Don't you worry your pretty little head Princess Sparkle Pony

I'd be praising Carol Iannone for her candor if it weren't for the fact that I'm staring at the shriveled black heart of conservatism:

We need to maintain the idea of merit so that students will have the abilities needed for the colleges they enter, and the curriculum will not need to be watered down and then supplemented by remediation and special advisers and so forth. But perhaps more important, such affirmative action conveys the impression that society is supposed to do something about the all the inequities of human existence, and that there is something deeply wrong with a society where inequities exist. Inequities are part of life, as every mother must know. The sooner young people learn to stop feeling entitled to redress, and the sooner they get to working hard with the gifts and opportunities they do have, the better.

I've had the misfortune of having to keep on top of the right's specious reasoning regarding affirmative action for the last few weeks. They're pretty smart about it, couching their arguments in rugged individualism, feigned concern for its effects on minorities, and "pragmatic" critiques. But deep down, they all feel like Carol: for some people, life sucks. Get over it, 'cause there's nothing you can fucking do about it, so don't even try.

It's hard to discuss the problems with affirmative action (I think we can all agree that it's not the end-all to solving our entrenched racial problems) with the right when, for them, the racial problem isn't a problem, it's just the way things are.

Yup, the world looks just like it's supposed to when you're living large on the wingnut welfare.