He is often dismissed as a man of little accomplishment, an opportunistic black conservative who sold out his race, joined the Republican Party and was ultimately rewarded with an affirmative action appointment to the nation’s highest court, a sullen, intellectual lightweight so insecure he rarely opens his mouth in oral arguments. The problem with the characterization is that it’s unfair and untrue.
My job is to write opinions. I decide cases and write opinions. It is not to respond to idiocy and critics who make statements that are unfounded,” Thomas says. “That doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t have constructive criticisms, but it should be constructive. Whether or not I’m black or not, that’s just silliness. That is not worth responding to.”
Oh, obviously I do,” Thomas says. “Come on, you know? But it’s none of their business. How much does Justice Scalia care about Italians? Did you ask him that? Did anyone ever ask him? Give me a break. Do I help people? Absolutely. Do I help, love helping black people? Absolutely. And I do. But do I like helping all people? Yes. In particular I like helping people who are disadvantaged, people who don’t come from the best circumstances. Do white people live in homeless shelters? Do Hispanics live in homeless shelters? Is disadvantaged exclusive province of blacks? No.”
Thomas says the court may be closely divided on important ideological issues, but that he has never heard an uncivil word spoken in his 16 years there. He is reportedly one of the most popular people in the entire building, well-liked by everyone including his colleagues. Still only 59 years old, he is on track to become one of the longest serving Supreme Court justices in history. With every decision he makes and every opinion he writes, he thinks about his grandfather, Myers Anderson.
He has expressed his legal views in more than 300 written opinions, which is about average given his tenure, but he rarely opens his mouth during oral arguments.
“The perception is, the critics will say it’s because you’re not smart enough or you’re too insecure or you’re afraid to make a fool out of yourself,” Kroft says.
“Well, they make fools out of themselves with those kinds of comments,” Thomas says. “Justice Marshall rarely asked questions. Justice Powell rarely asked questions. That’s a personal preference. I certainly wouldn’t do it to provide histrionics for the media gallery or for other people or for critics. Critics will always be critics.”
Intellectually I am in love with this man. He is awesome!!!!!! I don’t know if you got a chance to hear him on Rush today but it was even better than the 60 minutes interview.
I’ll add this post to my links on mine.
He is actually one of the smartest men on the court, but the left thinks they have a monopoly on intelligence.
LMC: no, I missed the Rush show. But Thomas is clearly the right man for the right job.
Shop: that’s one of the most irritating points: the replete arrogance of the Left, thinking they have the complete market on education and academia. Everyone else consists of Lessers, Groundlings and Plebs.
BZ
I saw a couple of “Democratic Strategists” on Tucker Carlson “analyzing” the 60 Minutes interview. I did not see the whole interview, just the clips they showed. These guys used descriptors like, “angry”, “chip on his shoulder”, “someone with issues”.
Sounds hardly like what you all describe, and what I saw, but I’d have to see the whole interview.
Seems more likely that the “anal-ists” were the ones with the issues….
Henry: they WERE the ones with the issues, precisely BECAUSE Thomas was not trotting out the Standard Left Vomit with regard to the portray of blacks in America.
BZ
It was an excellent piece from 60 Minutes.
Justice Thomas is, indeed, one of the best men in America. He has impressed me in his handling of the entire put-up against him from the Left, that has been unable to address his outlook and, even worse for the Left, found no one who can reproach his character. Those they have put up are so badly flawed that the attempts to besmirch Thomas just holds the mirror up to themselves and the smallness and problems of their own making are self-evident.
His dissents in Kelo and Raich demonstrate not only his adherance to solid Constitutional views, but his willingness to give separation from himself from the dissenters to speak separately, in his own voice. I do not agree with every decision he has, needless to say, but that willingness to speak in his own voice so that the republic can benefit from it, is one that should be uplifting not only to America as a whole, but the black community. Here is a man who ‘walks the walk’ of ‘personal empowerment’ and yet abides by the needs of his nation above that of divisions within it. By living by that stated outlook and seeking no dependence upon others he has clearly demonstrated the path to self-empowerment better than many another who preach about ‘power’ but then mean ‘dependance’.
That is the goal of America: Unity from Diversity. Not Diversity to Dis-Union.