Here's what I thought you'd like to hear about today:

Three topics:

1. Rest in Peace, Jeanne Kirkpatrick
2. Still Fighting over Racial Discrimination - The Supremes Take Apart an Attorney
3. The Word from On High - but it's bipartisan!

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Rest in Peace, Jeanne Kirkpatrick

This morning brought news that Jeanne Kirkpatrick has passed away. She is eulogized in the New York Times:

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, the Reagan administration's first United Nations ambassador and a strong beacon of neoconservative thought who helped chart the course of American military, diplomatic and covert actions from 1981 to 1985, died Thursday. She was 80. Her death was announced today by the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, where she was a senior fellow.

I'm going to play a clip of a speech she gave in 1983 at the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs. It shows her sense of humor, and the deadly seriousness that she brought to her position as ambassador to the UN, and her focus on the dangers of our enemy at the time, the Soviet Union.

Play clip of Jeanne Kirkpatrick.

Did you notice her dig of the Soviet Union seeing "classes, not individuals"? That was one of the fatal flaws in the Soviet system. People had no power to better their lot, they were condemned to whatever their class could accomplish. This eliminated the motivation for achievement, and led to the downfall of the system. Thank heavens we don't have that problem in the U.S. today. Or do we. The next segment shows we may have more work to do.

Still Fighting over Racial Discrimination

I listened to the oral arguments of the Supreme Court this week in the school integration case, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District. This case was the result of a parents group suing the school district of Seattle to stop a policy of refusing to allow children to attend their preferred high school based on the district's preference to keep their chosen racial balance in each school. Approximately 200 white students were denied their choice, and 100 black students denied their's every year as a casualty of district's attempt to achieve a black-white "balance".

I'm going to play two clips of the supreme court oral argument. The first is when Justice Kennedy asks a key question: does the admirable goal of balance justify the means of individual discrimination. It's the same class vs. the individual that Kirkpatrick was decrying in 1983, 23 years ago. Thanks to the C-SPAN podcast for the audio. This clip starts off with the Solicitor General Clement, who joined the case on behalf of the U.S. Government on the side of the parents, discussing means vs. ends with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Kennedy quickly joins in.

Play clip of Supreme Court 1.

Later on Mr. Madden, the attorney for the school district, faces questions from Justice Scalia. I can imagine that he did not expect this line of questioning. This is a longer clip, but it shows that if the key swing vote, Kennedy, is not on your side, you're in trouble. But first, listen to Scalia's example. It's wonderful. No classists he.

Play clip of Supreme Court 1.

I think he's in trouble here. Kennedy's question about "Characterizing each student by the color of his or her skin, that should be a matter of last resort" kind of shows that the Supreme Court is not going to allow this method of integration to proceed.

The Word from On High - but it's bipartisan!

The Iraq Study Group report is out, and it has been attacked for its conclusions, its composition, and its inputs. Sounds pretty much like it's dead on arrival. From the news conference, two key questions from reporters show just how tough it is going to be for the 79 recommendations to get anywhere at all. This clip is from the press conference where Baker and Hamilton displayed their proud baby to the media. Thanks to C-SPAN for the video.

Play clip of ISG Press Conference

That's got to hurt. But from the rest of the media, there has been a non-stop celebration of how wonderfully everyone got along. Listen to this clip, pointed to by the Media Blog on National Review Online. This is Tim Russet appearing on Scarborogh Country on MSNBC. Listen for nice non-judgmental words like "passionate, how bold they are, and how bleak the assessment is" and "exhilarating experience, a demonstration of genuine bipartisanship that they hope will serve as an example to the broader political world". How do you really feel, Tim?

Play clip of Tim Russert

Few. Get a room, guys. For a more sober and frankly realistic assessment of the so-called "realist" study group, no one beats Mark Steyn on the O'Reilly Factor last night. Thanks to Hot Air for the video. He's on a roll here, and Bill stays out of his way. The clip starts with Steyn's take down of NBC's Bill Gregory for preening for the camera, and moves to the ISG's "Chat & Run" strategy.

Play clip of Mark Steyn

That's it for now, podcatchers. I'm Charlie Quidnunc signing off from beautiful downtown Seattle, WA.