tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3098264341625381422.post5370524776581490054..comments2024-03-18T17:01:07.165-07:00Comments on The Provocateur: McCain's Sudden Reversal on Affirmative Actionmike volpehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02999118519606254362noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3098264341625381422.post-56874436565957760462008-07-29T09:06:00.000-07:002008-07-29T09:06:00.000-07:00He was qualified. That's your story. He is now 32 ...He was qualified. That's your story. He is now 32 years old. This all happened up to eight years ago. That would have made him 25 at the time. How many twenty five year olds get such a high profile gig at such an important newspaper? I am sure that Raines open admission that he was looking for "diversity in the newsroom" at exactly the same time that Blair was given far more responsibility than anyone else with his experience was merely a coincidence. I am further sure that his minority race was nothing more than a coincidence in him receiving far more responsibility than anyone his age. <BR/><BR/>Qualified reporters don't need to plagiarize. Your statement is absurd on its face. He may very well have had personal issues. That is another matter entirely. If he was up to the job, he wouldn't have stolen stories at will.mike volpehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02999118519606254362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3098264341625381422.post-79909790144529898192008-07-29T08:57:00.000-07:002008-07-29T08:57:00.000-07:00Using Jayson Blair as a club to beat affirmative a...Using Jayson Blair as a club to beat affirmative action is the easy way out. Jayson and a great many other young reporters at The Times were pushed up the ranks because of Howell Raines' need for bodies to make his "flood the zone" theory of journalism work. Jayson's and The Times' problem was that both he and his superiors failed to recognize that he was mentally ill with manic-depression, now often called bi-polar disorder. <BR/><BR/>I know Jayson very well and worked with him on a number of stories as a source. He was a very talented reporter. It is a mistake to say that he was promoted above his qualifications and a mistake to say that the reason he was promoted was race. He was not unqualified professionally. He was just nuts.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3098264341625381422.post-45417878181618473142008-07-29T06:40:00.000-07:002008-07-29T06:40:00.000-07:00Actually, Senator McCain did not have a reversal o...Actually, Senator McCain did not have a reversal on affirmative action. He has always opposed affirmative action. In 1998, he expressed reservations about using a referendum to address the issue. But he has always opposed quotas. Saying that he reversed his position, or "flip-flopped", is a stretch and misrepresents Sen. McCain's views.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com