Clarence Thomas

[eirias]

What's the deal with Clarence Thomas? Chatterers have been chattering about how he might be the next Supreme Court Justice, and how terrible a thing that would be for the left. Not knowing much about him, I did some shallow research today to find out why he's so reviled, and I have to say I came up kind of blank. I think I disagree with him quite a bit, but he seems principled and fair - for instance, I think his stance on affirmative action ignores certain things about human nature, but it's a stance I can sympathize with all the same, because necessary or not it's still pretty inherently sad. Further, I compared his dissenting opinion on Lawrence vs. Texas (a recent SCOTUS case in which I was personally invested) to Scalia's, and I have to say, there's no contest - Scalia's opinion was dripping with pages upon pages of contempt for gays, but Thomas' response was short and merely said that he thought the Texas law in question was lame, but that it was not the place of the Supreme Court to overturn it. Again - not an opinion I agree with, but nothing I can see to revile. Is there dirt I'm missing, or is this it?

Comments

[ksledge.livejournal.com]

agreed -- I am not bothered by that kind of hypocrisy at all...in fact I think I'm one of those people. Because my parents are well off, I went to all of these great schools and had awesome unpaid summer internship opportunities while other kids had to save up for college by waiting tables or scanning groceries. Moreover, because I went to my froo-froo high school I had an unfair advantage getting into college. Because of where I went to college, I'll have an unfair advantage getting into grad school. (They don't take prestige of institution that much into account, but I did get all of these ridiculous research/education opportunities at my college that I wouldn't have gotten a lot of other places.) Of course this is just what my parents wanted for me, but I want OTHER kids to have this opportunity, too! So, I will continue to be strongly in favor of affirmative action, scholarships, head start programs for minorities and poor people, need-based awards, etc.
I also hate it when people assume all blacks, women, (insert oppressed population here) should be democrats/liberals. Even though part of me is a little guilty of this sentiment, it is so obnoxious and condescending. In fact, it's stereotyping and borders on racism/sexism.