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

[findingavoice]

How ironic that this marginally qualified juror was appointed in a clear but ill-applied version of affirmative action by Bush I and now takes every opportunity to deny the best-intended uses of affirmative action in the decisions he makes. He is an affront to the legacy of the first black juror, Thurgood Marshall.

[Lemeritus]

Let me apologize for this slander beforehand, but I see the fork in the road so clearly. Sometimes a man simply must choose - serial lecher or Supreme Court Justice? He chose the later. And we are the worse for it.

[Leper]

I don't understand why they must be mutually exclusive.

[outmost1]

Hmm, if you don't like your job, find another one. Seems to me his conscience would go a long way toward feeling better if he retired after the next election so that a real judge with some qualifications and skill could get the job. Even if he doesn't want to wait, the door is always open. He isn't imprisoned or even a guest at Gitmo.

[Checquoline]

Duh, he has no conscience, if he did he would not have treated Anita Hill the way he did and would not have then lied about it to get on the court. The real SHAME is that the investigation commitee who believed this lying low life and allowed him to become a member of the court. SHAME ON THEM.

[AurigaRa]

Amen, outmost1!

[POSTHRUDAHART]

As usual, when a black man is articulate, educated and successful and, most importantly, doesn't subscribe to the 'I am a victim' pathology the left uses to keep blacks on their 'team', he is called an Uncle Tom. I am an independent, used to be a 'liberal' until I grew up and realized that I was just a mirror reflection of a 'conservative'. Life is much more complex than the simplistic monikers and ideas of those on both sides of the same coin.
The real 'meat' is in the middle. At least Clarence has the stones to go the way he sees it, and not simply pander to the dubious path of the PC police.

[mddem]

Whoa...Thomas doesn't subscribe to the 'I am a victim' pathology?

He labeled the hearing on his candidacy for the Supreme Court as "an electronic lynching."

He screamed "I am a victim!" from the rooftops. If you don't get that, then I suppose there are far more deep rooted reasons for the change in your political views.

[nihilon x]

Don't mind him -- he calls any black person who disagrees with him someone who espouses a "victim" mentality.

For instance, despite my being a black person who is "articulate, educated and successful" he says that I have that same "victim" mentality just because I dare to posit that racism is still something that needs to be addressed in American society.

Meanwhile, Thomas benefited from affirmative action to get where he is today -- the man even started a "Black" student union at his college -- but of course Thomas not a "victim" (in the original poster's eyes) because he now betrays those same programs that helped him rise to power.

[BillZBubb]

Wow, I don't know what planet you are on, but here on Earth, Clarence Thomas is the embodiment of the "I am the victim" pathology. Are you paying attention?

[dawlishgal]

Who on the left is calling Barak Obama an "Uncle Tom"? Who is using this perjorative to describe the articulate author of this piece? I think you have a grotesque misunderstanding of the term.

According to Wikipedia: "Uncle Tom is a pejorative for an African American who is perceived by others as behaving in a subservient manner to White American authority figures, or as seeking ingratiation with them by way of unnecessary accommodation. The term Uncle Tom comes from the title character of Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, although there is debate over whether the character himself is deserving of the pejorative attributed to him.[1]

It is commonly used to describe black people whose political views or allegiances are considered by their critics as detrimental to blacks as a group."

Nobody uses the term to describe anybody who is merely "articulate, educated and successful"...it is used to refer to blacks who suck up to powerful whites in a way that harms others of their race. Period!

Thomas is opposed to any minority group members getting any of the advantages of which he seemed to have no trouble availing HIMSELF. He is a hypocrite as well as "that other thing." That he and the dimwits of the far right accuse anybody who doesn't like Thomas's anti-minority policies of being racist (something that they wouldn't be able to get away with if Thomas weren't black) just emphasizes the real reason that Bush1 chose him to be another conservative lackey on the SC: Bush1 realized that Thomas, by virtue of his color, would be immunized against criticism of both his constitution-busting decisions and his regressive attitudes toward affirmative action.

The absurd irony that Thomas held a position of authority in any affirmative action (such as Chairman of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) is just another instance of a Republikker fox in the governmental chickenhouse.

[VideoHammer]

You have to be kidding, right? The very first thing that Thomas did as part of his senate appearance was to cry that he was being lynched. If that does not qualify as victim mentality, I don't know what does. It is even more galling, when used at the guidance of ANY Republican.
Like Michael Jackson, and OJ race isn't important until your own ass is on the line.

[voxoverguy]

Can someone here provide evidence of Justice Thomas' incompetence prior to his nomination and where he has show incompetence while on the bench please? Thanks.

[Deidroni]

Last year my daughter sat in on a Supreme Court session. During the court session my daughter observed Justice Thomas napping during the proceedings.

This shows not only incompetence but utter negligence of his duties.

[dawlishgal]

Apparently, Thomas choses to remain silent during the periods of oral argument, a process that is supposedly critical in the court coming to a decision. The other 8 justices discuss the issues involved and Thomas just sits there.

[AurigaRa]

his book and interview on 60 min were foolish. He should shut up and appreciate how lucky he is to be on the court... as ANY incompetent person, BLACK OR WHITE, should do.

If he doesn't appreciate it, then STEP DOWN jerk!!

[rmreddicks]

voxoverguy was asking for priors. Best I could find. People can decide for themselves whether this is competence. Seems like Bush family type of competence to me.

http://www.supremecourthistory.org/myweb/justice/thomas.htm

[ADVOCATE4ZPG]

In all probability, ambitious, law clerks write his decisions as ghost writers of his twisted philosophy.... CT's purview is that of someone who has been handed an ult. victory and is now positioned to spew the venon of triumphalism on those he trod on....

[nunzia]

It's beyond "all probability"; it's what the law clerks do.

[aristippe]

In all probability, ambitious law clerks ghost write his philosophically twisted decisions...CT's purview is that of someone who has been handed an ult. victory and is now positioned to spew the venon of triumphalism.

[blaze]

Simply Google AMA rating of Clarence Thomas and you will find that:

Judge Thomas received the lowest rating ever given by the bar association to someone who was confirmed for the Court.

[rmreddicks]

Thanks. Better than mine.

[Liz212]

Sure. The American Bar Association has three ratings for federal judicial nominees- well-qualified, qualified, and not qualified. Scalia, Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer, Roberts and Alito all got unanimous "well-qualified" ratings. Thomas got a split decision, with the majority voting "qualified" and the minority saying "not qualified". It's the equivalent of a C/C- grade when all the other justices are A+.

[GBGB]

There are nine justices on the Supreme Court, not twelve.

[horsebackrider]

It's interesting that while admitting to having a period of time, including when Anita Hill worked for him, during which he drank heavily, Thomas dismisses any possiblity that might have affected his behavior.

Such a strong and reflexive denial seems more defensive than open and thoughtful.

While his ability to rise from poverty and do well as a student is admirable, Thomas' angry obsession with what racists have done to him is neither appealing nor indicative of mental or emotional health.

I have heard him speak and he is consumed by anger about everything that has happened to him from childhood on.

Outside of appointments that take his race into account for political purposes, it is hard to imagine him holding a regular job for very long with his anger and chip on the shoulder.

[HippyLadyLib]

Except as a Bush appointee. If Poppy hadn't appointed him, W would have. Either way, he's just a Bush appointee and another sorry one at that.

[BluePatriotWoman]

¨They arrive with questions that need to be answered, instead of dogma that needs to be adhered to.¨¨

Excellent point! Even Scalia, whose dogmatism is the stuff of legend, knows how to formulate and articulate probing questions.

Like many American women of all colors, I watched the Thomas confirmation hearings with absolute disgust at the performances of both the Republican and Democratic senators. And performances they were. It was a watershed moment in American politics and has proved to be as horrible of an appointment as many of us predicted it would be.

One of the most disgusting aspects of the SCOTUS´interference with the Florida recount was the fact that Thomas´ wife (I suppose it´s churlish to say white wife), Virginia, was busy at the Heritage Foundation vetting potential candidates for executive branch positions in the yet-to-be official Bush administration.

[pece]

The other sad part about this story is this man chose to come out with this book at this time it doesn,t make sensejust as himself he dont make sense. He is a very dangerous black man. The other sad part of this story he is suppose to be held in high regard, above petty politics...... so much for that. Today he chose to give an interview on the Rush L. show, he is a racist of the wosrt kind,I was sick but I listened anyway. What gets me is this of all the people he could given an interview he chose this idiot,again the neocon and lackys love to just flaunt thier utter contempt to the the rest of us who hvae common sense.

[Lemeritus]

"He is a very dangerous black man."

He's black! Holy smoke!

I'd prefer we just keep it simple: He's a very dangerous man. Period.

[Grizelda]

Thank you for the interesting post, Mr. Ellis. The Bush Crime Family hates black people, that is why Daddy Bush chose Clarence Thomas, to undermine and embarrass black people in America. That's the Republican Party's style, put incompetent, unqualified people in positions of power, then blame big government when they prove themselves to be incompetent and unqualified (Rummy, Gonzo, Brownie, etc., etc.). The Republican Party hates black people, followed by women (at least we were spared the debacle of a Harriet Miers confirmation hearing). I had high hopes for Condi, which hopes were trampled by Ferragamo shoes.

[nunzia]

Absolutely outstanding post. As a member of the legal community, I know that he's a disgrace.

[Safire]

I know this family personally. He dumped his first (African American) wife, who doted on him, looked up to him, and told her that he was not going to be saddled with someone stupid, (paraphrase) because she married him out of high school, and had not yet obtained her bachelor's degree, which she eventually did.

This man has quite a bit of self-loathing, but it goes deeper than all the Anita Hill, Dems as KKK, etc.

I have always been amazed, that this man who was in an influential position for Afirmative Action, who obviously knew what the position embraced, used it to ladder-climb, then turned himself into a GOP Sycophant.

I believed Anita Hill. And, the truth be told, he is just not a nice person. Period!

[UrbanNight]

Not to doubt your personal insight, but husbands and wives have been dumped for (..fill in the blank...) I'm glad your
friend achieved her goal despite the negativity.

I have a theory. Thomas studied black nationalism probably in response to dealing with growing up in Pinpoint, GA. The E. Franklin Frazier's 'black-middle class' initially didn't support either Martin or Malcolm. Black nationalism isn't about race hatred, rather it is about having enough self-pride to righteously do whatever you need to live your life as your Creator intended.
Trust in the One who made you. In his twisted way, Thomas is pushing black destiny forward by shutting the door behind him. The question Thomas hasn't answered is whether the playing field is finally leveled.

[deleweye]

You just put your finger on the essence of Clarence Thomas: Trust in the one who made you. In his case, the (Republican) Man.

Too, the saying is that Washington is full of powerful men and the women they married when they were young. That he replaced his wife with a more upscale model isn't news, but that she is white fits such a negative stereotype of ambition within the black community that there are bad jokes on the subject I couldn't get away with repeating here (...a Cadillac and a white ho...).

[nunzia]

I beieve you.

[TellitLikeItIs]

In retrospect, Clarence probably did his first wife the biggest favor of her life when he left. Being married to him must have been a truly exhausting job!

[mikegoodyearaz85338]

The racist left raises its ugly head once again. There is no one more deserving of a lynching then a sucessful, conservative black man. Instead of just banning the term "nigger" maybe the term "Uncle Tom" should also be banned.

[MmeFlutterbye]

OH PUH LEEZ!!! I watched every single day of those hearings. Anita Hill was much more believable than 'Thomas. And I was sure of it when Thomas managed to play the race card (hi-tech lynching etc) which made the committee cower. He even said that he had NEVER thought about abortion!! How's that for inexperience? Here's a guy who would now be cleaning shrimp if it hadn't been for afirmative action which he doesn't think any black person deserves..What a whiner!!! Good article, Mr. Ellis.

[dawlishgal]

Yeah, right. The sameoldsameoldsameoldsameold from the "tolerant" far right, same bunch that we heard nary a word from when their little tinhorn sent out his minions to slime a black CHILD in order to get votes from racists.

OF COURSE, Bush1 picked a relatively incompetent black man (VERY incompetent when it comes to the requirements for a SC justice) to replace a competent, brilliant, honest decent black man (Thurgood Marshall). Bush1 picked Thomas because he KNEW that his pocket full o' racists--the ones that Republikkers count on for the votes that win elections for them-- would love the way Thomas repudiates the very opportunities for minorities of which Thomas himself took full advantage. Bush picked him because he knew that Thomas would deliver constitution-busting decisions that favored the crackpot fundies that provide so much of the rest of Republikker's base these days.

AND, this is what is important right now: Bush1 also knew that anybody who objected to Thomas for legitimate reasons could be slimed as being racist, IF people are as dumb as the Bush family cynically thinks they are.

What he did not pick Thomsas for was being "most qualified"...that was a blatant lie.

How RACIST of the little Bushbots to pretend not be able to tell the difference between a smart competent black man and an ultra-coopertive tool of the racist-kiss-ups in the Bush family and their slimy underbellies of "bases." Exactly the kind of authoritarian stupidity that the Bush family counts on when it chooses symbols of its bogus "tolerance."

(Wasn't it GHWB who blackened Dukakis's name by trying to blame him for "Willie" Horton...a man who was NEVER known as "Willie" until Lee Atwater intruded his dirty mouth into the Republikker sliming game)? And Thomas was SO PROUD to be selected by the man who gave us Willie Horton? What does that tell us about Thomas and his so-called "qualifications?")

[justice4juveniles]

"Willie Horton" used by the republicans to terroize white people (and ultimately black people) by inventing "tough on crime" slogans to get elected which ultimately lead to almost 3 million incarcerated, over 60% black men. Again, the Bush people irresponsibly never thinking about the consequences those actions would have on society and over-reactions by state legislatures to that type of fearmongering. I think we are seeing it now. Willie Horton was the swift boating of black people by the Bush crime family. This contemptable and unethical behavior for political gain has devastated communities, families, created only low wage jobs, ripped off the taxpayers and has become an embarassment to our nation. Society has not benefited from this $60 billion a year waste of taxpayer money which fuels the powerful prison industrial complex and prison guard lobby and the Republicans re-election campaigns. The hype of Willie Horton has never lived up to its promise, to keep American citizens safe and in fact has made us less safe and has diminished us as a society.

[nihilon x]

What a hypocrite you are, calling others racist.

--

"If I were a UCLA college student and there was a Middle Eastern young male with a backpack near me and no proof he was suppose to be in a secured area, I think I would want him to leave ASAP. He deserved to be zapped. That is probably why most students just stood around and took pictures."

posted 11/16/2006 at 18:22:48 by mikegoodyearaz85338

[jsantiago]

It's easy to make accusations based on broad generalizations that can sustain no proof at all, like "the racist left" and what happens to "a conservative black man." The truth is in the specifics, not the generalizations, and the specific history of this man shows avoidance and an allergy to dealing with the truth openly. So does his book. Shouldn't dealing with the truth have something to do with being a Supreme Court Justice?

[maddogbitesback]

Clarence Thomas is a shameless liar who used the history of the blacks to get around damning evidence. He is certainly no model for a successful conservative. And George Bush is no model for a compassionate conservative or a Christian. Too bad Clarence Thomas didn't have to step down after eight years. Anita Hill didn't whine and who knows what her politics are. She testified because her report on her experiences while working with Clarence Thomas were leaked to the press. What a stupid thing to say Clarence Thomas is a success. Why doesn't someone say anything sympathetic about Bork. Or does anyone remember him. Oh ya. He is white. So no one cares about him.

[Kundera]

know why the black community is in trouble?

A guy like Thomas works his ass off, started in horrible segregated poverty, and is now Supreme Court Justice and he is hated by his own community.

Michael Vick and OJ Simpson get more love from the Black community.

F***** AMAZING.

[lisakaz]

At least 1 out of 3 is correct. And I'm not sure the 2 are truly "loved," at least not universally.

[demyellowdog]

know why the white community is in trouble?

Guys like 43 and Darth Cheney can piss on the constitution, torture people, spy on American citizens, start a war for oil and not be impeached.

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie go to prison for more time than Bush and Cheney (and Gonzales and Rove and Libby and...ETC ETC, the list is seemingly endless).

F****** AMAZING.

[brwnizofmine]

Amen, brotha, Amen!!!!

[PaHairO]

Nice. Very nice.

[nihilon x]

"Michael Vick and OJ Simpson get more love from the Black community."

And Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Beyonce, Robert Johnson, and Serena Williams get more love than either of them.

Hyperbole solves nothing -- stick with the facts.

[bknott]

Why on earth would the black community support Thomas? He's trying to reverse every civil rights victory blacks have gained. Clarence Thomas' supreme court appointment was no victory for civil rights. And if you think black people can't figure that out, you're an ass.

[dd39203]

Thank you! Black skin does not make one an advocate or friend of others with black skin. Martin Luther King said that a snakes can be black or white.

[JonBFertippton]

The best way to analyze Clarence is in comparison with his colleagues. Which of the "Justices" sold out more: Thomas, Rehnquist, Scalia or the two new Neocons? The Supreme Court has been besmirched, its authority ruined by these corrupt right-wing ideologues. And the process of dismantling the positive legacy of the Court will continue into the future. They gave the world - W. That was a crime in every way. Clarence Thomas, member of the Extreme Court, one of the big bananas in the world's biggest banana republic. How sickening.