I have been a long critic of many of Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinions which often reject basic individual rights while embracing police and national security powers. However, I believe that Thomas is often treated unfairly for being a black conservative on the Court. While others like Justices Alito, Scalia, and Roberts routinely vote along the same lines, Thomas’ race is commonly cited in commentary while that is not a factor in the other justices on the right of the Court. This unfairness was vividly shown by the comments of Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) that Thomas is an “Uncle Tom” and suggested that he was not an authenticate black person. He has refused to retract or apologize of the attack. In the meantime, Democrats are uniformly silent in the face of this uncivil and outrageous attack.
In an interview with CNN, Thompson said that Thomas apparently “doesn’t like black people, he doesn’t like being black.” After raising votes in areas like voting rights, he added that “All those issues are very important and for someone in the court who’s African American and not sensitive to that is a real problem.”
Let’s be clear, I did not view Thomas as someone who was well-suited for the Court. However, many of these justices and their predecessors were on an the top lists of legal experts. They were selected for their lack of prior controversy or other more political factors. What concerns me is that his race is constantly raised by critics. He has every right to be a conservative and has shown a consistent and committed jurisprudence supporting those views. I do not agree with those positions but I fail to see why he should be defined by his race. Indeed, I thought that one of the key objectives of the civil right movement was to allow African Americans to be judged not by the color of their skin. Thomas follows the same interpretive approach as his colleagues — an approach mind you that is not supposed to be based not on a jurist’s personal desires or association with any group. He is not supposed to show loyalty to a particular group or fulfill expectations due to his race. I have no problem with criticizing Thomas for his votes in the same way as we often criticize his colleagues, but he should not face a race test by critics.
Thomas deserves better. I have always been moved by his life’s story. His father was a farm worker and his mother was a domestic worker. They were poor and both descendants of American slaves. The family spoke Gullah as a first language. His mother literally worked for pennies a day and his early life was spent in a home without indoor plumbing. The second of three children, he later lived with his grandparents when they became homeless. Thomas was the only black person at his high school in Savannah and yet was able to remain an honor student. He went on to attend college and Yale Law School. While few seem to want to admit it, that is a remarkable and inspiring life. He developed conservative principles and values in his life. Some find that incomprehensible but his incredible struggle produced a strong personality and will that can be admired even if you strongly disagree with his views.
What concerns me most is the virtual silence from Democrats to denounce this type of race-based attack. Being called an Uncle Tom is obviously deeply offensive to African Americans. Thomas and his family have gone through too much suffering and struggle to be treated so unfairly in my view. The suggestion is that being genuinely black requires you to reach the right conclusions and support the right positions. However, the very struggle that Thompson is describing was a fight to allow black men and women to be treated as individuals and not categorized by the color of their skin. Thompson should apologize and Democrats should show that they are not selectively outraged by race-based attacks.
What do you think?
Source: Washington Post
Al, Lordy me, you mean men curse?? I think I have the vapors. Truman, LBJ, and Nixon would make sailor’s blush. And, we can hear some of LBJ’s and Nixon’s on recordings. Truman was reportedly the worst swearer in modern times. I generally don’t trust a man who doesn’t swear, unless they’re clergy.
Wasn’t LBJ the one who was photographed lifting his beagle off the ground by its ears?
Nick, you just made it ugly.
Nick, soon the “grease” is going to be water. And it is going to be much more than hardball. It’s going to cause massive immigrations – probably wars. Hope I’ll be dead before then. But I weep for our children and grandchildren. And that ‘our’? That’s worldwide children.
This comment is being made to edify, not cause trouble. Please note, we have virtually the same group, discussing on the same thread. We are being substantive and tough but civil. Analyze what factor in the equation from last night is not present, in this dynamic and then draw your own conclusions. I’ve been here longer than most of you. I see this happen all the time. It is not a coincidence.
isnt a good bit of water being tied up because of some endanged fish?
hskip. Have you read about what Enron did to CA? I believe it was during the Davis admin. One royal screwing there.
More irony. What company got the contracts to bring electricity to the Hill Country. BLK. Some very interesting history there. Nick will love it.
We have a new inmate here at Tick Bite Old Farts Home who recently retired from a school teaching job. He says that they do not teach cursive writing at the school district which he just left. The math and science has changed. Basketball is still taught. The high school has several kids who went on to college basketball scholarships. Not one high school graduate in twenty years went on to become a doctor. He says that the kids write in computer slang. “Do U have any pics?” is a common one. When he retired they cut his course of American History out of the high school curriculum. His nickname here is DogJaw. He said he will start reading this blog and will make some comments. He said he has some things to say about Justice Clarence Thomas from when he worked at the EEOC prior to being a teacher. He said it has to do with cursive writing but not the kind that y’all think. He says that the Justice was known to curse.
Feynman, Water is hardball politics in Ca. and has been since SoCal began growing @ an incredible rate in the 50’s.
Politics today is about who greases politicians palms, small biz and middle class don’t have the money to do that, so they get shit on constantly.
Where does AZ water come from? The Colorado. I’m hoping Nick’s correct about el Nino and it will do the trick. I’ve looked at those maps of drought in CA. Pretty scary. And the farmers aren’t at all happy that cities are getting priority.
The water for northern AZ comes from snowfall. The water for Maricopa County comes from the dams built by the Salt River Project, which captures snow and rainfall. Water for Democratic Tucson (home of the Arizona Confederacy) comes from the Colorado via the CAP, which you got to pay for. Personally, I voted against it, but the Democrats needed water for their voters.
There is a Colorado Compact which is a big mess. The division of water rights between the states was set during the year the Colorado had the highest water level. There are several states, California included, who draw water from the Colorado.
hsk, Maybe the 2 biggest lies spewed by politicians is that they care for small businesses and the middle class. Both parties lie when they say that.
How ironic. Someone demanding answers. I’ve done that. It’s fruitless .
Paul, Maybe we need to hold classes for some of the folks here. We’re constantly having to point out the history of different topics.
Big el Nino predicted for this winter. California will have more rain than they can handle.
Water here is controlled by a private set of dams, although they function as a quasi-government. They pay for the dams and sell the water, generate electricity, etc.
Byron, the history of the TVA and the electrification of America is not making an argument for big government?
But your concern for water is a very valid one. Paul ought to be concerned and much of California already is. I only wish the government could make rain. They could better control climate change, but the fools have decided there isn’t a problem.
And Medicare is a great program. Ask anyone who has serious health issues (like most every old person) how they like Medicare. Have you not heard those screams of the elderly – “keep the government’s hands off my Medicare”?
randyjet:
I bought a new compressor for my hvac unit with 2 gold coins.
I would take gold as payment from my clients. Jim Rodgers who knows much more about economics than you do is big on gold as is Peter Schiff who knows more about economics than you do as well. I will say I would probably listen to you about history over them.
Anything with value can be used as a medium of exchange. Although wheat is perishable so really isnt as good as gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper, etc.
Byrion. Glad to hear you have such knowledgeable repairmen who can assay gold and know that it is really gold. Or who can trust you that they will accept it on your word alone. Even Pawn Stars do their own assaying before they take it in most cases.
Randy, You need to account for your assertion last night that San Diego went bankrupt under a Republican Mayor when the truth is a Republican led them from the brink of bankruptcy to a sound fiscal footing. In my 2 years here that was the most blatant ahhh, misrepresentation yet.
Yes, Paul. You’ve hit the nail on the head!
The government is needed for lots of things. I suggest you read up on the TVA and the lives of the women in the Hill Country before electrification. But that’s silly of me. Individual gas owned generators are a MUCH better way to build a country.
Sadly, you seem to still misunderstand the history of the railroads and the nature of our disagreement.
I am fully aware of the ecological disaster the TVA was/is. Taxing me to pay to electrify some farm in Iowa is not efficient. I lived for years in an area where cable was not put in because it was not economically viable. I did not have a problem with that.
I have a much better handle on history, having taught it, than you do.
Feynman – you need to read what the public utilities did to the private utilities during the time of that industries creation and growth. The Forgotten Man by Amity Shlaes. Employees life saving of private companies were decimated by the corporate welfare exercised under FDR. But who cares about the middle class, it’s the poor class that we must support and care for and why public corporations are so necessary and good. Who cares about the private sector people and the effects on them when government intervenes and screws up the market place. FDR compounded the ill effects of the depression and made it last 3 times the length with his social engineering. Also read How Capitalism Saved America by Thomas DiLorenzo to see how other government polices cause higher prices and lower wages. But who cares about the middle class.
FEYNMAN:
so people who think that government does too much are fools?
You are all the same, you dont make an argument and then you call the other guy a fool. Well I guess that is progress at least you havent called me a sociopath, not yet anyway.
FEDEX delivers to many out of the way places. And anyway, why should tax payers subsidize a person who chooses to live in a remote area?
Your thinking is old and tired, FDR was a wealthy fool and a tool of the young pinkies from Harvard. Those same young pinkies infested our country for years and now some of their children are still making trouble.
I truly hope your senior years are healthy, those quality adjusted life years could end up being a real b*tch for you. Enjoy socialized medicine in your old age. In Britian the National Health Service accidently killed a bunch of people by failing to give them water. Sounds like euthanasia to me.
If you ever need water just let me know and I will get some to you, I am a fool who believes that an individual’s right to exist is not predicated on a license from the state.