I don't live in the past…<
No one does, as such a thing is really quite impossible. Nevertheless the wise man will study and remember the past. Many actions of today have their roots in those of yesterday.
>I had no opinion on Clarence Thomas…(snipped a bunch of irrelevancies)… I didn't know what to make of the Anita Hill charges; I didn't like the whole thing then…<
Well then fine, pal. But my advice to anyone who claims to have principles and who had no opinion on what the left tried to do to Thomas is this: shut up about what the right is doing to Clinton unless you condemn the left. You can't in principle ignore the evil of the left, and assault that of the right.
>I thought and think that Clarence Thomas is bad for the country. (snipped more irrelevancies) Since Thomas was such an obvious token to the Republican's; trying to embarrass Dem's by forcing them to come out against a Black man when they fight so hard to help minorities in this country; that aspect of it sicked me of the Republican's.<
This is no reason to endure the unprincipled assault of Thomas, my friend. You cannot extricate your camp from this evil merely by claiming not to know what to think of it. Now you know. If your girls disliked Thomas, they should have attacked his record and positions. If they had heard substantial allegations of true harassment and the like, as opposed to little girl crap, then they could have with principle explored them. But they had heard no such things. They nevertheless assaulted the man with extraordinary bloodthirstiness. Now they have been reduced to nothing but a bunch of ladies of the night. Too bad. Clinton and his ilk are no doubt enjoying themselves.
--
You know, I registered your description of Thomas and initially determined to dismiss it for the utter hogwash it is. But it is a description I have often heard coming from bigots on the left, and so I will address it candidly.
Sir, Thomas is a fine justice, and he is no rubber stamp for Scalia. You really ought to try and be reasonable here. You in effect claim Thomas sits on the court, not thinking at all for himself, but rather empty-headedly duplicates everything Scalia does. This is silly and if you do not know it, you should.
No doubt Thomas and Scalia simply agree frequently, just as I do with them both. They both have essentially the same spiritual roots, and both are not afraid to allow this to impact their lives. So it should come as no great surprise to anyone that these two men will frequently agree. It is really quite insulting not to Thomas, but to yourself to call Thomas "unqualified" and a "token" and a "rubberstamp for Scalia". Don't be such a stinkin' bigot. Thomas ain' nobody's nigger. He is a Supreme Court Justice, your Supreme Court Justice; and he has his own opinions about the laws of this country. Merely because those opinions differ from yours is no reason to call him a "token" and whatnot.
If Bush chose Thomas because he was a Black conservative then that is what he did. But this is certainly no reason to try and discount Thomas himself. Discount Bush if you must. Thomas himself is an excellent justice. Have you ever read a Thomas opinion? I doubt that you have, spouting such ignorance. If you have read Thomas you certainly did not understand him. Read him first. Try reading him not from your leftward perspective, but merely as one who wants to learn his point of view. Then stop calling the man stupid names.
The racial bigotry Thomas provokes from the left (from both Whites and Blacks) is quite remarkable. You claim the Democrats have fought for minorities, but the fact is the left abhors allowing those minorities the greatest freedom of all-- the freedom to think for themselves. Many Blacks can't even allow themselves this freedom. Many of dem still be wuckin' fo de Massa. Many on the left simply cannot stand it when a Black man is willing to stand up to take a position opposite theirs. They act as if that Black man has betrayed them. It is as if after all they have done for those niggers, to have them actually think for themselves is just too much for them to handle. They act as if Thomas should know, ipso facto, that Affirmative Action or anything else in which the left deems "correct" is indeed correct, this, simply because he is Black. Well, sir. Thomas ain' yo niggah, and contrary to what you want to believe, he ain't nobody else's, including Scalia's. I am very happy to break the news to you that slavery ended long ago, my friend.
It just so happens when you remove the chains from a man's neck and allow him to acquire a bit of knowledge, he begins to think. And when he begins to think, he begins to become aware of his surroundings. When this happens, he begins to see patterns of action and reaction. And when this happens, he begins to form opinions as to why certain things occur and what, if anything, should be done about them. In a civilized society when a man comes to this point of consciousness, he should be free, regardless of his race, to voice his opinions as well as you or I without having his race or any racial overtones whatever brought into the thing. His attempt at reason gives him access, and he is beholden neither to you nor I.
The left does not want Thomas free to reject Affirmative Action or other issues. This is fine. What is not fine is that they often try to use his race against him. They call him "Uncle Tom", and "token" and other such bigoted names, instead of arguing the merits of their case for Affirmative Action. (I seriously doubt most people who utter the term "Uncle Tom" have ever read or understood "Uncle Tom's Cabin", otherwise they would see old Tom was anything but an "Uncle Tom". But I digress from my digression). Meanwhile, Thomas's very astute views go unoticed by he left. As long as Thomas refuses to be a Democrat slave, it seems the left will try marginalizing the man by use of his race. Fine. But these bigots are missing out.
I am proud of Clarence Thomas. I am proud of him not because of his race. I simply love excellence wherever it exists and regardless of the color of the man in which it happens to reside. I also enjoy seeing humbless in a man of power. I find it very attractive. Thomas has all these qualities and more. I read once that on more than one occasion Thomas was asked to speak and was veritably boycotted, in one case the engagement was cancelled. The cancelled engagement was a speech to a group of young Black students. Blacks were against Thomas speaking merely because he did not parrot de Massas's views. Those Blacks called Thomas some of the most awful things. Were I he, I likely would have said without much thought "Well fine. Die, for all I care. I have better things to do than speak with your ignorant children". Well, fortunately Thomas is a much better man than I. The engagement was reestablished and Thomas re-invited to speak. Thomas, rather than dismissing those who assaulted him, very nobly went and spoke courageously and without malice. Fairly recently I was en route to the West Coast when I decided to relax with a bit of CSPAN. What did I see? Clarence Thomas, encouraging a group of juvenile delinquents, telling them that hope was not lost, that they still had a great future ahead of them if only they would flee crime and run toward education, generosity and kindness. i could no relax at all. I was in fact riveted to the scene. There he was, Clarence Thomas, old "Uncle Tom" his own self, hugging and talking one-on-one to boy after boy, this, after he had spoken for nearly an hour to the entire group. It went on endlessly. I am proud of Clarence Thomas because he not only has a great mind, but a great heart. Contrary to what the left claims, he has a heart for his people, in my opinion, much more so than those scoundrels Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.
But now I must return to the point.
--
>Why would I want to help the Republican's on something as pathetic as that? You seem to miss the point; I see this all as politics and I'm not going to support the side I'm against on policy; that is the goal the other side wants to score with; getting me to vote against my best interests using whatever crazy logic to get me to do it. I want fall for it.<
Sir. You would not be helping the Republicans. You would be standing for your principles. At this level, it really does not matter that Republicans will benefit from your standing on principle. It is not merely politics, my friend. Calling losing your soul "politics" truly misnames the thing.
>Thomas just added to an already clear verdict in my mind that the Republican party is substantially anti-Black. They use tokenism and hold up the rare examples of Black involvement in their Party, but vote substantially and consistently against civil rights interests.<
Well perhaps. I believe Republicans indeed use tokenism, but so do the Democrats. Democrats are masters of tokenism, such masters they have Blacks generally in their back pockets. They can claim to have great respect for Blacks, and then turn right around and effectively call a Black who thinks differently than they a dumb obedient nigger. Yes, my friend, I am being very plain with you because this is what you do when you call Thomas a 'token who is nothing but a rubber stamp for Scalia ' and when your folk call him an "Uncle Tom". Thomas is free to think as he pleases, even if you detest his views. There is no need to insult him racially.
Perhaps Bush wanted a Black to replace Marshall-- a Black who would show other Blacks that they can think apart from their Democrat Massas, and yet still love their people. Perhaps Bush simply thought well of Thomas's abilities, and believed Thomas had all the attributes that would allow him to be confirmed to the Court while embracing staunchly conservative ideology. Surely you do not think Bush said to himself "Lets choose Thomas. He can't think, so he will just vote precisely as I want him to vote." This is silly. Likely he thought "Thomas: Have you read his views on Natural Law? Outstanding! Have you read his views on Affirmative Action? Outstanding! Yale? Outstanding! This man is sharp, shares our values and believes as we do about truth and opportunity, and he is Black to boot. This will help ge him past the liberals. So we keep a Black man on the Supreme Court, but one who shares our values."
However you felt about Bush, there is nothing you can say that will justify what your ladies tried to do to Thomas. However you feel about Bush today, Thomas is yet on the bench and he is doing a fine job even if you disagree with him. You are not justified in calling him a "token", hereby continuing the bigotry and stupidity your ladies perpetrated at his confirmation. |
