Today in Supreme Court History: August 17, 1988

8/17/1988: Republican party nominates George H.W. Bush for President. He would appoint David Souter and Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court.

President George H.W. Bush's appointees to the Supreme Court

 

 

Comments

[Frank Drackman]

1 out of 2 isn't bad (actually it is, but with GHWB surprised we didn't get 2 Souters (Bruce Sutter would have been a better pick)

Frank

[Brett Bellmore]

I honestly think that Thomas would have been more like Souter if they hadn't gone after him that way during his confirmation. I think the experience burned out of him all desire to avoid pissing the left off by skewing decisions their way.

[SRG2]

If true, that speaks very badly about Thomas, of course.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Ah, the old "of course" clarification, without which no one would know what was meant. Indubitably.

[SRG2]

I assume a general level of intelligence and the ability to reason. My apologies for my assumption being wrong in your case.

[Brett Bellmore]

So, you think would be a judicial virtue to skew one's rulings away from what you think is correct, to avoid pissing off 'liberals'?

[Sarcastr0]

You make it look like he changed his judicial philosophy in order to piss off the liberals.

[Brett Bellmore]

Well, if you have only SarcastrO level reading comprehension, I suppose you could warp it that way.

What I actually said was that the treatment he got during his confirmation took away any inclination he might have had to change his judicial philosophy in order to avoid pissing of 'liberals'.

[Estragon]

Ah yes the old “look what you made me do”

A lot of that around here

[David Nieporent]

To be clear, you completely 100% made this up, and have absolutely no idea about Thomas's thinking. But your claim was that his treatment at the confirmation hearing affected how he decided cases, and if true it would make him an illegitimate judge.

[Sarcastr0]

We don't really know his judicial philosophy beforehand, but for all of my many issues with him, I've found Thomas' ability to rise above the huge chip on his shoulder in his opinions to be one of the more impressive aspects of his character.

It says nothing good about you that you mix up being a petty and small man with some kind of virtue.

[Dan Schiavetta]

I agree. Thomas might have a, um, idiosyncratic philosophy but I never got the sense that his motivation is to piss off liberals.

[Brett Bellmore]

Great, then we're in agreement. Why is it so hard to understand that? He's not trying to piss off liberals, he's just not going to go off the straight and narrow, as he understands it, to avoid it happening.

[Brett Bellmore]

It doesn't really say much good about you, that you're incapable of understanding what I'm actually saying, and can only bring yourself to entertain interpretations of it that sound bad to you, even if you have to strain to do so.

I'm not saying that Thomas has changed his judicial philosophy in any way, or compromised it for any reason. I'm exactly saying that he hasn't!

I'm saying the treatment he got at the hands of Democrats likely eliminated any prospect that he WOULD compromise what he actually believed was right, just to try to make them happy.

Which is VERY different from suggesting that he's compromising it to make them unhappy, which is all you can think of when you read what I write. No, he just doesn't CARE if they like his opinions. Or maybe he cares, a little, but at least he has no inclination to depart from what he thinks is really right just to try to make them happy.

[David Nieporent]

I’m not saying that Thomas has changed his judicial philosophy in any way, or compromised it for any reason. I’m exactly saying that he hasn’t!

You're saying that he would have, if Democrats hadn't pissed him off! Do you not read your own comments? Here, I'll repeat them for you:

"I honestly think that Thomas would have been more like Souter if they hadn’t gone after him that way during his confirmation."

[Commenter_XY]

David, one does not go through the confirmation process like Justice Thomas did, and fail to be unaffected (going forward). I would say that it colored Justice Thomas' perception; the confirmation process Justice Thomas endured took off any rose tinted glasses the Justice might have been wearing.

I do not think Justice Thomas changed his judicial philosophy as a result of the hearings.

[Sarcastr0]

So Thomas was a go along to get along coward before his nomination. Apart from still being insulting, that is utterly untrue of Thomas’ history as a black conservative.

You want this to be true for reasons of your own.

[JesusHadBlondeHairBlueEyes]

Great comment! Even after spoonfeeding to you what he meant, you still comment as if you didn’t understand it!

This tactic always moves conversations forward! I think in that ancient Alexandria Library we probably lost great works where deep thinkers argued back and forth, and the BEST ONES, always acted like (or couldn’t) understand the other persons argument!

And you, Mr. Bureaucrat Down the Line Rigorous Deep Thinker, are bringing it back!

Brilliant! Kudos to you!

[SRG2]

I think it would be a judicial virtue - a very basic table-stakes virtue - to avoid skewing one's rulings merely to piss off one group or to gratify another. YMMV

[gVOR08]

Thank you for yet another example of Murc's law in action.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Lawyers, Guns & Money Blog crossover alert!

[Michael P]

The truer version of Murc’s law is that Democrats think only they know what “agency” means.

[Sarcastr0]

Look at that Brett said and try again.

[Michael P]

That comment aged well. /s

[bernard11]

I think the experience burned out of him all desire to avoid pissing the left off by skewing decisions their way.

Wow. What a statement. Apparently any decision Brett disagrees with was skewed to the left to avoid pissing leftists off.

The Bellmore Constitution in action.

[JesusHadBlondeHairBlueEyes]

It's the Living Constitution principle bernard11.

AKA, interpret the Constitution however you wish to meet your current policy goal and call it "a living document"! As it it were ALIVE!

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

Thomas is a cuckservative pussy whipped by his nutty wife.

[Frank Drackman]

You ain’t had Pussy since Pussy had you, and I don’t blame Pussy

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

Have you read Dreams from My Mamaw yet?? I have always dreamed of an Ivy League educated memoirist with a bunch of different aliases that was raised by his middle class grandparents becoming president….what a great country!!

[JesusHadBlondeHairBlueEyes]

Hey tell us another political barb straight from 1988. Your references are always so fresh!

[hobie]

Yes, something changed Harlan Thomas. I peg it started happening just a few years after his confirmation.

[Sarcastr0]

Thomas’ is a fascinating story. One of those if it was a novel you wouldn’t believe it.

He dropped out of seminary after MLK was killed because he thought the seminary didn’t take on issues of racial justice enough.
In college, he founded the black student union and protested the Vietnam War, among other things.

According to him and those who new him at the time, Yale is what changed him. The bigotry of his white classmates due to his perceived affirmative action status did a number on him.
That’s what he cites when he says (paraphrasing) at least the Republicans are racist to your face, liberals are just as racist but hide it. And he started to be really resentful at his fellow blacks for not seeing what he did, and prospering.
And then he found Thomas Sowell (which to be fair aligned with his value of black self-sufficiency he carried with him from his very very poor youth), and started attending black Republican events and it was off to the races.
https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-jrf34-18a8244b?utm_campaign=w_share_ep&utm_medium=dlink&utm_source=w_share

He started getting jobs from the GOP for kinda obvious diversity reasons. The spigot of Harlan patronage came much later, but IMO the habit started there.

[hobie]

What I mean, and I admit I'm being a little cryptic, is that documentation shows that Harlan Thomas' and Harlan Crow's and Leonard Leo's monetary relationship began around 4 years into Thomas' tenure

[JesusHadBlondeHairBlueEyes]

A podcast from Slate.

That's what Mr. Rigorous uses for his source of truth.

Wtf is wrong with bureaucrats? Mentally, I mean. When Democrats interview for these government positions, is it one of the requirements to wear bicycle helmets and drool cups? Is that how they get hired if they're White?

[bernard11]

If Bush had rejected Thomas and nominated Sutter instead it would have been quite a relief.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Sutter was kind of a judicial version of Bush, or at least how Bush would be if he didn’t have to play in the political arena.

[Magister]

That was a joke about Bruce Sutter, Hall of Fame relief pitcher.

[bernard11]

Thank you, Magister.

Good job out of the bullpen.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Sorry I was too obtuse to pick up on that!

[Frank Drackman]

So “obtuse” means Stupid? Got Bruce’s Autograph at a Braves Oldtimers event, Dude was a Genius, demanded a 50 something year Contract, think the Braves are still paying his Family.
First Pitcher to really have success with the Split Finger Fastball, (one of the best pitches if you have the long fingers, I didn’t, ask Mrs Drackman)

Frank

[hobie]

Frankie 'wounded warrior' Drackman. Now seeking praise for autograph collection. Do you meander around airports angrily mumbling to yourself, 'Thank me for my service, godammit! Thank me for my service.'

[Frank Drackman]

Ok, Hobie-Stank, so saying I have Bruce Sutter’s Autograph is bragging? If you’d ever played with any balls other than your own (and younger boys) you’d know Bruce Almighty revolutionized Pitching, I do have Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale bequeathed by my Korean War Vet Uncle (you insult him, I may come up to N-word-town to have a ‘”discussion”) ones I got in person are only a few, Billy Buckner and Tommy John’s John Hancocks (get it? Tommy John John Hancock) on a faded and beat up 1976 Dodgers Program (how did I know you were supposed to herbetically seal them and certainly don’t try and keep score (June 1976 game vs the Giants, I got frustrated trying to fill in the little squares by the 3rd Inning) Remember Billie Jean King’s little Brother pitched for the Giants (didn’t get his Autograph)
I did break my Right Index Finger in a Combat Zone (I’d call 5 miles from Kuwait in Feb 1991 a “Combat Zone) not combat, flag football, Corpsemen (who played HS Baseball with Chipper Jones) threw a 90mph pass, that I of course dropped, fracturing my proximal and middle phalanges right through the PIP joint (“Intra-articular fracture we call it) nothing to do for it, “buddy taped” it. Still don’t have full flexion, and it aches when it gets below freezing (why I live in Jaw-Jaw) but hey, I’m a Lefty,
Improvise, Overcome, Adapt, I’d tell you who’s motto that is, but then I’d have to kill you.
and I’ve never asked anyone to thank me for my Service, like I want anything from you non-hacking Putzes (it’s Sunday, I keep my curse-words locked up)

Frank

[not guilty]

Then-President George H. W. Bush said that the fact that Clarence Thomas being black had nothing to do with his SCOTUS nomination and that he was "the best qualified at this time" for nomination. https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4536760/president-bush-nominates-clarence-thomas

These are the most egregious lies uttered by any sitting President during my lifetime. Moreso that "I am not a crook." Moreso than "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." Moreso than "If you like your health plan, you can keep your plan."

[Mr. Bumble]

Wait while we break out the tiny violins.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Juvenile as usual.

[Mr. Bumble]

Feel better now?

[Dan Schiavetta]

Muted.

[Mr. Bumble]

Do you think I should or would give a shit? Oh wait you can't see this.
Never mind.

[Frank Drackman]

I told ya already, I'm taking the Cierra ya Mute!!!

[Dan Schiavetta]

One can’t deny that it would be proper to appoint another black justice to replace the first, Thurgood Marshall. As someone pointed out at the time, if one wanted to compile a list of the top thousand qualified black candidates, Thomas’s name would not have been on it.

Thomas, like Bush himself, was a mediocrity who did not get where he was by merit. And history will never forgive Thomas for saying he had been "lynched".

[Mr. Bumble]

Now you speak for "history" the way Notimportant speaks for everyone?
Would a different word have made a difference as to how you feel?

[Stupid Government Tricks]

One can't deny that with such logic, Thurgood Marshall never would have been nominated.

One can't deny that nominating a biologist would have been a dick move.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Marshall had appeared before the Court numerous times and was the winning lawyer in one of the Court's most important cases, Brown. Why do you think he was unqualified? Because he was black?

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Let's recap ....

captcrisis on Thomas: "One can’t deny that it would be proper to appoint another black justice to replace the first, Thurgood Marshall."

captcrisis on Thurgood Marshall: "Why do you think he was unqualified? Because he was black?"

Common sense: "If black should replace black, should not white replace white?"

Racism sucks, but it sucks even more when it's applied so selectively.

[JasonT20]

Common sense: “If black should replace black, should not white replace white?”

Racism sucks, but it sucks even more when it’s applied so selectively.

You say this as if there isn't a history of denying black people equal opportunities in the U.S. for most of its history. Also, you say that as if the Civil Rights movement was successful at creating equality of opportunity in practice and that we don't need to worry about racism or the legacy of past racism against black people anymore.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

In other words, the way to end racism is to increase racism, just change the sign.

First, anti-black racism is good.
Second, racist segregation is good.
Third, pro-black racism is good.
Fourth, anti-white racism is good.

And of course, inarguably, indubitably, anti-Jew racism is always good.

[Sarcastr0]

Do you find Thomas and Marshal to be good generally or only good as compared to the rest of their race?

[Stupid Government Tricks]

I'm sorry, what does that have to do with racism? You're the one so concerned with race, not me. I don't compare people with others of "their" race, whatever that is. What race is Obama? What race is anybody?

The closest I get to wondering about race is wondering why racists like you give a shit. I don't care what the genetic differences are, whether it leads to frizzy hare, bald spots, or better IQ. If there are inheritable genetic differences in IQ or strength or anything, they pale into insignificance compared to individual differences.

You collectivists can't help but pin differences on race, because individualism scares you to death. Heaven forbid anyone should think differently or now bow and scrape to the elites.

[Sarcastr0]

You seem to be accusing folks on here of either being racist or approving of racism, in the selection of Supreme Court Justices.

Adding race as an element in selecting a candidate is only material if the nonwhite Justices tended to be worse at Justicing. I don't think that's in evidence.

If picking a black person or a woman for the position still results in great people in the position, I can't figure why you're so unhappy, being so colorblind and all.

[JasonT20]

In other words...

In your words, you mean. That is how you interpret what I wrote, but it is not derived from anything actually there.

Acknowledging past racism and discrimination against blacks does not imply that we need "reverse" racism against whites to correct it. But it is a convenient myth among some, like you, it seems, that all we need to do to make up for that history is to not discriminate now, and all will work itself out eventually.

If that were true, then we would have equal opportunity by race now. But we don't. Statistically, there are persistent achievement gaps in education, generational wealth accumulation, participation at the highest levels of most professions, in business, and politics.

Personally, I don't think that affirmative action or whatever people call it does much to change things. But deliberate investment in poor communities, better and more equal representation in government, and generally making it a priority to increase opportunities at the lower end of economic spectrum might.

[Brett Bellmore]

"that all we need to do to make up for that history"

See, that's the problem: There is no "making up for" history. People "make up for" things THEY did, not things OTHER people did, and history, unless it's very recent indeed, is things OTHER people did.

So, we're not even a tiny bit interested in what is needed to "make up for" history.

[JasonT20]

So, we’re not even a tiny bit interested in what is needed to “make up for” history.

Were survivors and descendants of the Japanese Americans put in internment camps during WW2 not entitled to the reparations they received from the U.S. government? I paid taxes that funded those payments, but I didn't have anything to do with it.

Defense of the State of Israel regularly refers to the oppression and genocide Jews experienced at the hands of the Nazis and for centuries before the Nazis existed. Is it wrong to bring that up, given that you think that no one that wasn't personally involved in any of that has any responsibility to "make up" for that history of oppression?

Even looking only at the present, do we have no responsibility to help alleviate the harms caused by injustice toward our fellow citizens in the U.S., even when we had nothing to do with those injustices?

It seems to me that you are basically arguing that any kind of altruism is a sucker's game.

[not guilty]

Thurgood Marshall was one of the premier Supreme Court litigators of his day. His role as field general of the desegregation movement arguably affected American history more than any other twentieth century peacetime figure. He later served as Solicitor General and as a judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals before being appointed to SCOTUS.

Clarence Thomas was never fit to carry Thurgood Marshall's briefcase.

[Commenter_XY]

NG, I agree with your comment about Justice Marshall, but not your assessment of Justice Thomas. They have both achieved greatness, deservedly so.

[not guilty]

For most of this country's history, white people have treated black people shamefully. Chattel slavery, racial segregation enforced by law and by societal norms, prohibition/intimidation of black voters, lynching, unequal enforcement of laws, redlining, prohibition of "miscegenation", etc.

In the struggle for racial equality, Thurgood Marshall was a hero. Clarence Thomas was and is a quisling.

[CJColucci]

Yes, I can. Can you name a dozen superior black candidates? Can you even name a dozen plausible black candidates from the late 1960s?

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Bush Sr. had a very good resume & honorably risked his life during WWII. His son benefited more from his family.

If the conservatives wanted to plant a seed, they chose wisely with Thomas.

[Dan Schiavetta]

I don’t begrudge Bush Sr. his service in the military. (I'm a Democrat; only Republicans denigrate people who served.) But he was a scion of wealth and got where he was by “connections”. He was a shallow man (we saw this most clearly in his shabby 1988 campaign) and, in his various government roles, an empty suit. After the 1991 Gulf War he had a 91% approval rating and a pliant Congress. If he really had an idea of what to do, he could have done it then. But he did not have a clue as to how to put that political capital to use.

“Men want to be President because they want to do something. Boys want to be President because they want to be something.”

[Mr. Bumble]

Could be describing JFK.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Politicians don't give a crap about doing anything but exercising power.

"Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power." -- George Orwell

[Sarcastr0]

Equating politicians with dictators is performatively anti-authority.

You're very edgy, but not very accurate.

[Mr. Bumble]

Take it up with Orwell.

[Sarcastr0]

I did.
Read the quote, chief.

And while you're at it, 1984 itself.

Cargo culting Orwell from the right is pretty funny to anyone who knows anything about Orwell.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Yeah, Orwell was a real fan of dictators.

[Sarcastr0]

I can't even tell if you're serious, your worldvew is so pinched.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

What do you call majority rule, if not a dictatorship? A quilting fair?

[Sarcastr0]

If we had no terms of office, maybe.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Obama ... Obama ... Obama Biden ... Obama Harris.

Oh, and thanks for admitting that FDR was a dictator.

[Sarcastr0]

Term limits is not the same as term of office. FDR was put before the American People four times; that's not how it works for dictators.

And Obama being behind everything.

My evaluation of you as performatively edgy and extremely shallow has not changed.

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

Biden wanted out of Afghanistan in 2009 and he implemented Trump’s surrender to the Taliban….and Republicans gave Obama zero credit for attempting to win Afghanistan simply because Republicans and generals believed it was important and so he deferred to their judgment. Going forward Democrats should never do that again!!

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Insults and assertions by themselves are a sign of having nothing else, neither logic nor facts.

[Sarcastr0]

You: "Politicians don’t give a crap about doing anything but exercising power."

You, immediately after: ::George Orwell Quote about Dictators::

Seems to me that's an equivalence you didn't build.

Kind of like saying Biden and Harris are just Obama again. You need to do more work than just assert that.

[Drewski]

Orwell didn't say that. A fictional character he wrote (O'Brien) said that. I realize you don't understand why that matters.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

And you, whatever your real name is, didn't say that, a fictional character you wrote (Drewski) said that.

And actually actually, "say" is the wrong verb, it should be "write". I realize that doesn't matter, but I'm pointing it out because you seem to be unaware of the distinction and subtleties of language.

[Drewski]

I'm not going to explain why attributing a fictional character's belief to its author is either dishonest, stupid, or both. I will offer a hint: It's not related to the medium.

[Estragon]

See also: “Shakespeare was right hur dur”

[Frank Drackman]

Might want to get the lint out of your Ears and put on your Bi-focals there Cap'n. Sergeant Major Pepper-Waltz has been doing all sort or "Denigrating" (wasn't that one of George Wallace (D)'s cam-pain promises? to "Denigrate" the Schools?) of JD. I get where the Sergeant Major Dick's coming from, JD has a Degree you can actually make money with, a hot wife, while Waltz had to throw away a weekend a month and 2 weeks in the summer, all so he could use the local Base Commissary (look it up, it's what they call the Grocery Store on a Military Base)

Frank

[TwelveInchPianist]

"I don’t begrudge Bush Sr. his service in the military. "

And the cool thing is, as far as I know, he never lied about it.

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

He groped little girls.

[TwelveInchPianist]

That was Biden.

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

Query—what vital national interest was served by defending Kuwait?? No way Americans would support that war in 2024! I can’t believe Americans supported sending ground troops to defend a Muslim monarchy in 1991???

[TwelveInchPianist]

Most of the support came after the outcome. There was concern that it would become another Vietnam, and many people were opposed for that reason.

The vital national interest was that we felt we could no longer let powerful countries expand their borders at will, something we would do well to remember in the current situation.

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

History records the vital national interest as “cheap oil”…do you believe “cheap oil” is a vital national interest?? If so, was oil the reason we invaded Iraq in 2003 as a few years later in 2008 we had 5.5% CPI because of very high energy prices and with that high CPI the Fed was CUTTING RATES!!! Query—if CPI is 5.5% should rates be increasing or decreasing??

[Frank Drackman]

Do you like driving a car? Flying in an Airliner? Or a Greyhound Bus? Your partner using “Petroleum” Jelly when he merges onto your Hershey Highway?
You’re Welcome
Plus we had lots of military shit from the 60’s(and 1930’s, the Morphine Surretes the Corpsmen carried were 1930’s back then they didn’t give meds Expiration dates, so they were still OK to use(and worked, best I can tell) we needed to use up to have an excuse for buying new shit

Frank

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

I hope a Kuwaiti prince honks at you from his Lamborghini to express his gratitude for your sacrifice. All praise to Allah!!

[Frank Drackman]

Yo Mama sure appreciated the KY

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

Beep beep. All praise to Allah!!

[Jmaie]

"...like Bush himself, was a mediocrity... "

Successful businessman, elected representative, UN ambassador, CIA director...mediocracy doesn't seem all that reasonable an assessment.

[Frank Drackman]

Look at the Source (Cap’n Crisis, he’s cool because he watches porn! and recaps borderline interesting court decisions)
Like he’s done anything close to playing in the College World Series, Designated as a Naval Aviator(how anyone flew those WW2 Torpedo Bombers without killing themselves still amazes me, look at one in person)
I wanted to like GHWB, Lefty like me, OK that’s about it, and his “No new Taxes” OK in 1988 my total income was about $15,000, (1/2 of my $20,000 Intern pay(July-Dec) plus some Navy pay for Med School rotation, Plasma donations, and worked part time entering Surgery Residents Stats into a 286 computer,
But I knew I’d be making a whole $40,000 in a year so I was all for the “Read my Lips” bit
2 years later he raises my taxes and sends me to Saudi Arabia
Voted for Perot on 92”(don’t blame me, Perot saved GHWB an even bigger embarrassing blowout)
Held my nose voting for “W” (like I’m going to vote for AlGore or Lurch, Bill Bradley, maybe)

Frank

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

Bush sr was the UN ambassador in 1971 when China was given a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Bush did not recall Ambassador Lilly after Tiananmen Square! And then he sent Scowcroft to grovel in secret to Deng!! And you care about a teacher staying in China?!? And then Bush’s lackey in Congress was the Republican sponsor for PNTR with China. And then Bush jr finished negotiating China into the WTO in the aftermath of 9/11. And then Bush’s final foreign trip was to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. The Bush family’s goal over multiple generations and multiple decades was to make China great again…MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

[Dr. Ed 2]

It WAS a "high tech lynching."

[Frank Drackman]

It was! I remember "programming" my Sony 4 Head VCR to tape the hearings, (sometimes 6 hours wasn't enough, I think Walmart had some 8 hour tapes) watching "Crossfire" on CNN (there was no Faux News or PMS-NBC in 1991) Watching on my 27" State of the Art Sony Trinitron that cost $700 in 1989 (and must have weighed 150lbs)
Didn't even have a Computer in 1991 (wouldn't have mattered, AlGore hadn't invented the Internets yet) Didn't "Log On" until 1993 when I bought a Packard-Bell 386SX (the DX2 was $500 more) right around $3,000 no modem, sound card, but hey, a free 90 day "Compuserve" Account! Bought it only to be able to play this cool F-15 Simulator, took a friggin Computer Scientist to configure my Autoexec.Bat and Config.sys so I had enough memory to actually run the program, Connected a Thrustmaster (love the Thrustmaster) Joystick and man, did I shoot down some Migs (umm enjoyed ambushing the Tankers more, it's like shooting down a 737) strafe Villages, do endless touch and goes, and unrestricted climbs (Gotta get out of that congested Airspace over Khafji)

Frank

[not guilty]

If the Senate had rejected then-Judge Thomas's nomination, he would have continued to hold lifetime tenure on the Court of Appeals, as did Clement Haynesworth and Robert Bork. Nice work if you can get it. That is in no way comparable to an extrajudicial murder, and Thomas trivialized the horror of what an actual lynching entails.

Clarence Thomas made his bones as a black critic of affirmative action, kowtowing to racist Republicans. But then when his affirmative action nomination was threatened, he suddenly started playing the hell out of the race card. He is a despicable human being.

[TwelveInchPianist]

You got kicked out of the legal profession for cheating clients.

[Sarcastr0]

What the fuck is wrong with you?

[TwelveInchPianist]

Folks like that shouldn't run around calling others despicable human beings.

[Dan Schiavetta]

ng:

+1

[CJColucci]

That's probably a gross exaggeration. There were probably only a few hundred better black candidates, as these things are usually measured. But Bush wanted not just a black; he wanted a black Republican, as he was entitled to want. I can think of a handful of better qualified black Republicans, but the pool was certainly shallow. And a white Republican with Thomas's resume would never have been taken seriously.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Moreso than Kamala being picked for being black AND a woman? Unpossible; two checkboxes trumps a single one, no matter how racist arithmetic is.

[Sarcastr0]

not guilty is not playing whatever game you are; he's accusing HW of lying about why he picked Thomas. No more, no less.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Oh, racism is fine as long as you brag about it.

With logic like that, you should appreciate freedom of association even more, and mandated racist integration even less, since it's better to have the bigots out in the open and bragging like Biden, rather than hiding it like Bush.

[Sarcastr0]

He’s not a ousting anyone of racism either.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

"Black should follow black."

but not

"White should follow white."

Huh. How's that racism working out?

[Sarcastr0]

You're accusing him of racism, I guess.

This only matters if you think Thomas is only smart for a black guy, and there's some white dude out there who got sadly passed over.

[Stupid Government Tricks]

Racism only matters if I think about racism?

What does that even mean?

Strength only matters if I think strength matters for a black person? Why not for a white person, or brown or yellow or red?

What is it with you and race? Do you spend all your waking hours thinking of race?

[Sarcastr0]

Thomas is good. Marshall was good. Jackson seems good.

Why are you so mad?

[David Nieporent]

Moreso than Kamala being picked for being black AND a woman?

Once more: Biden never said he was picking a black for vice president. He did say that he was going to choose a woman.

[Frank Drackman]

I'm probably older than you, but LBJ told some whoppers that got over 50,000 Amuricans Killed (and probably a million Vietnamese, but who cares about them? LBJ certainly didn't)

Frank

[Mr. Bumble]

Absolutely no fan of Looney Bird, especially once I got that letter from him that began "Greetings..." but he was in a no win situation. Thrown the Vice Presidency as a bone for allowing JFK to get the nomination and despised by the "best and brightest" that surrounded Kennedy he never had a chance when "Camelot", Jackie O's fiction, aided by the sycophant press, died
when Kennedy's head was blown off and he inherited JFK's mess.

[Dr. Ed 2]

JFK's imploding mess.

[Frank Drackman]

Wait until you find out what LBJ said about why he picked Thouroughy Bad Marshal for the Court

[TwelveInchPianist]

"These are the most egregious lies uttered by any sitting President during my lifetime."

How's that a lie? Was there a more desirable candidate, from a conservative perspective, that could be confirmed by a Democratic Senate?

[Mr. Bumble]

Biden and the Democratic Senate did their best to Bork Thomas.

[TwelveInchPianist]

He was confirmed. Was there a more conservative nominee that could have been confirmed?

[Krayt]

Of course it was a lie, and everyone knew it at the time. Do you think all these female nominees lately are also the greatest? What about the white men for that matter? How about vp candidates?

All the absolute best at that moment, and none for political show calculations.

As for egregious lies, that's pretty bad, but I would still put it behind this won't cause inflation and Trump won 2020. Probably others that slip my mind at the moment.

[Sarcastr0]

You're so pickled in bothsides cynicism these days and layer your posts with so much sarcasm no one can be motivated care.

[hobie]

"Bush said that the fact that Clarence Thomas being black had nothing to do with his SCOTUS nomination"

I don't fault Bush for that. At that time, no one had the moral courage to say what they really thought. Biden, on the other hand, said the quiet part out loud [paraphrased ->], 'I'm going to pick a black woman.'

And he did. And he lucked out. She's already one of the best justices on the Court.

[Commenter_XY]

The jury is out on Justice Jackson; it takes a few years to settle in. I am not saying that to be negative. It just takes time to make that assessment, hobie. We have no idea how she will develop on the bench.

For instance, we are just now beginning to understand Justice Gorsuch's philosophy...after 7 years. Do you see what I mean?

Ask me in 2030 about Justice Jackson.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Let's have an apple (core and all) and yogurt in honor of one of the best justices in the recent era -- David "knows when to leave" Souter. Maybe, we can get them at a Walmart. Might meet Thomas there. We can talk college football and fav billionaires.

Justice Hugo Black was confirmed OTD in 1937, five days after he was nominated.

Also, Scalia OTD in 1994 denied a stay regarding Medicaid funding of abortions. Edwards v. Hope Medical Group for Women.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/512/1301/

[Frank Drackman]

A Baby born in 1994 could conceivably be a Grandmother/Father now, could certainly have a boatload of children, that’s the thing about Abortion, the 50 million or so Abortions since 1973 are only the tip of the Iceberg, that Baby aborted in 1994 could be an NBA Star, a Pediatrician, Scientist, maybe find the cure for Cancer (Why did Sleepy Joe pick “Moonshot” as the title for his Cancer program? They’ll spend Billions to get a few rocks nobody even cares about anyway?, Oh wait, they put that Laser reflector on the Moon so we can determine the distance down to the Inch!)
Even if the Aborted Baby was doomed to be Joe Shit the Rag Man shining shoes at the Airport (You tried to get a Shoeshine at an Airport lately, of course not, because everyone wears sneakers and flip flops) The World needs Shoe Shine boys too

All because of 1 Abortion in 1994, it’s sort of reverse “Butterfly Effect” I call it the “Watermelon Effect”

Frank

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

Israel could have killed the next Jesus in Gaza. And Bush could have killed the next Einstein in Iraq. And Trump’s first military order was to assassinate a little American girl that could have one day been Trump’s wife!!

[Frank Drackman]

Yeah, Eggs get broken in Wahs, but hey, if Shanigga-mynigga Washington wants to kill her 6th baby in 5 years (40 week Human Gestation, do the math) who am I to complain?

Frank

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

Uh, why do you think Trump said “Planned Parenthood does a lot of good things”…because PP clinics are in the middle of urban black neighborhoods.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Arrow Transportation Co. v. Southern Ry. Co., 83 S.Ct. 1 (decided August 17, 1962): Black continues restraining order as to railway rates which plaintiff barge operator argues are so low (below cost) as to destroy barge industry in violation of Interstate Commerce Commission Act; notes federal question and likelihood of granting cert (however the Court ultimately dismissed the case as premature, the new rates having been suspended by the ICC pending administrative review, 372 U.S. 658, 1963)

Edwards v. Hope Medical Group for Women, 512 U.S. 1301 (decided August 17, 1994): Scalia denies stay of order preventing enforcement of Louisiana statute prohibiting public funds from being used to pay for abortions except to save life of mother; Hyde Amendment did not apply to this type of funding, states accepting Medicaid were required to provide such coverage, and cert had been denied in similar cases

Sellers v. United States, 89 S.Ct. 36 (decided August 17, 1968): Black denies request to suspend bail for civil rights activist convicted of rioting; though defendant had gone on unauthorized trip to Japan, made bellicose statements and was involved in another incident, he had always shown up for court dates and was not a flight risk (all the other defendants were white and were acquitted; the only casualties were protesters shot dead by police; defendant was pardoned by South Carolina Governor Campbell, a Republican, in 1993 and became president of a historically black college)

[Frank Drackman]

In a future life I hope to be the Deputy serving Eviction notices on Justice Souter in his little New Hampshire Cabin so Starbucks can put in a new Parking Lot (with a Pink Hotel, a Boutique, and a Swingin' Hot Spot)

Frank

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

What about when Bush used eminent domain to build an obsolete ballpark that made him a multimillionaire??? You hold Souter to higher standards than Bush!!!! WTF???

[TwelveInchPianist]

Bush wasn't in a position to make takings for private use unconstitutional.

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

So if something is legal then you are fine with the son of the president taking advantage of it even if it results in an obsolete ballpark and an even wealthier son of the president??

[David Nieporent]

It of course resulted in a state-of-the-art ballpark, not an "obsolete" one.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Someone recently noted Josh Blackman joined in some form of an amicus brief involving a birther suit. A few people doubted this was true. A couple asked if the person had a link to the brief. Was it ever provided?

[Estragon]

Not that I saw

[Sam Bankman-Fried]

Kamala isn’t a Natural Born Citizen…but I’m voting for her anyway!! The Constitution perpetuated slavery so I don’t have a lot of respect for the document or the people that crafted it.

[Frank Drackman]

So who was supposed to pick the Cotton in 1789? And don’t blame the South, it was a Connecticut Yankee Eli Whitney who’s invention “First sowed the Seeds of Disunion”

Frank

[bernard11]

So who was supposed to pick the Cotton in 1789?

Paid workers?