Family lore makes us who we are. In my case, the story of my mother’s Uncle Jim was defining. She grew up an immigrant’s daughter in the Irish-American enclave on Chicago’s South Side. You could walk down the street, she told me, and hear Irish rebel songs being sung in taverns. It was the music of the Rising — that Easter Monday in 1916 when Irish rebels took over the Dublin post office, prompting the British to shell the center city, sparking the war that won Irish independence.
My mother heard its music personally because she was told that her father’s left-behind kid brother, Jim Morrissey, was one of the Rising’s martyred heroes. By my time, Uncle Jim was enshrined in family memory. My mother bounced me on her knee to the Irving Berlin tune about an out-of-line soldier, “They Were All Out of Step but Jim.” Because I shared his name, his maverick aura extended to me as I grew up. My inbred subservience competed with an impulse to transgress, as Jim did. I was primed for the revolutions of the 1960s.
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Everything Carroll says may be true about family lore, but that does not change the fact that Elizabeth Warren falsely claimed to be a minority. That is where romantic notions of family history cross the line with moral conduct. Claiming to be something you are not is not justified by her claims of lore. Did she seek to benefit from it? Only she knows the answer, but a reasonable person could conclude that she did. After all, once attaining her position at Harvard, she stopped pretending to be an Indian.
She had repeatedly said that she hoped to meet other Native Americans who were teaching law. That was her goal. There is absolutely no evidene that she indicated that she was a Native America in the AALS DIrectory of Law Teachers for any other purpose. Since she believes that she is of Native American Heritage, why wouldn't she indicate that in the information for the Directory?
Family lore shapes character and integrity is what you do when no one is watching. So did she check the box to meet peole of the same family "lore" and why not allow Harvard to release her employment records? let's see exactly how character was built.
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I hold Mr. Carroll in such low regard I almost missed this misguided missive. Who could guess his misleading title precluded a sly, sleazy political promotion? If his character could be reinforced with some intellectual honesty he would not have written this ugly piece. It is a political promotion of a woman who used race to gain advantage at the expense of a deserving minority person. She knew affirmative action's real intent and stole a position from a real person of color. Again, his lifetime of socialist dedication to lost causes rears its ugly head. Jimmy's political dedication to liberal, socialist causes led him to reject Catholicism, but he chose to cling to its skirts as he continued to call himself "Catholic". His delusions know no bounds. Ms Warren's lack of character cannot be justified with his ugly little story
I've got to take issue with your post here Profox. Carroll's article is a thoughtful comparison of his story and Liz Warren's. He was inspired to challenge authority based on family lore. Warren, says Carroll, too was inspired by family history, in her case to be on the side of the underdog. Just like with Carroll, identification causes action.
Profox, your tone is pretty rough and I don't see what Carroll has done to deserve it. You characterize Carroll and/or his article as: "low regard", "sly", "sleazy",intelectually dishonest (implied), "ugly", "ugly" (second time), ugly (third time). Reread the article, it was actually pretty gentle and wasn't attacking anybody. Where is all your bile coming from?
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At last, at last, at last. This is one of the very few humane, sensitive and nuanced essays I've seen on this "issue." I know that politics in this country has had its vicious side since the days of Adams and Jefferson but even they eventually reconciled and the thoughtful exchange of letters between them in the last years of their lives show them both to be, not perfect, but still great men. Is it too much to ask to have intelligent, articulate leaders? The Karl Rove school of politics teaches that relentless distortion is the essence of political life. Fox "News" is his megaphone. Some of the red faced crew that are regulars here may eventually be embarrassed by their rigid, party line antics. They are hard to take. One or two of them work for the Massachusetts Republican State Committee., I suspect. That is not to say that I've always agreed with Mr. Carroll's take on things. But if he comes to change or refine a point of view over time, at least he will not have to be embarrassed.
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NahantJim - so the logical conclusion is that if you simply need to 'feel it' to be it ( an never even have attempted to join the Native American community, even the on campus group at Harvard) ... then affirmative action is impossible, everyone has some claim. You agree?
I don't understand these vicious attackes on Warren's ancestry and can only include two things: people are racist and Scott Brown really has nothing to offer since he can't seem to talk about anything else. An empty suit.
The comments in response to Carroll's well written piece are typical of the knee jerk, hate filled, scorched-earth, Newt Gingrich-Karl Rove style, bomb throwing attacks that the Far Right Republicans, Tea Party and Know Nothings make when they comment here. They will never respond to questions concerning Scott Brown's character, such as why he finds it OK to shield his sexual abuse perpetrator from public scrutiny? Just as no one has stepped forward to complain that Warren received favored treatment, so too, no one has stepped forward and said, oh ya, that guy abused me too. Guess once he got through with Scott, he was cured of his pedophilia. Right! And, don't think that I am the only one asking the question. Call up Howie Carr today or check his past comments on your search engines.
And in case you haven't checked out Brown's ideas and accomplishment's on JOBS, go to his web site and take a good look at his record. My favorite is that he has hosted job fairs in Roxbury and Worcester. That is very nice, but how does that actually create the jobs that are offered?
just on example, he voted NO against transportation infrastructure project because it would be funded by a 0.7% surtax on income OVER $1 million.
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So you feel that protecting the pedophile and therefore exposing other peoples kids and grandkids is OK. Nice value system you've got.
So, JC, your mother lived in a Chicago Irish enclave. Elizabeth Warren lived no where near a Cherokee "enclave". Judging by her age, any indian heritage was not a bragging point in her Oklahoma social circles, you know, the hammered middle class neighborhoods.. In fact, in Elizabeth's youth, alcohol was served in clubs, you had to be a member and indians were not invited to join. The alcohol restriction was harbored in religous Baptist terms, but once living there a while folks would admit the clubs were designed to keep the indians out. Fast forward a few years, and indians were now Native Americans (PC term), clubs were rightfully liberated, Native Americans can eat and drink anywhere in Oklahoma. Elizabeth's mother no doubt told her about some purported heritage, but likely told her not to mention it to anyone outside the home. It became an asset, an advantage, only years later when Harvard needed her for two purposes, woman and minority.
Ms. Warren did not have any proof of Indian ancestry while growing up, and she still doesn't have any proof. Heresay, is heresay, no matter where you live in this world.
In case you are unaware, heresay doesn't mean it's not true. Just means that there is no official proof of a fact.
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James: You wrote a good column, but your column misses the point. "Character is what you do when no one is looking." When anyone derives a benefit belonging to someone else because they "checked a box," that's the real point. I don't know if this happened in Ms. Warren's case, but she should put the subject to rest by releasing the records. I was a recruiter from 1968 to 1991. If the right box was checked, it was an automatic interview and in some cases an automatic new hire. dougkinan@yahoo.com
We are talking about Elizabeth being hired as a professor. A resume is submitted for this type job --not an application. And in Elizabeth's case, she was RECRUITED because of her excellent credentials. There was no box checked to get her an interview. That is Brown's twisted version of the truth.
Lots of us have Indian blood. You don't see the rest of us checking the box and taking opportunity away from those it was intended for! You can't legally claim to be a minority when you are 31/32 white, at most!! It is not legal! Democrats, of all people, should understand Liz's lie here and, more importantly, Democrats of all people should understand her sins here!! You can sugarcoat this all day, the simple fact is Liz has DISQUALIFIED herself! And Democrats should be the first people explaining why!!!
Yes, and you can't have it both ways. Either "We are who we want to be / feel like" is NOT true and this sham defense of Warren is false, or it IS true and affirmative action / diversity are policies that are impossible to implement fairly.
It seems like pretty dumb politics to criticize Warren's native American connections, however remote. A lot of us have such distant connections, as Jim says. Why take the risk of offending Native Americans; they vote too!
Heck, if you look in the Book of Mormon, you'll even find that native Americans were purported to be the Lost Tribes of Israel!!
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Sure, but Warren and her family consistently identified as WHITE in death certificates, newspaper articles, her law school applications on and on UNTIL she was 38 and a 'trailing spouse' trying to follow her husband into an Ivy League professorship! EEOC and Harvard require identifying as the minority via association as well, Warren nor her family ever joined Native Americans communities, even when Warren simply needed to take a few steps across the Harvard Campus!
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Liberal fictional pornography. You not only have to ignore the facts, but even the subset of facts that the Boston Globe felt obliged to print in order to write this.
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Excellent piece, Mr. Carroll. A what a bunch of brutally-honest-at-all-times, never-say-anything-that-is-not-precise-and-exact, and never-say-anything-that-has-not-been-completely-researched-and-verified, always-keep-things-in-perspective commenters we have here. I'm very impressed -- this would give Jesus himself something to strive for...
Just think how different this campaign would be if Professor Warren had said at the outset, "Oops, I may I have been mistaken. I believed my family lore to be the truth, and said I was part Native American in good faith. But now I see that there is no concrete proof for this claim, and I apologize for misrepresenting the facts." But instead, Professor Warren has dug in her heels and stubbornly stuck to the story as if were true. This will probably cost her the election. As we have often seen in the past, the cover-up is always worse than the crime.
I prefer to think about how different this campaign would be if Scott Brown had chosen to run on his accomplishments rather than this inane personal attack.
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Excellent point.
I thought that readers on this Site might like to know that MetroWest called Scott Brown out. Editorial: Scott Brown’s character assault - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinions/editorials/x21086401/Editorial-Scott-Brown-s-character-assault?zc_p=1
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Integrity is moral character. Prof. Pocahontas doesn't understand the concept. She never lived on a reservation, she does not claim any direct tribal affiliation, or involvement in tribal affairs, she is not on any tribal roll recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, she does not claim 1/4-1/2 native-american blood, yet she checked off Native-American on a survey, not once but numerous times. The issue isn't character, it's her integrity.
I'm not necessarily a Warren supporter, but if you think you are of Native American descent, why wouldn't you say you are when asked? And I think it would be more problematic if she just checked it off once rather than consistently.
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I have long believed that the ability to apply neutral principles regardless of one's own personal opinion is the hallmark of a mature intellect. James (all-these-years-writing-and-not-one-memorable-sentence) Carroll likes Professor Warren. So it follows, as the night the day, that, with respect to her, Carroll is prepared to defend the indefensible. Does anyone think for a nanosecond that if Senator Brown, rather than the $350,00-a-yea- for-teaching-one-course Harvard Professor, had been caught box-checking, Carroll would be mounting this defense? No wonder the country is turning to the right.