Justice Thomas Speaks!

A banner teaser at  The Washington Post this morning says "Clarence Thomas breaks silence with a joke."  I did not know that this Justice hasn't asked even one question of any counsel during oral arguments to the Court since 2006.  Amazing. Can you imagine him sitting in silence all that time, not a single question for any of the barristers at the High Court's bar?  No comments either?  I can't.  The why is a mystery.

 

My immediate thought on seeing that he had broken the silence with a joke was:  Clarence Thomas IS a joke.  Just not a funny joke.  But in all fairness, no human being is a joke, even when our human behaviors qualify. 

 

Thomas's wife Ginni is a big Tea Party activist and has worked as a paid lobbyist against health care reform; still, he didn't recuse himself when that case came to the top of the roster.  Back in July, 2012, US News reported:

 

According to Thomas's 2011 financial disclosure report form, filed on May 15 and obtained Friday by Whispers [Washington Whispers is a column at USNews.], the Thomas’s invested up to $15,000 in the political lobbying firm Liberty Consulting, where Ginni Thomas continues to earn a salary and benefits. The firm lobbied actively against the healthcare law, according to liberal news magazine Mother Jones.
Ginni formed Liberty Consulting after she was criticized for her work at Liberty Central, a non-profit tea party organization that also lobbied against the health care law.
In March of this year, Liberty Central was the subject of a letter sent to the IRS by Common Cause, a nonprofit that works for government accountability. The letter argued that Liberty Central violated the proportionality rule for non-profits because the majority of its activities were designed to help Republican candidates.

(To read more, go to http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2012/07/02/new-financial-forms-show-clarence-thomass-wife-continued-to-lobby-against-healthcare-in-2011.)

Due to the activism of Ginni Thomas, there was an outcry from progressives for Justice Thomas to recuse himself when the affordable care act came before the Court.  In fact, 100,000 Americans signed a petition, and the issue was also raised by members of Congress and the media.  Still, Thomas stubbornly refused to take himself out of the deliberations.

I was sadly disappointed when Thomas was appointed, did not think he should have been.  My initial disappointment back then was only the beginning of many head-scratching moments, only the beginning of my ongoing amazement that this man is actually a member of the highest court in our Country.

I'm kicking myself off this blog for now;  it's the last day of the current string of global warming days, and I intend to get out in it!  Maybe visit the ocean.  I'll leave you for now with the link to the Post piece.   Later, friends.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clarence-thomas-breaks-long-silence-during-supreme-court-oral-arguments/2013/01/14/a7c6023c-5e7a-11e2-9940-6fc488f3fecd_story.html?wpisrc=nl_politics