About 15 years ago, Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, a virulent Christian nationalist (CN), gave a speech at the Manhattan Institute, a bastion of radical right, laissez-faire capitalist plutocrat ideology. In that speech, he commented on how he saw the role of legal precedent (stare decisis in legal jargon) in deciding cases. Simply put, he was for precedent except when he wasn’t. Precedents he liked, he would adhere to, but “wrongly decided” precedents he would vote to overturn. The audience was literally in some sort of trance. They were grateful to be in the same room, breathing the same air. Literally.
Recently, Thomas gave another speech. This time he commented on the danger of destroying institutions. This is standard radical right propaganda. The radical right, including Thomas himself, have been successfully gnawing away at the independence and robustness of democracy and democratic institutions and norms for decades. That toxic hatchet job is pretty close to being done. But what on Earth prompted Thomas into this fit of radical right deep hypocrisy? The Washington Post writes:
Justice Clarence Thomas defended the independence of the Supreme Court on Thursday and warned against “destroying our institutions because they don't give us what we want, when we want it.”Thomas, the longest serving justice, acknowledged that the high court has its flaws, comparing it to a “car with three wheels” that somehow still works. But he said the justices are not ruling based on “personal preferences” and suggested that the nation’s leaders should not “allow others to manipulate our institutions when we don’t get the outcome that we like.”He also alluded several times to the political polarization in the United States. “We’ve gotten to the point where we’re really good at finding something that separates us,” Thomas told the crowd of more than 800 students and faculty gathered at the school’s performing arts center.
Thomas is the latest justice to add his voice to the mix and publicly come to the court’s defense in the face of growing criticism that the nine justices are merely politicians in robes.“I think the media makes it sound as though you are just always going right to your personal preference. So if they think you are antiabortion or something personally, they think that’s the way you always will come out. They think you’re for this or for that. They think you become like a politician,” Thomas said in response to a question about public misconceptions of the court.
“That’s a problem. You’re going to jeopardize any faith in the legal institutions.”
But Thomas twice cautioned [about proposals to expand the court] that “we should be really, really careful” about “destroying our institutions.” He went on to quote his late grandfather as saying, “After you’ve done that, and now what? What’s your next step?”
Say what???
How many ways is that blatant hypocrite propaganda
grounded in partisan motivated reasoning?
OMG! Let me count the ways
The 1st paragraph: First, we have the “destroying our institutions because they don't give us what we want, when we want it” comment. One can rationally ask, why were you and the other five radical right CN judges put on the bench by the FRP in the first place? To deliver to the demagogic, plutocratic FRP, legal decisions that support its agenda. What agenda? Anti-abortion, anti-business regulation, anti-voting rights, anti-inconvenient truth and science, anti-government, anti-democracy, anti-rule of law, anti-free press, anti-political opposition, anti-secular government, anti-middle and lower class, with its pro-fundamentalist Christianity, pro-rich people, pro-corporations and pro-tons 'o guns 'n ammo agenda. When does the FRP want its agenda served to itself? Right now. Not next year, this year. ASAP!
And, Thomas has been working hard for years to deliver as much as he can, as fast as he can. A week or two ago, he voted with four other CN radicals to let a blatantly unconstitutional Texas abortion law take effect without even a formal lawsuit. In tat case, Thomas directly attacked and subverted the institution he claims to want to defend by killing abortions in Texas using the Supreme Court’s shadow docket tactic. Yup, Thomas is working hard to destroy the Supreme Court for all of us and the rule of law and to rebuild it as a court for demagogues, plutocrats, traitors, crooks, liars, thugs and the like.
The 2nd paragraph: Next, let’s consider the court is a “car with three wheels” that somehow still works comment.** Well, who broke it? The fascist Republican Party (FRP), that’s who. What party does Thomas belong to? The FRP. But as a CN radical sitting on the court that is packed with five other fellow CN radicals, of course he sees it as still working.** It is working for radical Christian fundamentalist religion, the FRP and their aggressive, poison ideology and agenda (summarized above). The FRP has packed the court by blowing political norms to smithereens. From the CN point of view, everything is just hunky dory and not broken. So why fix it in any meaningful, i.e., anti-CN and pro-rule of law, way?
** A car with three wheels cannot work because it is broken. Thomas isn’t very bright. Dim bulb when it comes to logic and connections to reality.
The 3rd paragraph: Jeez, we’re only at the 3rd paragraph? Sigh, this is gonna be a long blog post. I thought this would be a short one. Foiled again.
Thomas complained that “we’ve gotten to the point where we’re really good at finding something that separates us.” Well, who is the party of ruthless propaganda that intentionally foments polarization, division and distrust? The FRP. What party does Thomas belong to? You guessed it.
The 4th paragraph: Thomas pushed back in his comment about justices being politicians in robes. But wait! Doesn’t the FRP, and especially the hyper-radical Federalist Society, impose litmus tests to acceptability for FRP federal judges? Damn right there are litmus tests. Every one of the six CN radicals on the bench passed the anti-abortion litmus test and other mandatory FRP tests, e.g., pro-tons 'o guns 'n ammo, anti-regulation, anti-government, anti-inconvenient truth, etc.
Passing those tests is mandatory, not optional for FRP federal judge picks. Thomas and the other five FRP judges are politicians in black robes whether he believes that or not. Thomas is blowing partisan black smoke at us, or maybe he is just trying to convince himself.
What comes out of his mouth, also comes out of this tailpipe --
it’s toxic, opaque and smells funny, but at least it’s legal 😕
The 5th paragraph: Thomas responded to a question about public misconceptions of the court and judges being politicians. He blames that media. That’s a standard FRP deflection and polarization propaganda tactic. No, the public who criticizes the current court, and how it got installed and how it decides cases has it right. The media has little to do with that other than to report on what is going on.** The judges are chosen to be politicians to advance an agenda. Thomas has gross misconceptions of the court and himself. So, is he self-deluded, a cynical liar, stupid and/or something else?
** Actually, IMO, the media gets a grade of F for its failure to report on the awesome power and influence of CN in the federal courts and how it got that power and influence. If the professional press had been doling its job properly, the public perception of the Supreme Court and it’s alleged impartiality would be significantly worse.
Sixth and 7th paragraphs: Thomas is concerned about loss of faith in legal institutions? Really? Well, who is mostly responsible for that? The FRP, prominently including the CN radical Thomas himself. Ditto for destruction of institutions. We need to set up a gofundme page to buy a big mirror for Clarence. He really needs one. Or, he is too cynical and/or self-deluded for a mirror to make any difference?
In his speech, Thomas expresses the standard false CN and FRP narrative about the situation and who is mostly responsible for widespread public discontent. Decades of divisive, polarizing FRP propaganda have fomented most of it. Thomas did not mention the role that he and his authoritarian demagogic party have played. He makes it sound as if there is equivalence or that the people who criticize the modern CN court and how it came into existence are the ones living in la-la land and playing a dangerous game.
Question: Is Thomas and the rest of the FRP elites self-deluded, stupid, ice cold cynics hell bent on the FRP and CN agenda, and/or something else?
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