Clarence Thomas Whines His Way to the Bank

[rodeodance]

Clarence Thomas Whines His Way to the Bank
By Frank Rich, The New York Times
Posted on October 8, 2007, Printed on October 8, 2007
http://www.alternet.org/story/64640/


What's the difference between a low-tech lynching and a high-tech lynching? A high-tech lynching brings a tenured job on the Supreme Court and a $1.5 million book deal. A low-tech lynching, not so much.

Pity Clarence Thomas. Done in by what he calls "left-wing zealots draped in flowing sanctimony" -- as he describes anyone who challenged his elevation to the court -- he still claims to have suffered as much as African-Americans once victimized by "bigots in white robes." Since kicking off his book tour on 60 Minutes last Sunday, he has been whining all the way to the bank, often abetted by a press claque as fawning as his No. 1 fan, Rush Limbaugh.

We are always at a crossroads with race in America, and so here we are again. The rollout of Justice Thomas's memoir, My Grandfather's Son, is not happening in a vacuum. It follows a Supreme Court decision (which he abetted) outlawing voluntary school desegregation plans in two American cities. It follows yet another vote by the Senate to deny true Congressional representation to the majority black District of Columbia. It follows the decision by the leading Republican presidential candidates to snub a debate at a historically black college as well as the re-emergence of a low-tech lynching noose in Jena, La.

Perhaps most significant of all, Mr. Thomas's woe-is-me tour unfolds against the backdrop of the presidential campaign of an African-American whose political lexicon does not include martyrdom or rage. My Grandfather's Son may consciously or not echo the title of Barack Obama's memoir of genealogy and race, Dreams from My Father, but it might as well be written in another tongue.

..................

[shain from kane]

1. Who put a pubic hair on my copy? n/t

[blondeatlast]

2. The timing of the book's release is intriguing.

Situated between some astonishingly bad SCOTUS decisions and the prezidential campaign--and anyone with a more-than-passing knowledge of the book world knows that RW tomes are laboriously planned, ghostwritten (that's nearly a sure thing for a SCOTUS judge who can't write an opinion to get out of a box), and oh-so carefulloy timed.

Regardless of how the Dem primaries/caucuses play out, I'll tell you this--the Republicans feel threatened. Expect lots more books to come out. It isn't about sales, it's about getting face time--that's all it is.

The book industry has been talking about it for almost a decade, now the public is catching on.

[Johonny]

3. And yet

The odds you meet anyone that has read this book will be very, very low. These books get hyped a lot, get great spots on the floor at book stores and yet no one every seems to read them...

[kskiska]

4. Mary Cheney got a huge advance for her book

that enabled her and her partner to buy a big new house. However, no one bought the book. Democrats certainly wouldn't care to read it, most gays wouldn't be enamored of someone who goes against her own interests, and Republicans, who are homophobic anyway, wouldn't buy it.

There's never been a photo published of Mary and Heather with their baby - just one with Lynne and Dick holding it.

[shain from kane]

5. Paid $1.00 at Goodwill for novelty purposes. Cheap laugh.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

6. In the CSPAN interview he bitterly declared non-stop that he had not a drop of bitterness in him.

What an amazingly transparent man.

[erpowers]

7. Clarence Thomas is Ridiculous

I first heard about Thomas's mob comments last night. When I heard them I was very upset. Thomas is another one of the black conservatives who are always telling other black people to stop saying racism is the cause of your problems, do not use your race an a reason for something happened to you. However, when he gets questioned during a confirmation hearing the first thing he does is use the race care. This seems to be a major thing with the black conservatives. They will criticize any left leaning black person for making the slightest suggestion that racism is still an issue in this country, but when they do not get what they want or what they want is, in their eyes threatened, they have no problem throwing the race card.

In terms of the worth of his Yale degree, if he felt the degree was so cheapen by his getting into Yale Law partially due to affirmative action then why did he accept the offer to become a Supreme Court Justice. I guess it would have been nice if the CBS interviewer had asked him that question.

Finally, even if the interview was about Thomas CBS could have at least allowed the people Thomas criticized a chance to give their side of the story. It seems like Thomas could have at least been challenged.