In a 6-to-3 decision Thursday morning, the Supreme Court struck down the use of affirmative action in the admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The justices declared that the admissions programs relied too heavily on race alone and negatively impacted other races, specifically Asians.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts declared that race-based considerations violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, which ensures that laws are applied equally to every individual without any consideration of race.

In his opinion, Roberts recounted America’s history of struggling to overcome racial discrimination and the progress we have made. He referred to a previous splintered Supreme Court decision (Grutter v. Bollinger) by a liberal majority that permitted the consideration of race in college admission programs but only as “a plus.”

In other words, the use of race had to positively benefit an applicant. But the Supreme Court found that Harvard was using race negatively to the detriment of Asian applicants.

The Grutter decision also clearly stated the court’s opinion that “race-conscious admissions policies must be limited in time,” and that “the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary” and would eventually end.

In yesterday’s decision, the Supreme Court declared that the time to end race-based programs is now. Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”

The universities, of course, aren’t happy with yesterday’s ruling. They say it will set back their efforts to achieve diversity on campus. I’d be far more sympathetic to their cries of “diversity” if we saw any evidence that it also applied to diversity of thought and opinion among their faculty!

This decision also won’t sit well with the neo-Marxist critical race theory hustlers like Ibram X. Kendi. As you may recall, Kendi wrote, “The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.”

Kendi is a bad imitation of George Wallace, who infamously declared, “Segregation now. Segregation tomorrow. Segregation forever.”

We must reject the bigotry of the left and once again embrace the dream of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. That’s exactly what my good friend Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in his concurring opinion.

Thomas declared that the universities’ “rudderless, race-based preferences … fly in the face of our colorblind Constitution and our Nation’s equality ideal.” He concluded:

“While I am painfully aware of the social and economic ravages which have befallen my race and all who suffer discrimination, I hold out enduring hope that this country will live up to its principles so clearly enunciated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States: that all men are created equal, are equal citizens, and must be treated equally before the law.”

Our ideal must not be Kendi’s “Discrimination today, tomorrow and forever,” but a society where we are judged not on the color of our skin, but on the content of our character. A society where race is the least important characteristic, not the most important.

This case, once again, highlights the crucial impact of elections on our law and culture. If Hillary Clinton, not Donald Trump, had replaced Justices Scalia, Kennedy and Ginsberg, yesterday’s ruling would have been 6-to-3 in the opposite direction, with Justices Roberts, Thomas and Alito in the minority.

Defending Faith

The Supreme Court also ruled 9-to-0 in a case that strengthens protections for religious employees. In this case, Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian employed by the U.S. Postal Service, objected to working Sunday shifts.

In a previous decision, the court set a relatively low bar for employers to refuse to accommodate their religious employees if their requests created “more than a de minimis (minor) undue burden” on the business.

Groff’s attorneys asked the court to overturn the “de minimis burden” standard and require a more “significant difficulty or expense” standard. The justices clearly agreed, at least in Groff’s case, that the Post Office should have done more to accommodate his requests.

Our friends at First Liberty represented Mr. Groff before the Supreme Court. They hailed yesterday’s decisions as “a landmark victory, not only for Gerald, but for every American.”

The Big Guy & That Balloon

The Wall Street Journal reports that initial reviews of the downed Chinese spy balloon by intelligence experts have discovered that it was “crammed with commercially available U.S. gear.” It also had “more specialized Chinese sensors and other equipment to collect photos, video and other information to transmit to China.”

This raises two serious concerns.

First, this was clearly no “weather balloon.” So, why does Secretary of State Antony Blinken insist that this “chapter should be closed”? Why does Joe Biden insist it was all just a misunderstanding that was “more embarrassing than it was intentional”?

Second, lots of “serious people” have been aggressively arguing that it’s just too difficult for us to decouple from communist China economically. Well, Beijing is using our own technology to spy on us. It’s clear to me that remaining economically entangled with communist China is a national security nightmare!

You’ll recall that Blinken was sent to China recently with one goal — to reestablish military communications between Beijing and Washington. He failed.

Now, communist China is making it clear what its demands are for restored military talks: They want Biden to lift all of Donald Trump’s tariffs and sanctions.

Biden is already trying to appease the ayatollah by lifting sanctions on Iran. So, it’s only natural that Xi Jinping would expect the same. Sadly, it’s a safe bet that “The Big Guy” will come through for him given how compromised the Biden family is by their deep ties to communist China.

Catholic Dems Diss Dobbs

In yesterday’s report, I noted how more Democrats are now publicly embracing the pro-abortion position of abortion on demand during all nine months of pregnancy. Well, a letter signed by dozens of Catholic House Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, caught my attention.

They released this letter on the anniversary of the Dobbs decision and it ought to get them excommunicated from the Catholic Church. They claim the teachings of the Catholic Church require them to support abortion on demand. Of course, the truth is the exact opposite.

For example, they had the audacity to write, “Our faith unfailingly promotes the common good, prioritizes the dignity of every human being and highlights the need to provide a collective safety net to our most vulnerable.”

But then, they go on to dismiss the “dignity of every human being” in the womb that is made in the image of God and attempt to justify why they support the continued destruction of “our most vulnerable” citizens — preborn babies.

As an evangelical Christian, I have no theological standing in the Catholic Church. But I would hope that, after signing a shameful letter like this, all of these Democrats are kicked out of mass this Sunday!

They’re not only distorting the teachings of their church, they’re actually trying to use a church committed to the sanctity of life to justify their commitment to the culture of death.

Concerned About Biden

A new poll found that 68% of Americans have serious concerns about Joe Biden’s mental and physical health. They’re right to be concerned. His declining mental acuity has been on full display in recent days.

For example, on two different occasions this week Biden said, “Putin is losing the war in Iraq.” I know anyone who speaks a lot makes verbal mistakes from time to time. But Biden isn’t catching himself. He doesn’t seem to realize the mistakes!

Last month, Biden again falsely claimed that his son Beau died in Iraq. Is he trying to convince us that he’s a Gold Star father?

Many people this week noticed that Biden had odd marks on his face. The White House finally admitted that Biden uses a CPAP machine because he suffers from sleep apnea. Millions of Americans have sleep apnea, and it can be a serious medical condition.

One medical journal recently noted that individuals “with sleep apnea who spend less time in deep sleep are more likely to have brain health problems that could lead to dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or a stroke.”

Maybe that helps explain Biden’s increasingly frequent and troublesome episodes of “brain fog” and declining mental acuity.