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George Takei on Facebook: I owe Clarence Thomas an apology
Facebook ^ | 07/03/2015 | George Takei

Posted on 07/03/2015 6:27:34 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

I owe an apology. On the eve of this Independence Day, I have a renewed sense of what this country stands for, and how I personally could help achieve it. The promise of equality and freedom is one that all of us have to work for, at all times. I know this as a survivor of the Japanese American internment, which each day drives me only to strive harder to help fulfill that promise for future generations.

I recently was asked by a reporter about Justice Clarence Thomas’s dissent in the marriage equality cases, in which he wrote words that really got under my skin, by suggesting that the government cannot take away human dignity through slavery, or though internment. In my mind that suggested that this meant he felt the government therefore shouldn’t be held accountable, or should do nothing in the face of gross violations of dignity. When asked by a reporter about the opinion, I was still seething, and I referred to him as a “clown in blackface” to suggest that he had abdicated and abandoned his heritage.

This was not intended to be racist, but rather to evoke a history of racism in the theatrical arts. While I continue to vehemently disagree with Justice Thomas, the words I chose, said in the heat of anger, were not carefully considered.

I am reminded, especially on this July 4th holiday, that though we have the freedom to speak our minds, we must use that freedom judiciously. Each of us, as humans, have hot-button topics that can set-us off, and Justice Thomas had hit mine, that is clear. But my choice of words was regrettable, not because I do not believe Justice Thomas is deeply wrong, but because they were ad hominem and uncivil, and for that I am sorry.

I often ask fans to keep the level of discourse on this page and in comments high, and to remember that we all love this country and for what it stands for, even if we often disagree passionately about how to achieve those goals. I did not live up to my own high standards in this instance.

I hope all of you have a wonderful, safe and joyously free July 4t, the first where all married couples in the U.S. can enjoy the full liberties of matrimony equally. It is truly a blessing to be an American today.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Arizona; US: California
KEYWORDS: apology; arizona; california; clarencethomas; freeploader; gaykk; georgetakei; homosexualagenda; ineversearch; libertarians; medicalmarijuana; moreoldnews; obamanation; phoenix; searchandfind
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To: Misterioso

Well, isn’t that what Roof did to the confederate flag?

All by himself?


61 posted on 07/03/2015 8:16:04 PM PDT by chris37 (Heartless)
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To: proust
Shatner doesn’t remember having problems with him.

Shatner doesn't remember there ever being anyone else on any set he was on.

62 posted on 07/03/2015 8:17:43 PM PDT by Repeal 16-17 (Let me know when the Shooting starts.)
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To: tflabo

There are gay things all over the place here, but it is not thrown offensively in our collective faces with demands of new rights. It is what it is and generally can be ignored here by us normal people.


63 posted on 07/03/2015 8:26:01 PM PDT by lefty-lie-spy (Stay metal. For the Horde \m/("_")\m/ - via iPhone from Tokyo.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Always nice to hear from a disgusting pervert.

Not.


64 posted on 07/03/2015 8:28:01 PM PDT by stinkerpot65 (Global warming is a Marxist lie.)
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To: ansel12

“He survived an internment camp, I didn’t think that survival was one of the problems associated with the interment.”

How old was he when he was in an internment camp? Probably not more than 3 or 4. How much “survival” could he possibly remember?


65 posted on 07/03/2015 8:34:18 PM PDT by Samwell Tarly
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To: SeekAndFind

The ingestion of feces is not smart.


66 posted on 07/03/2015 8:35:23 PM PDT by isthisnickcool (Trump? Why not?)
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To: BenLurkin
LOL! Good one!

It's raining men. ROTFL!

67 posted on 07/03/2015 8:35:51 PM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (Sorry Al. Sorry Jesse. Rainbow is the new black.)
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To: Samwell Tarly

Besides, they being interned here in America, they weren’t in death camps.


68 posted on 07/03/2015 8:36:51 PM PDT by ansel12 (libertarians have always been for gay marriage and polygamy, gay Scout leaders, gay military.)
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To: SeekAndFind
the government cannot take away human dignity through slavery, or though internment

as for the latter, the person saying that was probably referring to a relocation camp; if he really meant internment then his family's experience was owing to them being viewed as enemy.

Relocating citizens and people of Japanese descent probably saved some of them their lives. People along the west coast weren't taking kindly to what happened and what was widely believed could happen.

Taking the property of the relocated as apparently the government did was a crime IMO. I cannot believe that the crime has not been rectified.

It was war.. a war that we vowed to permanently destroy the enemy. Just imagine a 9/11 along with a wide belief that Islamists were set to invade across the Mexican border.. oh, wait, I mean this time with the discipline of an invading army. How would American Muslims be viewed by their fellow citizens?

69 posted on 07/03/2015 8:50:42 PM PDT by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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To: griswold3
George who?


George Pataki

(You know, the guy running for president.)

70 posted on 07/03/2015 8:54:56 PM PDT by Heart-Rest ("Woe to those who call evil good and good evil!" Isaiah 5:20)
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To: SeekAndFind

“I knoSu this as a survivor of the Japanese American internment......”

“Survivor”? He he tries to make it sound like these were the equivalent of Nazi death camps. Sorry, these were wrong but they were Club Med compared to Auschwitz.

He


71 posted on 07/03/2015 8:57:25 PM PDT by CrazyIvan (I lost my phased plasma rifle in a tragic hovercraft accident.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Talentless homo LIB hack. Apology not accepted, you racist degenerate.


72 posted on 07/03/2015 9:09:21 PM PDT by ogen hal (First Amendment or reeducation camp)
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To: SeekAndFind

You’re just a bigoted old racist, Mr. Sulu.


73 posted on 07/03/2015 9:17:54 PM PDT by TBP (Obama lies, Granny dies.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Takei says nothing about owing Clarence Thomas an apology. He just “owes an apology.” He is a typical leftist prig.


74 posted on 07/03/2015 9:21:54 PM PDT by Chaguito
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To: SeekAndFind

George. You suck.

Get it? You suck ROTFLMAO.


75 posted on 07/03/2015 9:29:54 PM PDT by Tolkien (Grace is the Essence of the Gospel; Gratitude is the Essence of Ethics.)
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To: SeekAndFind
"... and to remember that we all love this country and for what it stands for"

  1. Though I do love this country, I do not volunteer as part of his 'we' because ...
  2. ... 'we' do not, in fact 'all' love this country.
  3. Also ... "for what it stands for" butchers language like a SCOTUS justice.

76 posted on 07/03/2015 9:32:26 PM PDT by tinyowl (penguin in transition)
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To: gaijin

That photo looks about as genuine as that glossy red shit hot glued to the wall behind him


77 posted on 07/04/2015 12:12:34 AM PDT by lewislynn ( Hillary = Obama in a pantsuit)
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To: SeekAndFind

If Uncle George were white and straight, he’d be of just about as much interest outside the Trek fan community as his conn-deskmate Walter Koenig.


78 posted on 07/04/2015 12:43:27 AM PDT by RichInOC (...somebody was going to say it. Why not me?)
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To: SeekAndFind

Uh, a Democrat President ordered his Internment.

I never figured that Mr. Sulu could be such a Prick.

I wonder though, why was his Rage against Justice Thomas and not Justice Scalia?


79 posted on 07/04/2015 12:48:36 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (They Live, and we're the only ones wearing the Sunglasses.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Put a cork in it, butt boy.


80 posted on 07/04/2015 4:34:07 AM PDT by CincyRichieRich (We plan to endure. 3%)
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