TWO GOOD COMMENTS FROM BRITAIN:

Patrick West sums up "Affirmative Action":

"Two headlines in the Guardian this week: 'Met plan to fast track black recruits'; 'Gay police "need stronger backing"'. The first refers to plans by the Metropolitan Police to 'fast track' ethnic minority people into its training school, so as to help to achieve its goal of having 25 per cent of its officers from ethnic minorities by 2009. The second alludes to plans to achieve 'greater diversity' in the British police force by making it 'more gay'. The thinking here is that Britain's police must represent accurately the population it serves.

It is depressing that just as America is rescinding its affirmative action laws, we are taking them up. Cannot we learn why it has failed there rather than making the same mistakes all over again? Promoting people solely by the colour of their skin breeds resentment from those who are discriminated against. Those who are perceived to be appointed merely because of their race or sexuality are rarely respected. Ultimately, affirmative action 'sends out the message' that blacks and gays are mental infants who are incapable of making it on their own merit. This is nothing but old-fashioned racism and homophobia."


Patrick West on being "offended" at the truth:

"And then there were the remarks made by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey. Last month he merely reminded an audience that most Islamic countries were 'undemocratic and authoritarian' and that Islamic culture had achieved little since its golden age in the Middle Ages. There was predictable outrage from Muslim spokesmen, who said how 'saddened' they were by his remarks, accusing him of 'trampling on a sensitive area'....

Those who expressed disquiet at George Carey's comments failed to refute him, or even attempt a counter-argument. All we had was the predictable language of 'being offended'.

Carey ... is someone who has studied the Islamic and Arab world for decades. And what he said was sadly true. The problem is that sometimes the truth hurts."