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When a liberal democrat in Massachusetts looses the support of black ministers there is a problem. A big one. Big as in "Houston, we have a problem." big.
Elizabeth Warren has that problem. But, is that her biggest problem? Maybe not. Let's say she wins the election and is sworn in as a United States Senator. A year later, some young aggressive federal prosecutor decides to make an effort to slow down the abuse of affirmative action scams and prosecute those making false claims to gain unlawful advantage. After all, for every incident there is a victim who did not gain the advantages intended by affirmative action policies and laws.
Those crimes generally occur when a perpetrator finds an organization that is willing to bend a few rules or turn a blind eye. Wink, wink, nod, nod. And, by bending those rules, those organizations gain additional funding, or rankings, or compliance levels as well. These entities make EEOC filings for this very reason. And, I am sure there are consequences to filing false information.
And generally, prosecutors don't go looking for these problems within liberal bastions like Ivy League Law Schools. But if they did, could she get caught up in it? There sure has been enough publicity about it to make it hard to ignore. Maybe a quick peek behind the Ivy is warranted.
The Globe reports:
“It is within bounds to raise the question of whether or not a white woman used the minority card for her professional advantage,” said [Rev. Eugene F.] Rivers.“Ancestry is not the issue,” Rivers added, saying that Warren’s handling of the controversy raises questions beyond her heritage. “Did you tell the truth? Because you marketed yourself as the good-guy, straight-shooting-populist, representing-poor-people candidate.”
“Affirmative action — that issue becomes important because it points to who you are,” added the Rev. Jeffrey Brown, executive director of the TenPoint Coalition, who pointed to an assertion that she is 1/32 Cherokee. “I’m thinking to myself, if I was 1/32 white, or of European descent, would I be able to put on an application that I was white? And if you look at a picture of me, you see what I’m talking about. The question is not a trivial one, or one that can just be dismissed as a Republican tactic. And I say this as someone who campaigned for Martha Coakley and I’m independent in terms of my political status.”
The controversy also gains steam because it involves Harvard — an elite institution that represents the intellectual capital of the country and, to conservatives, the center of liberal idealism.
“Harvard as an institution, as part of Massachusetts’ self-image, is colossal,” said [Republican analyst Todd] Domke. “Whether people want to joke about it, criticize it, or exalt it, it’s still bigger than this Senate race in terms of the whole reputation of the state. It won’t go away because of that — because people feel there’s something a little scandalous about Harvard claiming diversity with a woman who is, according to her family lore, 31/32 Caucasian.”
Possibly the worst thing that could happen to Elizabeth Warren would be winning the election.
