-tier wage structure that will make new auto jobs paid just a notch above Home Depot jobs. This will drag down pay across the auto industry, with ripple effects throughout the entire manufacturing sector. . .

The ultimate evidence of the task force's disconnect from its public mission is its approval of GM plans to increase outsourcing production of cars for sale in the United States. GM has now disclosed its intent to begin production in China for sale in the United States. What is the possible rationale of permitting a company propped up with U.S. taxpayer funds to increase production overseas for sale in the U.S. market? The point of the bailout is not to make GM profitable at any cost, but to protect the communities that rely on the automaker, as well as U.S. manufacturing capacity.

Finally, if the Chrysler bankruptcy is a harbinger, the bankruptcy is likely to wipe out the legal claims of people injured by defective and dangerous GM cars.

ECONOMISTS FINALLY DISCOVERING ALTRUISM

Jeremy Mercer, Ode Magazine - The City of Yonkers, New York, wound up in a distressing predicament early this year. The municipal budget was running a deficit and the economic crisis was sorely aggravating the problem. Layoffs were needed and among the casualties were six firefighters, including, most regrettably, a young man who'd recently rescued several children from a burning apartment building. The job cuts were due to go into effect the first week of January.

But then something remarkable happened. The men and women of the Yonkers Fire Department offered to work days free for six months so the city could save money and their colleagues could save their jobs. The deal was approved by 75 percent of firefighters and the layoffs were avoided. "Everyone is aware of what is going on with the economy," explains Patrick Brady, president of the local firefighter's union. "We banded together and voted to save our brethren."

Amid the job losses, the home foreclosures and the bankruptcies of this crushing recession, these sorts of stories provide a rare glimmer of hope. Across the country and around the world, people are sharing jobs or accepting reduced wages in order to help their colleagues and prevent wider unemployment. . .

Indeed, this selflessness is heartening. But such altruism is also evidence that the standard economic theory our financial system has been built upon is hopelessly flawed. For the past 50 years, economic policy has been poisoned by the cynical premise that people are innately selfish and materialistic. This is what has been taught in economics classes; this is what has informed government decisions such as bank deregulation; and this is what has spawned the Wall Street culture of "greed is good."

Now the basic tenets of economics are being reconsidered. A growing body of experimental work by behavioral economists proves altruism not only exists but is one of our primary motivations, even in financial affairs. And if some progressive economists have their way, we may be on the cusp of a more humane era in which altruism, not avarice, becomes the trait our economic system nourishes. "It is increasingly obvious that people are motivated by morality; people are motivated by ethics," says Herbert Gintis, an emeritus professor at the University of Massachusetts and one of the leading economists studying altruism. . .

It was evolutionary biologists, with their penchant for field observation, who started to explore the question in an empirical manner. It began with Charles Darwin, who was amazed by the cooperation among bees; moved to William Hamilton, who studied altruism among rabbits; and went on to include Robert Trivers' work on sharing among vampire bats. Once altruism was established in the natural world, the same analytical eye inevitably turned toward the human sphere. . .

The reality is that for most of history, economists have preferred theory to experimentation. This changed when the field of behavioral economics began to take shape in the 1970s. The movement adopted insights from psychology along with the empirical methods used in other social sciences to bring a fuller picture of human motivation and decision-making to economics. . .

Much more. . .

ONE BILLION TO GO HUNGRY NEXT YEAR

Geoffrey Lean, The Independent - One billion people will go hungry around the globe next year for the first time in human history, as the international financial crisis deepens, the United Nations has told The Independent.

The shocking landmark will be passed - despite a second record worldwide harvest in a row - because people are becoming too destitute to buy the food that is produced.

Decades of progress in reducing hunger are being abruptly reversed, dealing a devastating blow to a pledge by world leaders eight years ago to cut it in half by 2015.

Rich countries have failed to provide promised money to boost agriculture in the Third World; the financial crisis is starving developing countries of credit and driving their people into greater poverty, and food aid to the starving is expected to begin drying up next month.

THE PANOBAMARAMA VIEW

Sam Smith - Obama says some good things. The problem is that he often follows up by contradicting, opposing or ignoring what he has said. Which is why he is escalating our war in the Mid East, favoring bankers and auto magnates over ordinary homeowners and workers, pushing a health insurance program only insurers will like and continuing the Bush war on civil liberties. And why he has done so little for those less powerful constituents to whom he promised and relied upon so much in the campaign.

As Obama wrote in Audacity of Hope. "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views. This panobamarama view constantly keeps shifting as nicely described by Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller:

Jake Tapper & Sunlen Miller, ABC - The other day we heard a comment from a White House aide that never would have been uttered during the primaries or general election campaign.

During a conference call in preparation for President Obama's trip to Cairo, Egypt, where he will address the Muslim world, deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Denis McDonough said "the President himself experienced Islam on three continents before he was able to -- or before he's been able to visit, really, the heart of the Islamic world -- you know, growing up in Indonesia, having a Muslim father -- obviously Muslim Americans (are) a key part of Illinois and Chicago."

Given widespread unease and prejudice against Muslims among Americans, especially in the wake of 9/11, the Obama campaign was perhaps understandably very sensitive during the primaries and general election to downplay the candidate's Muslim roots.

The candidate was even offended when referred to by his initials "BHO," because he considered the use of his middle name, "Hussein," an attempt to frighten voters.

With insane rumors suggesting he was some sort of Muslim Manchurian candidate, then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and his campaign did everything they could to emphasize his Christianity and de-emphasize the fact that his father, Barack Obama Sr., was born Muslim.

The candidate's comment at a Boca Raton, Florida, town hall meeting on May 22, 2008, was typical: "My father was basically agnostic, as far as I can tell, and I didn't know him," he said.

In September 2008, candidate Obama told a Pennsylvania crowd, "I know that I'm not your typical presidential candidate and I just want to be honest with you. I know that the temptation is to say, 'You know what? The guy hasn't been there that long in Washington. You know, he's got a funny name. You know, we're not sure about him.' And that's what the Republicans when they say this isn't about issues, it's about personalities, what they're really saying is, 'We're going to try to scare people about Barack. So we're going to say that, you know, maybe he's got Muslim connections.'...Just making stuff up."

Back then, the campaign's "Fight the Smears" website addressed the candidate's faith without mentioning his father's religion:

"Barack Obama is a committed Christian. He was sworn into the Senate on his family Bible. He has regularly attended church with his wife and daughters for years. But shameful, shadowy attackers have been lying about Barack's religion, claiming he is a Muslim instead of a committed Christian. When people fabricate stories about someone's faith to denigrate them politically, that's an attack on people of all faiths. Make sure everyone you know is aware of this deception."

The website also provided quotes from the Boston Globe and Newsweek mentioning his father's roots.

Since the election, however, with the threat of the rumors at least somewhat abated, the White House has been increasingly forthcoming about the president's roots. Especially when reaching out to the Muslim world.

In his April 6 address to the Turkish Parliament, President Obama referenced how many "Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim majority country. I know, because I am one of them."

130 CLERGY PUBLICLY SUPPORT GAY MARRIAGE IN DC

This raises a point we have noted from time to time, namely that since almost all opposition to gay marriage is based on religious principles, any laws supporting that view are essentially engaged in the unconstitutional act of establishing religion - favoring one group over, say, the 130 clergy in this case

Washington Blade - More than 130 clergy representing dozens of churches and at least two synagogues in the District of Columbia released a joint statement expressing support for legalizing same-sex marriage in the city.

"We declare that our faith calls us to affirm marriage equality for loving same-sex couples," says the statement, which the signers call a "Declaration of Religious Support for Marriage Equality."

The declaration was released during a news conference at Covenant Baptist Church, a mostly black congregation in Ward 8, a section of the city that same-sex marriage opponents say would vote against a same-sex marriage law should it be placed on the ballot in a referendum.

Nearly 50 of the signatories to the declaration attended the news conference, standing at the pulpit behind the church's husband and wife pastors, Revs. Dennis and Christine Wiley.

"The black church and the black community have been characterized by some as being united in opposition to same-sex marriage," Christine Wiley said in reading a joint statement with her husband.

"This could not be further from the truth," she said. "Black people are not monolithic. We are diverse just like all other human beings."

Dennis Wiley added, "And because Covenant Baptist Church is a beloved community with a long history of celebrating the richness of our diversity, we have gathered here today to reaffirm, in the immortal words of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., that 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'"

STATE BUDGET WOES TO GET WORSE

Wall Street Journal - State budgets look bad now, but they are set to get worse. The bulk of funds from the federal government's stimulus package will be allocated by 2011, but tax collections aren't likely to be enough to take their place -- even if the economy is recovering.

The drop in tax revenue is set to be deeper and last longer as collections have become more sensitive to business cycles in recent years. At the same time, states face growing health-care costs and the need to replenish pension programs funded by decimated investments. And some of the stimulus funds expand programs that will require state money to sustain them after the federal largesse runs out. . .

HOW EGYPTIANS FEEL ABOUT OBAMA

A new World Public Opinion poll finds Egyptians continue to view US foreign policy quite negatively and see President Obama as closely aligned with it. At the same time, Obama has much better ratings than Bush had, and there are signs of thawing feelings toward the US.

Asked how much confidence they have in Obama to do the right thing in international affairs, 39 percent say they have some or a lot of confidence--up sharply from the 8 percent who viewed George W. Bush positively in January 2008. Views of the United States government have also improved with favorable views rising to 46 percent from 27 percent in an August 2008 poll.

However, there has been little change in the views of US foreign policy. Sixty-seven percent say that the US plays a negative role in the world.

Large majorities continue to believe the US has goals to weaken and divide the Islamic world (76%) and control Middle East oil (80%). Eight in 10 say the US is seeking to impose American culture on Muslim countries (80%). Six in ten say it is not a goal of the US to create a Palestinian state. These numbers are virtually unchanged from 2008.

When asked about Obama's goals, Egyptians' views are almost exactly the same as their views of US goals. Sixty percent say they have little or no confidence that Obama will do the right thing in international affairs.

IMMIGRANTS REVITALIZE CITIES

Cristina Jimenez, DMI Blog - Between 2000 and 2006, Greater Philadelphia's immigrant population grew by 113,000, compromising nearly 9 percent of the total population. Immigrants are revitalizing Philadelphia by starting businesses in poor areas and contributing to the local economy as workers and consumers. According to the Brookings Institution, nearly 75 percent of greater Philadelphia's labor force growth since 2000 is attributable to immigrants.

Philadelphia is not an isolated case. Detroit is also benefiting from the positive impact and contributions of a growing immigrant population. Cleveland, a city that has lost half of its population, is now exploring ways to attract immigrants for revitalization.

As Anne O'Callaghan, founder of the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, says: "If immigrants come and do well, the whole city would flourish."

US RANKED 83RD MOST PEACEFUL COUNTRY

Washington Times - Americans pining for a peaceful existence might consider moving to New Zealand, the most peaceful nation on Earth, according to the 2009 Global Peace Index released by an Australian-based research group that counts former President Jimmy Carter, Ted Turner and the Dalai Lama among its endorsers.

The U.S. is 83rd on the roster, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace that rated the relative tranquility of 144 nations according to 23 indicators - including gun sales, the number of homicides, the size of the military, the potential for terrorism and the number of people in jail. ..

After New Zealand, the top 10 most peaceful nations are Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Austria, Sweden, Japan, Canada, Finland and Slovenia. In the bottom 10 are Zimbabwe, Russia, Pakistan, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Israel, Somalia, Afghanistan and, in last place, Iraq.

FEDERAL JUDGE RULES POLICE CAN TAKE DNA SAMPLES WITHOUT A WARRANT

CNET - In the first case of its type, a federal judge in California has ruled that police can forcibly take DNA samples, including drawing blood with a needle, from Americans who have been arrested but not convicted of a crime.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory Hollows ruled that a federal law allowing DNA samples upon arrest for a felony was constitutional and did not violate the Fourth Amendment's prohibition of "unreasonable searches and seizures."

Hollows, who was appointed by President George H.W. Bush, said the procedure was no more invasive or worrisome than fingerprinting or a photograph. "The court agrees that DNA sampling is analogous to taking fingerprints as part of the routine booking process upon arrest," he wrote, calling it "a law enforcement tool that is a technological progression from photographs and fingerprints."

ANOTHER LARRY SUMMERS' SWEETHEART DEAL

Mark Ames, Alternet - Last month, a little-known company where [Larry] Summers served on the board of directors received a $42 million investment from a group of investors, including three banks that Summers, Obama's effective "economy czar," has been doling out billions in bailout money to: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley. The banks invested into the small startup company, Revolution Money, right at the time when Summers was administering the "stress test" to these same banks.

A month after they invested in Summers' former company, all three banks came out of the stress test much better than anyone expected -- thanks to the fact that the banks themselves were allowed to help decide how bad their problems were (Citigroup "negotiated" down its financial hole from $35 billion to $5.5 billion.)

The fact that the banks invested in the company just a few months after Summers resigned suggests the appearance of corruption, because it suggests to other firms that if you hire Larry Summers onto your board, large banks will want to invest as a favor to a politically-connected director.

Last month, it was revealed that Summers, whom President Obama appointed to essentially run the economy from his perch in the National Economic Council, earned nearly $8 million in 2008 from Wall Street banks, some of which, like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, were now receiving tens of billions of taxpayer funds from the same Larry Summers. It turns out now that those two banks have continued paying into Summers-related businesses.

RECOVERED HISTORY

Paul Krassner, High Times - When Phil Spector was sentenced--19 years to life in prison--for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson, I had a flashback to 1971, at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse. I was a guest of John Lennon and Yoko Ono for the celebration of Yoko's show, This Is Not Here. The Videofreex, a countercultural video commune, was there to shoot a documentary titled You're Not Here, Yoko. . .

It was, in fact, Ringo's birthday, and I found myself sitting on the floor in a large room where a group of friends and associates sang "Happy Birthday" to him and then "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," with each individual singing a chorus. The Women's Liberation Movement was flourishing at the time, and I sang, "She's got the whole world in her hands…."

Later, I was about to enter another large room with John and Yoko. It was quite crowded. As I walked through the door, Phil Spector stood up at the far side of the room, pointed at me and shouted, "You killed Lenny Bruce!" I was stunned. Lenny and I had been close friends, and I was the editor of his autobiography, How to Talk Dirty and Influence People.

Rather than ratchet up the sour vibe that Spector had just created, I immediately turned around and left the room. John and Yoko ran after me, apologizing profusely for Spector's insane outburst. A couple of years later, at the A&M recording studio, he pointed a gun at Lennon, chasing him through the corridors.

SOTOMAYER'S FELLOW PRINCETON GRAD

James Ridgeway, Unsilent Generation - Sotomayor found her own way at Princeton, becoming involved in the campus Puerto Rican group, which helped file a 1974 complaint with the federal government based on the university's a "lack of commitment" to federally mandated minority recruitment goals. Twenty years after her graduation, she would say in a speech that while "it is not politics or its struggles that creates a Latino or Latina identity. . . Princeton and my life experiences since have taught me that having a Latina identity anchors me in this otherwise alien world." . . .

In November 2005, a few weeks after George W. Bush nominated Samuel Alito, documents emerged showing that in a 1985 application for a job in the Reagan Justice Department, Alito had listed under his "personal qualifications" the fact that he was "a member of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton University, a conservative alumni group." The New York Times reported at the time:

"The group had been founded in 1972, the year that Judge Alito graduated, by alumni upset that Princeton had recently begun admitting women. It published a magazine, Prospect, which persistently accused the administration of taking a permissive approach to student life, of promoting birth control and paying for abortions, and of diluting the explicitly Christian character of the school.

As Princeton admitted a growing number of minority students, Concerned Alumni charged repeatedly that the administration was lowering admission standards, undermining the university's distinctive traditions and admitting too few children of alumni….A pamphlet for parents suggested that "racial tensions" and loose oversight of campus social life were contributing to a spike in campus crime. A brochure for Princeton alumni warned, "The unannounced goal of the administration, now achieved, of a student population of approximately 40 percent women and minorities will largely vitiate the alumni body of the future."

Alito said that he did not recall being in CAP, and his supporters tried to characterize it as simply a "conservative" alumni group. But that the Concerned Alumni of Princeton was a racist and sexist organization was not even a debatable point. CAP's brand of "conservatism" is reflected in a piece in the group's magazine written by its co-chair, Shelby Cullom Davis, a notorious right-winger and one of Princeton's largest alumni donors:

EXCERPTS OF READER COMMENTS

CHU WANTS WORLD'S ROOFS PAINTED WHITE TO EASE CLIMATE CHANGE

Shiny metal roofs are better at reflecting sunlight than white paint. They are also more durable than many other roof materials, and you can collect precipitation that falls onto them, and save it in cisterns in dry climates. But many restrictions based on aesthetic prejudice prevent most people from making their homes and businesses more efficient dwelling machines.

SAVE SOME CASH WITH YOUR TRASH

I am a gardener at University of California, but we also empty trash cans and the lifting is injuring the workers, shoulders, back injuries, etc. Now, increase the weight by 8X and you'll need another method than the one person lift.

REPUBLICAN CAR DEALERS TARGETED IN CLOSURES

Sure, "some say" that Republican dealerships are being specially targeted, but others point out that there's been no actual comparison between (a) the dealerships that are being closed and (b) the dealerships that aren't being closed to see if there's a pattern. And those others have, you know, facts and logic on their side. Most car dealers, it turns out, donate heavily to Republicans, so it's not surprising that a list of closures would show, hey presto, a lot of people who've donated to Republicans. So far, this looks like just another poorly supported nonsense narrative cooked up for consumption on the right. - nash

I tend to like the explanation that says Detroit is trying to reduce the number of dealers so that they need not compete for our dollars - the survivors will be able to say "take it or leave it", or even charge a premium, the way dealers did with high-mileage cars during the '70s OPEC crisis. I'm not sure how well that strategy will work in the face of Toyota and Honda, but nobody ever said Detroit management had good sense. - Mairead

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