Clarence Thomas: Nobody Knows the Trouble He's Seen

You have to feel sorry for the judge. Like George Bush he has failed upwards until the poor guy is now hopelessly out of his league. Unlike our president, however, he doesn't have to pretend to understand the complexities of his job for just eight years and then retire to the back nine. Poor Clarence is stuck there for life. He seems caught in some sort of chilling Twilight Zone episode, cursed for what he wished for. His new memoir, My Grandfather's Son,"is yet another sad chapter in his lifetime of self-hate.

Am I being too hard or condescending on what should be one of the wisest people in the nation? How else do you explain his terror of asking a single question from the bench? His excuse is that the other justices "talk too much."

It's called doing their job.

They arrive with questions that need to be answered, instead of dogma that needs to be adhered to. Justice Thomas is clearly that terrified kid in every class that knows that if he opens his mouth everyone will realize that he didn't understand today's lesson. Instead of being a beacon of pride for young black kids that, like him, might have been raised in poverty, he is an embarrassment.

His supporters point to his writings, but back in his chambers he is backed up by clerks who are some of our very smartest legal minds. Kato Kaelin could sign off on their briefs and sound like he knew what he was talking about.

George Bush the First's appointment of a black man who was patently unqualified to the highest bench is exactly what affirmative action is not supposed to be about. The point is to open up gatekeepers like elite law schools and medical schools. Once the students graduate, however, they, and every other job applicant has to rise to a certain standard. My sister is a heart surgeon. Nobody is going to let her cut somebody open just to fill a quota. She has to be excellent at what she does. The bar for a lifetime appointment to our highest bench should have been just as high.

My mom went to Yale law school a few years after Thomas, after having graduated Magna Cum Laude from Howard. She was a thirty-five-year-old black mother of two teenaged kids. She knew she was brilliant, the best of the best, and thrilled at debating the other students. She never once said, "Oh, I'm only here because they needed a brown body. I really belong at the DeVry College of Law."

And that's how she raised me. Old school. Yes, racism still exists, she would tell me. So a B+ might do for the white boys, but you have to be that much better. How pathetic is it that Clarence Thomas writes that he graduated from Yale Law School with his head hanging low, convinced that the world knew that his diploma came with an asterisk of inferiority? When my mom's friends graduated they burst out of law school ready to kick ass and take names.

The most odious part of Thomas's memoir is his continued insistence that his contentious confirmation hearings elevate him to the canon of tragic black heroes like Native Son's Bigger Thomas and To Kill a Mockingbird's Tom Robinson. As Jane Meyer and Jill Abramson clearly demonstrate in their book, Strange Justice, Anita Hill was only one of several and Thomas, now one of the nine highest judges in our nation, lied repeatedly during his confirmation hearings. The bitterness that seems to be eating away at him and spews out of this book might stem from the fact that he was the head of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission while he was sexually harassing Anita Hill and he is now sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America because he lied his ass off in the United States Senate.

Comments

[Nommo]

Trey, I don't think that the issue here is related to affirmative action at all. The appointment was just a whiff of the cronyism and illogic that Bush the junior has made a way of government.
The greater embarrassment was the suggestion that Thomas was all there was, that he could not have suggested a Black jurist who came without Thommas' hideous baggage and most of all, his outlandish take on actual matters of law.
Clarence Thomas was the shade of Willie Horton.

[gardengoddess]

Affirmative action IS an issue, because Clarence Thomas wouldn't have gotten anywhere near a judgeship - which then enabled him to become a Supreme - without affirmative action, and then he turns around and votes AGAINST affirmative action.

Talk about an ingrate!

Thomas pointing fingers at anyone other than the man in the mirror is ridiculous. Anyone hoping to become a Supreme Court Justice should expect hard questions - they should welcome hard questions - if they're worth anything at all. And no one else can be blamed for sexual harrassment charges against Clarence Thomas but Clarence Thomas.

The guy is a wimp, regardless of his view of things, and wimps don't belong on the Supreme Court.

[shano]

yea, gardengoddess. and any woman who was sexually harrassed in the work place knew Anita Hill was telling the truth. (you just cant make up the stupid things these guys say).

Thomas should have been turned down, and now we are stuck with him.

Is there any remedy to get him out of the court?

[RHR]

Trey:
Thanks for speaking out. I watch last night's interview on 60 Minutes and I was stunned. Not only did Thomas feel his degree had an asterick, but the report said he graduated in the middle of his class. No need for an asterick there. Mediocracy always manages to rear its ugly head.

I remember watching the Anita Hill portion of the hearings. What Thomas practically refers to as his own "Swift Boating" is telling. I can hardly imagine that a professional woman like Anita Hill wants to admit, or talk about willingly, the details of pubic hairs on soda cans. Thomas' assertion that Hill wouldn't have waited a decade to speak out about something as shameful as sexual harassment should tell you just how out of touch he is with the times.

His wallowing in his perceived victimhood is pathetic - - just like his decisions from the bench thus far.

Since, according to his interview, Thomas doesn't feel like he "won" the bench, perhaps we could give it to a real Winner.

[IronMikeHouston]

I guess I have a hard time with the accusation of sexual harassment. I know at my company if someone says something that is no agreeable. The employee has the responsibility to inform the person that the comment was not acceptable. Then if the problem continues, go to the supervisor and the HR department until the problem is solved. Did Anita Hill go through those steps? Anyone can say they got sexually harassed years later without any proof. How could anyone combat those types of charges without getting dirty? I believe that is unfair to anybody of any party. I believe Anita Hill got used and probably should have known better than to make an accusation without any proof. She is the one that should be ashamed for a lack of judgement.

[hellenhat]

apparently, Iron Mike, you are not a woman and have never been sexually harassed by a male superior.....if you could gather enough courage to say enough.....then your entire career, school, great job, etc. is in their hands. If you approach another person of authority, you have to be able to really, really prove your allegations or face more ridicule and embarassment. It is really, really hard to come forward in those instances. Regardless of race, at the time of the Hill/Thomas hearings, sexual harassment was still "he said/she said" and the "good ole'boy" network prevailed.

Having pointed this out to you, however, I watched those hearings and never could figure out why he was believed over her as she was infinitely more convincing, articulate and intelligent.....ah, but there was the old race card he threw on the pile and the cowards backed off, less they be called racist.

Backing away from discovering the truth is what gets us into trouble and keeps us there. He is only "out there" now to promote his book. Follow the money. Better he should have followed his own rule......sit there, keep quiet, don't ask questions and no one will know how stupid you really are.

[anghiari]

IronMike,

Are you really this naive? And, clearly you have never worked in government and had a problem with your BOSS!

[ipitombi]

RHR; Just pray that a woman never accuses you (falsely) of anything, and/or much worse, sexual harassment. You'll be in jail and on TV before you can dial the law offices of Hai, Hamm, Vorked.

Justice Thomas never had a chance, and I would be extremely angry and bitter too if someone or group of people try to bring me down after years of struggle.

Even though Justice Thomas is as qualified to be Supreme Court Justice as George W Bush is as qualified to be town clerk of Midlands, Texas, I didn't believe Anita Hill for a minute. She was a mere tool, and that was the sad part of the whole mess.

[shano]

Sorry ipitombi, you are wrong. Obviously you have never been sexually harrassed.

Could anyone make up "pubic hair on a Coke can? No. And I have heard similar statements from men saying the same things. One boss asked me every day if I was pregnant. These guys are all alike. I dont think a stable person or someone trying a set up, could come up with that kind of testimony.

This was all before the Federal sexual harrassment laws were in effect. Now they are posted in every office, outlining the definition. That was not the case at the time Thomas harrassed Hill. And he certainly did say those things, no doubt.

Thats why I know Anita Hill is telling the truth. She had to testify or she would have been supoenaed. It was a career breaking image for her, she had nothiing to gain and everything to lose. Why would she come forward falsely, to hurt herself deliberately?

[der Alte]

good post. I keep hoping somehow he'll come fwd, maybe write an opinion or ax a bright question but if I were a blk person, I would rise up in disgust at recalling when Bush '41 was axed why he chose Clarence, he said, 'because he's the best man for the job.'

I simply see him as an numbing embarassment to intelligent blk people everywhere. If he had any character at all, he'd quietly resign after 1st helping to find a successor.

Now he has a BOOK? That should be hard to keep on the shelves.

[eaglecapri]

der_alte,

Did you really mean to type - '...to intelligent blk people everywhere?'

Just asking.....

[godlessclif]

We know the book was ghost written. My question is
did Thomas hire a black ghostwriter or did he feel
only a white ghostwriter was qualified. Is there any way to find out who the ghost is?

[cheerleaderBush]

AMEN!!!

The Republican party supports affirmative action when it comes to the hiring of useful idiots...though their African American quota is set astronomically low.

No Thomas is not an "idiot", but he plays one on tv. On the contrary, African Americans (GW Bush appointments) Thomas, Rice, Powell (Sr. & Jr) and Paige are brilliant 'opportunists' that sold their souls and rode the wave of selective privilage... much in the same fashion as GW Bush and the majority of Congress (from both parties)... and to be fair there are not many (black, white or other) that can resist this type of ride on the gravy train.

[godlessclif]

Bush hired Satchel Paige?

[godlessclif]

If you mean Republican operative Rod Paige, he is delusional.

Rod Paige 2004 Republican convention..."On Education: No Child Left Behind is working
The No Child Left Behind Act raises the bar for all students no matter their race or income level. It challenges what Bush calls the soft bigotry of low expectations. Its goal is simple: all students read & do math at grade level. States, not Washington, set the standards. Schools that need assistance get assistance. Support for education under Bush has gone up 36 percent with more funds requested for disadvantaged students than during the entire Clinton administration. No Child Left Behind is working."

[desertdweller]

Trey,

Thanks for sharing your Mom's story. She should be an inspiration to all Americans. There is no dignity in Justice Thomas' lament, and thus he has squandered an opportunity to inspire. You have hit the nail on the head!

[MrWonderful]

Excellent post. George Junior has made us somewhat nostalgic for George Senior, but nominating this clown was an act of both cowardice and cynicism. Like son like father.

[BillZBubb]

Thomas is a tragic figure, but unlike the noble tragic figures of the past, his tragedy wasn't thrust on him--he brought it on himself.

The psychology of Thomas is amazing. Here's a guy who bought the racist view of affirmative action instead of realizing and then championing that he was an example of its success. Somewhere along the line, Thomas absorbed a white racist view of the world and made it his own. There is something very twisted in his psyche.

[AreYouSerious]

I am actually applauding you. Literally. Thank you that blog was amazing. I hope that you are some sort of a public speaker b/c I think you could influence the nation.

[Wilson33]

What are you applauding? One black man trying to demean another? Raging arrogance? Blind hatred? Racism? Smearing?

Because that is all Mr. Ellis did in this post.

Liberals suck!

[LittleGreenGreaseBalls]

Wilson, I have read several black writers who share similar opinions of Thomas. My own opinion is that black or white, Thomas is a squalid loser who demeans his position. Hopefully in a year or so we'll finally be rid of Bush, but Thomas may survive on the bench for decades. Too bad for America. One thing not noted here is the obscene advance of more than a million dollars Thomas got paid to vent his spleen. Thomas smeared himself on live TV in front of the entire nation.

[cowboyjerkface]

Good one wilson...but with all due respect I fail to recognize you as anyone but a waterboy for Bush and his band of knuckeheads so your opinions are moot at best....sorry!

[bumpersticker]

I believe Mr. Ellis was criticizing Mr. Thomas's choice to remain a victim. Everyone carries their favorite bad feeling, and victimization seems to be Thomas's chosen one. Retaining the resentment of the victim assures your continued entrapment within it, and instills the perceived free passed obtained from it. "I don't have to ask questions."

[3rdCitizen]

"Raging arrogance," "Blind hatred," "Racism," "Smearing"

A great description of Clarence Thomas' memoir.

Conservatives "suck!"

[Leota2]

Well Wilson--here's another black person saying Thomas is an embarrassment of sociological angst and self loathing. This is not smearing it's simply opening a book and looking at his record--or forbid,
listening to him being interviewed.

Ignorance sucks!