Why is Clarence Thomas hated?

Ramblings' Journal ^ | 12.9.02 | Michael King

[mhking]

This is a new piece that I'm going to post on my site either later today or tomorrow, and that I've just submitted to Project 21. Any brickbats or other criticisms are welcome.

[mhking]

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[dead]

Because he's not a liberal.

[facedown]

He is mature enough to remove himself from those decisions in terms of his 'blackness' - he makes them impassionately and impartially."

The nail on the head.

[dead]

Nice analysis bump.

[Fzob]

bump for later

[BuddhaBoy]

I'm a black conservative too.

People have accused me of forgetting that I am black, and I respond to them by telling them "yes I have forgotten that I am black, because it makes no difference to me or to my behavior. When will YOU forget that I am black?"

That usually shuts them up.

[Fiddlstix]

Good Post
Bump

[f.Christian]

hmmmmmmm....

[RAT Patrol]

He is most definitely NOT dumb. I like his quiet style myself. It's hard to listen well when you are talking.

[jdege]

Thomas is quiet during oral arguments. But he writes quite a number of opinions - and very well-written opinions they are.

There's not been a justice in the last 60 years I admire more, and that includes Scalia.

One of Thomas' opinions

[CatoRenasci]

I think your insight is essentially correct insofar as it considers the views of the ordinary black 'man or woman-in the-street'. It is essentially a power issue, however, in that the 'soft-spot' of which you speak means they want Thomas to exercise his power on their behalf or in their perceived interests. And indeed, putting a black or a woman or Jew on the Court specifically because of the 'group attribute' invites that assumption on the part of group members.

Where the black leadership is concerned, I think the issue comes more directly to power: Thomas' approach to the law, if widely adopted, would strike at the heart of their power, as they presently understand it.

The other criticism of Thomas, which you did not mention, is that a fair number of left-leaning and liberal legal commentators do not think Thomas particularly bright. Possibly because one couldn't be part of WEBD's 'talented tenth' if one held views such as those Thomas has?

[bigfootbob]

He is mature enough to remove himself from those decisions in terms of his 'blackness' - he makes them impassionately and impartially."

I'm not sure I agree. The fact Judge Thomas is not a liberal rankles many.

[rdb3]

He votes well because he follows the lead of the other conservative Justices.

That's a pretty heavy charge. There has been quite a bit of questioning of black people's intellectual abilities on these boards over the past few weeks.

But instead of flaming you, I'll ask one simple question: Can you present any empirial evidence that supports your claim that Justice Thomas "follows the lead" of anyone other than himself?

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[GilesB]

You think? The justice who record is most like his own is Scalia - but he disagrees with Scalia from time to time. Who's lead is it that you believe he is taking?

Thomas just isn't a man who needs to hear his own voice and read his own writing to affirm his intellectual abilities. He votes right because he thinks - PERIOD! If what you were saying is true, the dullards path is one that would receive no censure from the left and politically correct.

Thomas, in my estimation, is probably the most intellectually rigorous of all the justices. He listens carefully, makes up his mind according to his vision of the responsibilities of the position, and refuses to engage in the verbal gymnastics the others are so fond of, simply to satisfy you and others like you that he is reasonably intelligent.

[Havoc]

Clarence is hated for one reason - he disproves the line that a Black man in America can't be anything without Government and specifically without the DemoRat party.
His existance betrays the great lie. Doesn't matter what the lie is, anyone spreading one who get's found out and has a majority view will pummel you half witless with semantics to shut you up if you betray their lie. One doesn't have to look very far to see this stuff in other places.

[steveegg]

While Justice Thomas doesn't participate in debates, he does write his share of opinions. I'd suggest reading some of them.

[Snuffington]

Very nice piece Mr. King. Without taking away any of your own observations, I would like to add a slightly different perspective. Clarence Thomas is not only a strict Constitutionalist (though this is certainly true), he is also informed by his Catholicism.

Speaking as a Catholic myself, I have been impressed with how well Justice Thomas has demonstrated proper Catholic teaching on justice and law. Justice Scalia, though also a Catholic, does not seem as influenced by Church teachings in his own legal thought. I do not at all mean Thomas lets his Catholicism trump the Constitution. I mean Justice Thomas properly applies Catholic teaching within the framework of the Constitution.

The most interesting examples I have found are the cases where Thomas and Scalia disagree - sometimes by voting on opposite sides of an issue, sometimes by voting the same way, but offering differing opinions on their vote. I find myself almost always prefering the legal vision of Thomas in these cases, and I suspect this is largely because of the way Catholicism has shaped both of our thinking.

[dirtboy]

Why is Clarence Thomas hated? Condi Rice hated? Michelle Malkin hated? Because the libs and race-baters are scared of them. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and others do not want their herds to understand that they can knock down the liberal intellectual fence with little effort and find greener pastures that Jesse and Al do not control. Clarence Thomas has done just that, therefore he must be condemned so the cattle do not realize that his pasture is much nicer than the one they are in.