Yes there is definitely room for discussion on what the best approach should be. Unfortunately the author of the memo comes across as trying to push a specific agenda (multiple paragraphs condescendingly railing against "leftist ideology", for example) and misses the opportunity to actually discuss the merits of Google's hiring programs.

Maybe. I personally didn't feel like it had a condescending tone. There is toxic culture on all sides which is probably what he was referring to (only on the left in his document since his audience was left-leaning) - rather the more reasonable ideas (which are often drowned out). It probably would have been better if he was a bit more careful, but given the amount of content in the document, it is difficult to walk the line of not offending anyone. I think he did a pretty decent job and hopefully lots of productive discussions will have their genesis with his memo and the stir it caused. There sure are a lot of people that think very differently about things :-)