Perhaps Justice Thomas could improve his standing by balancing his current social class affiliations with volunteer work in the Peace Corps, the National Action Network, Head Start, etc. He might meet a different sort of people in those organizations. That RV would certainly turn heads in those outfits!
After it became known to the public that Clarence Thomas had not spoken during a court session and that his written opinions bore a remarkable similarity to those of another justice, I surmised that one way to undermine affirmative action is to select the worst candidate for a position, not the best.
I get this tongue in cheek article - and your caustic humor. I guess it was funny but to me, as an elderly woman who watched the Anita Hill hearings, it was one more way of avoiding some very serious issues on our misogynistic "white" priviledge majority Supreme Court and country as a whole. Judge Thomas is no friend of mine, nor the majority of women and black people for that matter.
My contrarian side kicks in: IIRC there are some reports that Thomas is, in fact, a people person, at least in relation to the staff at SCOTUS, apparently being more interested in their lives than some of the other justices. It's possible that Thomas views friendship somewhat differently than my own WASP culture--being less transactional and more relational.
I feel that the chief problem is that the US has turned into a plutocracy, with wealth disparity affecting the democratic process. There must be a solution in here somewhere.
This but unironically. All sorts of people at the top of their respected fields gravitate to one another. Harlan is a rich man. One can draw this point out in all sorts of gory details, but he has a nice lake house and nice plane and when he entertains his friends, it is... nice? Not extraordinary in either % of his net worth or in sharing with friends. Just a successful man from a successful family. Excluding envy and the gossipy aspects of being able to peek into other people’s lives, this is entirely normal and wholesome. Justice Thomas is rich in constitutional law expertise -- a player in a different field at the top of his game. His friends get the company of a friend uncommonly wise. Amongst themselves, pretty usual to have people chip in what they can and not keep score. It could boggle the mind of someone from a primitive tribe if you 1) owned a car with several empty seats that are rarely used and 2) offered a friend a ride. I would see this as no evidence of corruption even if it represents an unimaginable value to someone forced to walk for miles. I would see this as no evidence of virtue if instead you forced a friend to walk so as to not appear to be trying to corrupt him. Ethics is not lying, cheating, or stealing. Modernity’s substituting real character with the avoidance of appearing to have conflicts of interest is a trade down.
Sorry, that dog won't hunt. If the only gift Thomas had received was swanky vacations at his friends' second and third homes, then maybe there could be a real debate about the appearance of conflicts of interest vs. actual conflicts of interest. In Thomas' case, however, his good friends also paid out his mother's mortgage, his wife's six-figure salary, his adopted son's private-school tuition, and his Rolls Royce of an RV. Furthermore, a really good friend WHO IS A LAWYER takes care to change the title of his vehicle when the guy who gave him the loan relinquishes his lien.
Nice try, but, unironically, your argument does not correspond with the facts.
The other day my brother and I went to lunch, and I picked up the tab. Forty dollars, plus a five dollar tip. (Yes, five bucks. I know it's a bit excessive, but I'm a generous fella, as much as I hate to brag about it.) Are you saying that because of my largesse, which is enough to feed a family in Papua New Guinea for a week, or get Daddy that new penis sheath he's had his eye on, I've purchased my dear bro's affection? That if my dearest sibling was a judge in a case where I was a defendant, any rulings in my favor should be seen in a harsh light? (My brother is so fair-minded and true that neither of us would dare spill the beans on our relationship, and allow hecklers to question our deep bonds.) Sheesh, I'd hate to live in your world.
And one more thing. Have you ever tried to park your Prevost Le Mirage XL Marathon in a Walmart parking lot, when it's raining and you've been on the road all day seeing the real heartland where the salt of the earth abide? No, you haven't, because you fly over it, sneering and chuckling the whole time at the unwashed toilers and strivers below. If only you got to know a few of them, or even just one billionaire real estate magnate who could teach you what a real friend does for his mates, maybe your Grinch heart could grow a size or two, and you could experience the love that truly makes the world go round.
WHY are they friends? Would Harlan Crow and all the others have given Justice Thomas the time of day before he was a Supreme Court justice? Of course not!!!! This may be the most bizarre comment I have ever read, ever. “There is none so blind as he who will not see.” You are willfully blind.
Perhaps Justice Thomas could improve his standing by balancing his current social class affiliations with volunteer work in the Peace Corps, the National Action Network, Head Start, etc. He might meet a different sort of people in those organizations. That RV would certainly turn heads in those outfits!
After it became known to the public that Clarence Thomas had not spoken during a court session and that his written opinions bore a remarkable similarity to those of another justice, I surmised that one way to undermine affirmative action is to select the worst candidate for a position, not the best.
Hmmm. Do I detect some irony here?
I get this tongue in cheek article - and your caustic humor. I guess it was funny but to me, as an elderly woman who watched the Anita Hill hearings, it was one more way of avoiding some very serious issues on our misogynistic "white" priviledge majority Supreme Court and country as a whole. Judge Thomas is no friend of mine, nor the majority of women and black people for that matter.
My contrarian side kicks in: IIRC there are some reports that Thomas is, in fact, a people person, at least in relation to the staff at SCOTUS, apparently being more interested in their lives than some of the other justices. It's possible that Thomas views friendship somewhat differently than my own WASP culture--being less transactional and more relational.
I feel that the chief problem is that the US has turned into a plutocracy, with wealth disparity affecting the democratic process. There must be a solution in here somewhere.
This but unironically. All sorts of people at the top of their respected fields gravitate to one another. Harlan is a rich man. One can draw this point out in all sorts of gory details, but he has a nice lake house and nice plane and when he entertains his friends, it is... nice? Not extraordinary in either % of his net worth or in sharing with friends. Just a successful man from a successful family. Excluding envy and the gossipy aspects of being able to peek into other people’s lives, this is entirely normal and wholesome. Justice Thomas is rich in constitutional law expertise -- a player in a different field at the top of his game. His friends get the company of a friend uncommonly wise. Amongst themselves, pretty usual to have people chip in what they can and not keep score. It could boggle the mind of someone from a primitive tribe if you 1) owned a car with several empty seats that are rarely used and 2) offered a friend a ride. I would see this as no evidence of corruption even if it represents an unimaginable value to someone forced to walk for miles. I would see this as no evidence of virtue if instead you forced a friend to walk so as to not appear to be trying to corrupt him. Ethics is not lying, cheating, or stealing. Modernity’s substituting real character with the avoidance of appearing to have conflicts of interest is a trade down.
Sorry, that dog won't hunt. If the only gift Thomas had received was swanky vacations at his friends' second and third homes, then maybe there could be a real debate about the appearance of conflicts of interest vs. actual conflicts of interest. In Thomas' case, however, his good friends also paid out his mother's mortgage, his wife's six-figure salary, his adopted son's private-school tuition, and his Rolls Royce of an RV. Furthermore, a really good friend WHO IS A LAWYER takes care to change the title of his vehicle when the guy who gave him the loan relinquishes his lien.
Nice try, but, unironically, your argument does not correspond with the facts.
The other day my brother and I went to lunch, and I picked up the tab. Forty dollars, plus a five dollar tip. (Yes, five bucks. I know it's a bit excessive, but I'm a generous fella, as much as I hate to brag about it.) Are you saying that because of my largesse, which is enough to feed a family in Papua New Guinea for a week, or get Daddy that new penis sheath he's had his eye on, I've purchased my dear bro's affection? That if my dearest sibling was a judge in a case where I was a defendant, any rulings in my favor should be seen in a harsh light? (My brother is so fair-minded and true that neither of us would dare spill the beans on our relationship, and allow hecklers to question our deep bonds.) Sheesh, I'd hate to live in your world.
And one more thing. Have you ever tried to park your Prevost Le Mirage XL Marathon in a Walmart parking lot, when it's raining and you've been on the road all day seeing the real heartland where the salt of the earth abide? No, you haven't, because you fly over it, sneering and chuckling the whole time at the unwashed toilers and strivers below. If only you got to know a few of them, or even just one billionaire real estate magnate who could teach you what a real friend does for his mates, maybe your Grinch heart could grow a size or two, and you could experience the love that truly makes the world go round.
Ridiculous. It’s your brother, not some person who you befriended after they assumed a position of influence over your economic and political life.
WHY are they friends? Would Harlan Crow and all the others have given Justice Thomas the time of day before he was a Supreme Court justice? Of course not!!!! This may be the most bizarre comment I have ever read, ever. “There is none so blind as he who will not see.” You are willfully blind.
If it’s such a minor, not corrupt thing, why didn’t Thomas disclose these things on his annual financial reports like he was supposed to?