Asked about unfair attacks on Solicitor General Elena Kagan and her nomination for the Supreme Court, Ken Starr said “I think is not serving the Court well and therefore I don’t think it serves the country well.” Nevertheless, some have opted against engaging in an honest discussion of her qualifications and chosen instead to pursue smears and attacks that are frankly beneath the dignity of the Supreme Court.
Most prominently, a handful of Republican Senators and conservative commentators have attempted to portray Kagan as “anti-military” due to her opposition to “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” during her tenure as Dean of Harvard Law School, citing her continuation of Harvard’s non-discrimination policy that required employers using the recruiting services provided by the Office of Career Services to agree not to discriminate based on sexual orientation or other criteria. Of course Kagan’s opposition to the policy was in no way anti-military — just as opposition today from figures such as General Colin Powell or Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen is rooted in admiration for all those who serve, so too was Kagan’s. Indeed, Brigadier General Patrick Finnegan, dean of the academic board at West Point, described such characterizations of Kagan as “ludicrous.”
A common claim from these critics is that the military was “banned” from the campus altogether during Kagan’s tenure as Dean – in fact, not only was the military allowed to continue to recruit in classrooms on campus and through the Harvard Law Students Veterans Association, a review of the recruitment figures has shown that recruitment kept completely on pace with previous years during Kagan’s time. Even more absurdly, some have claimed that Kagan’s upholding of Harvard’s nondiscrimination policy somehow violated the law – in fact, there has never been a law requiring that campuses allow military recruiters, only that the government was empowered to deny federal funds if military recruiters were not given access, so this claim is preposterous on its face. As the New York Times reported, “Her management of the recruiting dispute shows her to have been, above all, a pragmatist, asserting her principles but all the while following the law.”
But again, these false talking points obscure the broader truth that throughout her career Kagan has been known for her admiration and support of those who serve our country. This view has been echoed by those who have met her even briefly, such as Republican Senator Scott Brown, as well as those who have known her for years such conservative Harvard Professor Robert C. Clark. See for yourself:
Fonte: White House