Supreme Court Affirmative Action Ruling: California Politicans Lose Touch with Reality

Among the weirdest reactions to the Supreme Court’s June 29 decisions on affirmative action, those megaphoned by California’s political class may be the most unhinged.

Here’s the reality: California voters banned race-based admissions in 1996. But in the decades since, progressives have crafted multiple paths around that prohibition. The result is a uniquely evolved system, a steam-blowing, clanging, banging Rube Goldberg contraption of progressive-media activism, unsupervised agency rulemaking, and political grandstanding fueled by money and rage.

About the Author

Will Swaim

Will Swaim is the CEO of the California Policy Center and, with David L. Bahnsen, a co-host of National Review’s Radio Free California podcast.

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Among the weirdest reactions to the Supreme Court’s June 29 decisions on affirmative action, those megaphoned by California’s political class may be the most unhinged.

Here’s the reality: California voters banned race-based admissions in 1996. But in the decades since, progressives have crafted multiple paths around that prohibition. The result is a uniquely evolved system, a steam-blowing, clanging, banging Rube Goldberg contraption of progressive-media activism, unsupervised agency rulemaking, and political grandstanding fueled by money and rage.