<http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/04/clarence-thomas>Lest we forget another of Bush Senior's crimes against democracy.
(It was also Bush the Elder who introduced Mike Connell to Karl Rove and Dubya.) MCM Crime and Justice Clarence Thomas Is One Seriously Troubled Dude By Jonathan Stein | Mon April 13, 2009 12:01 PM PST http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/04/clarence-thomas This New York Times article on a rare public appearance by Justice Clarence Thomas -- a talk with high school essay contest winners -- is enough to make you feel sorry for the poor schmuck, if he wasn't on the most powerful court in the land and thus able to place the imprint of his neuroses and obvious self-loathing on the legacy of American jurisprudence. The article makes clear, simply by quoting the famously taciturn Thomas, that he believes he is dumber than all the other justices and a good number of law professors, and retreats into isolation ("I tend to be morose sometimes") to nurse his wounds and brood. What an awful purgatory of an existence: to know you are a fraud, to know that everyone else knows you are a fraud, and yet to be locked into your job more or less for life. It's enough to ruin a person. And it appears it has. April 14, 2009 A Reticent Justice Opens Up to a Group of Students By ADAM LIPTAK WASHINGTON <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/us/14bar.html?_r=1&hp>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/14/us/14bar.html?_r=1&hp Justice Clarence Thomas has not asked a question from the Supreme Court bench since Feb. 22, 2006. He speaks only to announce his majority opinions, reading summaries in a gruff monotone. Glimpses of Justice Thomas in less formal settings are rare. But he turned up in a Washington ballroom the other night to respond to questions from the winners of a high school essay contest. His answers and the remarks that preceded them provided a revealing look at Justice Thomas's worldview these days. He talked about his own school days, reminiscing fondly about seeing "a flag and a crucifix in each classroom." He talked about his burdens and his dark moods and about seeking inspiration in speeches and movies. And though the dinner was sponsored by the Bill of Rights Institute, he admitted to an uneasy relationship with the whole idea of rights. The institute had arranged for a fancy hot-pink lectern that glowed from the inside, and it was odd to see Justice Thomas, who is wary of ostentation, standing behind it. His plainspoken manner was in sharp contrast to his surroundings. "I tend to be morose sometimes," the justice said. "I am rounding the last turn for my 18th term on the court," he added, but his work - "this endeavor," he called it, "or, for some, an ordeal" - has not gotten easier. "That's one thing about this job," he said. "You get a little tired." But he said he has found solace in his den. "Sometimes, when I get a little down," Justice Thomas said wearily, he goes online. "I look up wonderful speeches, like speeches by Douglas MacArthur, to hear him give without a note that speech at West Point - 'duty, honor, country.' How can you not hear those words and not feel strongly about what we have?" He continued: "Or how can you not reminisce about a childhood where you began each day with the Pledge of Allegiance as little kids lined up in the schoolyard and then marched in two by two with a flag and a crucifix in each classroom?" A favorite movie can be a comfort, too. "I have on many occasions or a number of occasions when things were becoming particularly routine gone down to my basement to watch 'Saving Private Ryan,' " he said. "I can't tell you why that particular movie, except we have it and it's about something important in our lives - World War II." The event, on March 31, was devoted to the Bill of Rights, but Justice Thomas did not embrace the document, and he proposed a couple of alternatives. 'Today there is much focus on our rights," Justice Thomas said. "Indeed, I think there is a proliferation of rights." "I am often surprised by the virtual nobility that seems to be accorded those with grievances," he said. "Shouldn't there at least be equal time for our Bill of Obligations and our Bill of Responsibilities?" He gave examples: "It seems that many have come to think that each of us is owed prosperity and a certain standard of living. They're owed air conditioning, cars, telephones, televisions." Those are luxuries, Justice Thomas said. "I have to admit," he said, "that I'm one of those people that still thinks the dishwasher is a miracle. What a device! And I have to admit that because I think that way, I like to load it. I like to look in and see how that dishes were magically cleaned." He was asked how his religious faith influenced his work on the court. "I think that it really gives content to the oath that you took," Justice Thomas said. "You say, 'so help me God.' " "There are some cases that will drive you to your knees," he added. "In those moments you ask for strength and wisdom to have the right answer and the courage to stand up for it. Beyond that, it would be illegitimate, I think, and a violation of my oath to incorporate my religious beliefs into the decision-making process." The questions from students were read to Justice Thomas, and the first one seemed to throw him off. "Since the Civil War, what has changed the way Americans view the Constitution the most and why?" an unidentified student asked. Justice Thomas gave a rambling response, touching on the Fourteenth Amendment, the rights of freed slaves, the application of parts of the Bill of Rights to the states and Justice John Marshall Harlan's dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 Supreme Court decision that endorsed the doctrine of "separate but equal." "I'm sure there are other things that have happened," he said, wrapping up his answer. "So I would have to say just off the top of my head the Fourteenth Amendment. And I bet you someone's going to hear that and say, well, no, it's the dormant commerce clause or something." That was a curious aside. Few Americans could name the the dormant commerce clause, and it has no obvious connection to how popular views of the Constitution changed after the Civil War. "This job is easy for people who've never done it," Justice Thomas said later. "What I have found in this job is they know more about it than I do, especially if they have the title, law professor." Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. 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