Justice Clarence Thomas

I frequently create posts a day or a few days ahead of their posting.

This post was created on Sunday, September 30th, after having watched the CBS show "60 Minutes."

I was in the process of searching for a pm NFL game but, after having found nothing, ended up on my "local" channels. Quite frankly, I haven't watched standard TV channels in over 16 years. That is to say: CBS, ABC, NBC. The other networks are even less scintillating.

I came across Steve Kroft's interview of Justice Clarence Thomas.

Quite frankly, I was riveted.

Which is precisely why it will NOT be featured on Liberal blogs. I hope to ameliorate that fact.

He is often dismissed as a man of little accomplishment, an opportunistic black conservative who sold out his race, joined the Republican Party and was ultimately rewarded with an affirmative action appointment to the nation's highest court, a sullen, intellectual lightweight so insecure he rarely opens his mouth in oral arguments. The problem with the characterization is that it's unfair and untrue.

The truth is actually spoken and, further, written.

My job is to write opinions. I decide cases and write opinions. It is not to respond to idiocy and critics who make statements that are unfounded," Thomas says. "That doesn't mean that people shouldn't have constructive criticisms, but it should be constructive. Whether or not I'm black or not, that's just silliness. That is not worth responding to."

Thomas clearly does not trot out the political line or theory extant from the far Left Wing. And for that he is hated. HATED.

Kroft asked: some say you're a sell-out and that you couldn't care less about blacks Do you care?

Oh, obviously I do," Thomas says. "Come on, you know? But it's none of their business. How much does Justice Scalia care about Italians? Did you ask him that? Did anyone ever ask him? Give me a break. Do I help people? Absolutely. Do I help, love helping black people? Absolutely. And I do. But do I like helping all people? Yes. In particular I like helping people who are disadvantaged, people who don’t come from the best circumstances. Do white people live in homeless shelters? Do Hispanics live in homeless shelters? Is disadvantaged exclusive province of blacks? No."

And that's the point.

Thomas says the court may be closely divided on important ideological issues, but that he has never heard an uncivil word spoken in his 16 years there. He is reportedly one of the most popular people in the entire building, well-liked by everyone including his colleagues. Still only 59 years old, he is on track to become one of the longest serving Supreme Court justices in history. With every decision he makes and every opinion he writes, he thinks about his grandfather, Myers Anderson.

And then further:

He has expressed his legal views in more than 300 written opinions, which is about average given his tenure, but he rarely opens his mouth during oral arguments.

"The perception is, the critics will say it's because you're not smart enough or you're too insecure or you're afraid to make a fool out of yourself," Kroft says.

"Well, they make fools out of themselves with those kinds of comments," Thomas says. "Justice Marshall rarely asked questions. Justice Powell rarely asked questions. That’s a personal preference. I certainly wouldn’t do it to provide histrionics for the media gallery or for other people or for critics. Critics will always be critics."

Justice Thomas has impressed me here and now. This was a stellar interview. Thomas is a man who abhorred quotas, rallied against quotas. He is based in logic, common sense, training, education, experience. He believes that all people should achieve their goals by merit rather than by melanin. Which is why every faction on the Left wants him removed.

I got the impression that Kroft was expecting to encounter a Justice Thomas that conformed to the statements of his detractors; a "yes" man, a sycophant. What he got instead was a man who expressed his feelings, looked Kroft directly in the eye, answered each and every question completely. In short, Kroft found that Thomas is clearly a man to be respected for his achievements and is no "boy" or "trembling toady" for the Poverty Pimps, the Sharptons, the Jacksons, the Excusionists, the Victim Party, the Left or, as he made abundantly clear, overeducated white Liberals (one final reason that no one will remotely touch, except for me, in terms of blacks and The Left hating Thomas: his wife, Kate, is white). It is very easy to understand now why Thomas was and is attacked and, despite that, continues to excel, strive and thrive. Justice Clarence Thomas is one very smart, class act.

BZ