"It offends me that the court failed to exert any kind of leadership with this decision."

Says William, in the comments in the previous post, apparently forgetting that whole notion of leading from behind.

The underlying issues are clear as a bell. By kicking the case back to the lower court for another look, the court simply deferred its ultimate responsibility.

But affirmative action is all in the timing. The Court manufactured delay the first time the issue came around. Then it did Bakke, giving schools a clue on how to move forward. (Say "diversity," and be like Harvard.) Then it let things ferment for 25 years, at which point, it said:

It has been 25 years since Justice Powell first approved the use of race to further an interest in student body diversity in the context of public higher education. Since that time, the number of minority applicants with high grades and test scores has indeed increased... We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today.

Even if 25 years had already passed — it's only been 10 — the argument would be for an extension.

Like a schoolmarm, William insists "The underlying issues are clear as a bell."

That paper was due 40 years ago.

I'd say the answer is crushingly clear: We need more time.