The Truth About Clarence Thomas

by Jan Crawford Greenburg - January 28th, 2007 - The Wall Street Journal (opinionjournal.com)

Clarence Thomas has borne some of the most vitriolic personal attacks in Supreme Court history. But the persistent stereotypes about his views on the law and subordinate role on the court are equally offensive--and demonstrably false. An extensive documentary record shows that Justice Thomas has been a significant force in shaping the direction and decisions of the court for the past 15 years.

That's not the standard storyline. Immediately upon his arrival at the court, Justice Thomas was savaged by court-watchers as Antonin Scalia's dutiful apprentice, blindly following his mentor's lead. It's a grossly inaccurate portrayal, imbued with politically incorrect innuendo, as documents and notes from Justice Thomas's very first days on the court conclusively show. Far from being a Scalia lackey, the rookie jurist made clear to the other justices that he was willing to be the solo dissenter, sending a strong signal that he would not moderate his opinions for the sake of comity. By his second week on the bench, he was staking out bold positions in the private conferences where justices vote on cases. If either justice changed his mind to side with the other that year, it was Justice Scalia joining Justice Thomas, not the other way around.

Jan Greenburg has written a great article honoring a great man.

This weekend seems to be a weekend where men, real men, are being honored. Below is my posting on the three courageous pioneers who gave their lives in Apollo One. As impressive as they are, I am reminded that intellectual courage is sometimes harder to maintain. It is certainly equal to physical courage and it is not an attribute that denotes gender. It is that characteristic that denotes our greatest representatives of the human race, male or female. Clarence Thomas has been a model of courage and integrity since he came into public life. His brilliance allowed him to craft subtle strategies on complex issues that found widespread support. He was a star, like Thomas Sowell, not because he was black, but in spite of it. He was justifiably selected for the Supreme Court. He was not politically correct though so he was branded a race traitor. The entire liberal movement tried to destroy him. The rage of his enemies increased because he would not bend.

On the court, his obvious superiority led egocentric jurists like Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter to veer left and try to establish themselves as the "lead centrist". They could not compete with Clarence Thomas and their futile efforts to be important have forever branded them as second rate. In comparison with Thomas' clear and consistent logic, their rulings are inconsistent and incoherent.

My thoughts on Clarence Thomas remind me of the famous poem by Rudyard Kipling.

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
. . . . . . .

Clarence Thomas has lived this poem. When even his supporters sometimes doubted how good he was, Clarence Thomas simply stood his ground and quietly, with great dignity, behind the scenes, changed the minds of brilliant men and women. His intelligence and character are year by year becoming more and more obvious to even his detractors. What this nation owes him is incalculable.

The powerful ending of this poem reminds us that people with these characteristics are men. Nothing will ever change that fact. The truth about Clarence Thomas is that he is a MAN.



[If you would like to read Kipings entire poem, click here.]