Political Quotes

“Madam President, there has been some suggestion in the course of the discussion of Elena Kagan's nomination that her decision to bar the military from access to Harvard's recruiting office was a principled one and had no impact on the lives of Harvard law students in the military. I think that is not a fair way to describe it. Her decision relegated the military to second-class status at Harvard Law School. Military recruiters were, as she indicated in one statement, ``alienating'' to some students and were not welcome, and students who made public their interest in the military service otherwise might be ostracized in that climate. But she wanted the student veterans to quietly help the classmates who might be interested in military service to overcome the obstacles there. Well, let me just say it this way: Ms. Kagan protested against don't ask, don't tell in reality by obstructing the mission of the junior military officers who had at that point in their career been assigned the duty of recruitment at law schools around the country, recruiting JAG officers for the military. But these junior officers had no control whatsoever over this law. We often refer to it as a military policy, but it is not a policy, it is law passed by the Congress of the United States. So her effort to make a political point at the expense of the U.S.…”