A request for diversity

I've really been hesitant to wade into the political arena on this blog. You probably know where I stand on about 90% of the issues, and is this blog really fun when we write every week on how Obama is a communist/Bush is evil/Pelosi is an alien/Boehner is a baby-killer? To me, it gets old and tired quick - so I'll save the political posts for some really big events (like the Tea Party throwing out a sitting Republican senator in Utah) or as we get close to elections (wait for October's Nena's 99 Red Balloons for Democratic House Seats preview!)

Are you sure people don't want political talk? I thought last week you were informed that political talk is eminently preferable to NHL memories from the 1990s... -ed

This post, however, is a request to President Obama. As we know, there is another Supreme Court opening that needs to be filled....and I call on President Obama to use this chance to demonstrate his commitment to diversity.

What diversity am I talking about? I'm not talking racial, sexual, or age diversity. I'm talking educational diversity.

I read in one post (and dammit, I can't find the link) that the current Supreme Court justices are all educated from 1 of 3 Ivy league institutions - Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. (Note to self - find that link to confirm!)

It's time we recognize that excellence in professional fields do not come from elitist institutions. Back in the 20th century, the Ivy league institutions had the best and the brightest in the land. However, over the past 10-20 years or so, something has changed. I can't put my finger on exactly what has changed, but I don't think we necessarily need to look at a handful of colleges and determine "that's where our societal leadership comes from". I think it is very unhealthy.

Yes, I am a Republican, but I am also a populist at heart and I abhor elitism. And I think we can all agree that our political, societal, and financial leadership has failed us over the past 10-15 years. Bush was from Yale, Obama got his law degree from Harvard, the Wall Street mess was led mostly by Ivy League graduates (um, need link! -ed.) . It's starting to be clear that there is a detachment from the east-coast Ivy League schools and the rest of the nation.

I realize I am painting a broad brush here, but I really believe we are raising a generation of "leadership" candidates that has never held a real job in the private sector. Yes, I can easily point to Obama as a prime example, but I bet I can find many on the Republican side as well.

I think this nation used to send its brightest to Ivy League schools - because it was clear that the Ivy League schools were head and shoulders above the rest - and then the graduates would be dispersed throughout the land. Now? There are two things that changed with that statement.
- it's no longer true that the Ivy League schools are head and shoulders above the rest. There are plenty of state (and private) schools across the country that can give a comparable educational experience in many fields.
- It just seems (again, I don't have stats here) that the graduates don't "go forth and multiply" but remain concentrated in Academia or in certain regions of the country. And that's not healthly.

(I also can rant about the falling reputation of the Ivy League schools due to their insane liberal bias - the Larry Summers affair and the banishment of the ROTC at Harvard come to mind. But I won't go into that now).

I'm not that stupid to suggest that Obama should nominate a white male with a history of conservative rulings from the Univ of Mississippi law school (Chales Pickering?)

I do request, however, that Obama nominate someone that has no Ivy League ties to the Supreme Court. If it's a Asian-American from Washington State, a white female from Michigan, a black judge from Virginia - whatever. But I look to President Obama to help show that we have become more educationally-diverse in this country by nominating someone with an education from a respected law school outside the northeast - like the Univ of Michigan, Texas, or UCLA.

And if this ever comes to pass, the questioning will immediately focus to "how can this person be qualified? He/She didn't even go to an Ivy League school?" And I will be the first one to condemn that line of questioning, even if it comes from Republicans like Lugar, McConnell, or Grassley). That type of questioning is completely outdated, now that it is the year 2010.