ANN ALTHOUSE ON ELIZABETH WARREN AND DIVERSITY HIRING:

But you see, in faculty hiring, the question isn’t whether this particular candidate is good enough. The question is why does this person with excellent credentials get selected from the pool of applicants who all have excellent credentials? Why did Warren move up the ranks of the law schools the way she did?

Her identification as a member of a minority group in the Association of American Law Schools directory would help. Why are the schools reticent about saying that they consider minority status a plus factor in hiring? Why aren’t they out-and-proud about diversity? Law schools have fought for the proposition that diversity is a compelling state interest, justifying racial discrimination. . . .

Is this reticence about the decency of affirmative action happening here because they want to help Warren in her Senate race? Is it because if she didn’t really have that factor going for her but the schools used it, then… well… who, really, is hurt? Who was the next person in that pool of applicants? No one knows. Look away.

Hey, but who else might be cheating, claiming minority status that’s not really true? Now, now, you’re not supposed to think about that. It’s quite unseemly, isn’t it? Impolite.

Whenever possible, impoliteness is substituted for argument. Best that some subjects just not be brought up at all. Plus, some related thoughts from John Rosenberg.

UPDATE: More from Orin Kerr and Brian Leiter.