Rising from unbelievable poverty and circumstances, Justice Clarence Thomas is an important, indeed, towering figure in contemporary life and in American history. The fact that he is a black conservative that believes in anachronisms like free markets, hard work and the Constitution has earned him the unrelenting hatred of the "progressive" left. This tells you more about progressives than about Thomas, who occupies a belief set squarely in the center of traditional American thought and values.
Your response sums up everything that I wanted to say about Justice Thomas with one exception : Justice Brennan is lionized today as a great former Justice because of his "social justice" jurisprudence which in my opinion is a total perversion of the original intent of the Constitution. Justice Thomas, on the other hand, has carried the baton of Justice Scalia and added greatly to the original intent jurisprudence. He will be long remembered by students and scholars of American Constitutional Law regardless of his race.
Rising from unbelievable poverty and circumstances, Justice Clarence Thomas is an important, indeed, towering figure in contemporary life and in American history. The fact that he is a black conservative that believes in anachronisms like free markets, hard work and the Constitution has earned him the unrelenting hatred of the "progressive" left. This tells you more about progressives than about Thomas, who occupies a belief set squarely in the center of traditional American thought and values.
Your response sums up everything that I wanted to say about Justice Thomas with one exception : Justice Brennan is lionized today as a great former Justice because of his "social justice" jurisprudence which in my opinion is a total perversion of the original intent of the Constitution. Justice Thomas, on the other hand, has carried the baton of Justice Scalia and added greatly to the original intent jurisprudence. He will be long remembered by students and scholars of American Constitutional Law regardless of his race.
I agree, assuming American Constitutional Law as we know it survives the current left-wing assault.