The boy had never left Arkansas before, but Rick and his wife paid to fly him up to D.C. Rick emailed all nine chambers at the court, saying that this young boy would be in town, and asking if any of the justices would be willing to meet with him. Two offices responded—those of Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Clarence Thomas. Ginsburg is an incredibly talented lawyer and jurist, and it was very kind of her to meet with Carlos, but her prim demeanor is that of a legal librarian, and so it was difficult for her and the young boy from Arkansas to connect. Clarence Thomas understood the world that Carlos had come from.We're also told that Thomas is "beloved by the court’s janitors, guards and support staff members, with whom he connects on a real, personal level."
At the end of their two-hour conversation, Carlos observed that Thomas was a Dallas Cowboys fan. (Thomas had a framed picture of himself with quarterback Troy Aikman in his office.) The kid was very impressed—that was way cooler than the Supreme Court—and Thomas noticed. So Thomas rose from his chair, walked to his desk, and showed the boy a Super Bowl ticket, encased in Lucite, and signed by Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith. He handed the ticket to the young man.
“I’m going to give you this,” Thomas said. “But I want you to promise me that you will get A’s in school next year.”
The young man, astonished and wide-eyed, nodded in agreement.
July 1, 2015
"With his welcoming demeanor and deep, hearty laugh—imagine Santa Claus bellowing 'ho, ho, ho'—Clarence Thomas has carried out dozens of acts of kindness on the court..."
"...the kind never reported by the mainstream media," writes Ted Cruz in an excerpt from his new book, "A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America." Cruz tells the story of how one of his co-clerks — when he was clerking for Chief Justice Rehnquist — had "befriended and tutored a young African-American boy named Carlos."
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24 comments:
And yet it is so easy to make out the Republicans, the Conservatives, the Tea Party, the right wing, however, as a bunch of Snidely Whiplashes or Simon Legrees if you prefer. Funny how that works.
Mean Girls love that shit.
But the jock has herpes and the class clown has already given you the syph. Sad really.
Hmm, maybe some political slut- shaming is in order. Why was that wrong again?
One of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century is that our kids were deprived of the example of Justice Thomas's life. If he had been liberal instead of conservative, he would be an icon on the Left.
If there are any conservatives left in Hollywood, one of them needs to make a movie of Justice Thomas's life.
He's a sweet guy. His autobiography is really good.
I saw Justice Thomas speak in Omaha. Not only was he very nice and patient with all of the people in line with books, he thanked the hotel employees he brought him water.
Clarence and wife Ginny also took in one of his nephews who had problems at home.
Finally, he is an authentic Jaysker; fan of Creighton basketball and Nebraska football.
Finish the story! Did he get all As in school the following year?
You can tell a lot about a person's character by how they treat support staff in a building.
I bought and read Clarence Thomas' autobiography, during the campaign for the 2008 election. From that I concluded that people who said Barack Obama "wasn't Black enough" were absolutely right.
A while ago I saw an article about Thomas, who was on a plane in coach, and was talking Nebraska football with some "Nebraskers", as I call my husband. They were amazed that, first, he was a justice on the court, second, that he had an encyclopedic knowledge of Nebraska football, and third, that he flew COACH.
Wanna bet Barry and Mooch's skinny and fat asses, in that order, never touch a coach seat for the rest of their lives? Or at least until Mooch runs through the money pump buying her heinous outfits and shoes.
We're also told that Thomas is "beloved by the court’s janitors, guards and support staff members, with whom he connects on a real, personal level."
In the first year of Obama's Presidency, there was a short special on Obama which featured his first ride on Air Force One as President. The makers thought it would be touching to include a conversation between Obama and a long term African-American steward on the plane. It wasn't touching, it was painfully awkward, but they seemingly never saw that and aired it anyway. Obama had no real interest in the guy. He talked about basketball, of all things. It was pathetic. And very very sad.
Clarence Thomas as Santa Claus bellowing "ho, ho, ho"? Microagression or macroagression?
MadisonMan said...
You can tell a lot about a person's character by how they treat support staff in a building.
You can tell a lot about a person's character by how they treat people who are in no position to help them, or by how they treat those who serve them.
"Liberals" love humanity; "conservatives" love people.
(Obviously, I am choking on the labels, but you know what I mean.)
There have been a number of "tell alls" about how Presidents and other notables treated the help. The Republicans were uniformly gracious and friendly whilst the Democrats were real stinkers.
"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good." - Samuel Johnson
Madison Man's comment above is a nice paraphrase of this quote which has long been attributed to Johnson.
That Thomas is not the 2nd best-known black man in America is a tragedy, and highlights the destructive gatekeeper aspect of modern culture. If he was anything but a conservative he would be held up as a hero and role model. Instead he and Condoleeza are the butt of jokes made by morons of mockery who are heralded in this age of unreason.
This doesn't surprise me a bit about Thomas' character. I read a story about him when he and his wife once stopped at a truck stop while they were on one of those cross-country "see America" trips. Anyway, J. Thomas noticed a long-haul trucker working on his big tractor engine and he was having trouble. Thomas walked over to him and after a short conversation both he and the trucker were working together on the that big diesel engine. And they got it running.
(Thomas worked as a large diesel mechanic as a young man and he loved it. He's often said that if he hadn't gone into law, he would be working on big diesel engines.)
So Hillary was having meetings with Clarence "Santa" Thomas?
Interesting.
Some people believe in social equality, many don't. You can tell who believes by how they interact with people on an every day basis.
Paul Wellstone, the late liberal senator, said he liked and respected Jesse Helms because he knew the names of all the building workers on Capitol Hill and knew their kids names and husbands or wives names and would inquire about them with genuine interest and affection. This was rare on Capitol Hill among elected officials of both parties. Clarence Thomas is rare among Justices in the Supreme Court building.
A great man with an incredible life story.
he liked and respected Jesse Helms because he knew the names of all the building workers on Capitol Hill and knew their kids names and husbands or wives names and would inquire about them with genuine interest and affection.
This is why I couldn't be a politician. I'd see the person, and not remember his or her name, let alone their spouse's/kids' names. But I would surely recognize the face, because I'm good at that. Just don't ask me your name.
Feingold is very good at name recall too. Probably all successful politicians are.
If he was anything but a conservative he would be held up as a hero and role model. Instead he and Condoleeza are the butt of jokes made by morons of mockery who are heralded in this age of unreason.
Hell, they're held up as not being really black and are targets of rather racist comments.
Meanwhile, Obama --- the least black man in existence --- is the apparent epitome of the African American experience.
I seem to remember that on the Hill, this kind of thing was often said about Dick Cheney as well.
(Thomas worked as a large diesel mechanic as a young man and he loved it. He's often said that if he hadn't gone into law, he would be working on big diesel engines.)
And making more money and meeting a better class of people.
I'm late to this thread, but BIG MIKE NAILED IT!
Thomas is also "famous" (ie, not famous, but it's not a secret, either) for RVing across America and staying in Walmart parking lots.
With his biography, you could see how Thomas might have a complicated relationship to class and hierarchy. It seems like a lot of people who value certain aspects of Thomas's career (Georgetown, Yale Law, Supreme Court) highly have not been shy at all about insisting "But we don't mean YOU!" when the subject turns to Clarence Thomas.
If there were ever a man who was treated like 3/5 of a Supreme Court Justice, Thomas is that man.
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