“You have an African-American gentleman married to a white woman who is in cahoots with a group that has a lot of racists in it. Is that Stockholm syndrome on his part? What’s going on?”
This, from a man who hasn’t uttered a word in 5 years during oral arguments on the Supreme Court.
Weiner: Clarence Thomas Should Bow Out of Health Cases
Here is the full letter:
The Honorable Justice Clarence Thomas
United States Supreme Court Building
1 First Street Northeast
Washington D.C., DC 20543
Dear Justice Thomas:
As an Associate Justice, you are entrusted with the responsibility to exercise the highest degree of discretion and impartiality when deciding a case. As Members of Congress, we were surprised by recent revelations of your financial ties to leading organizations dedicated to lobbying against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We write today to respectfully ask that you maintain the integrity of this court and recuse yourself from any deliberations on the constitutionality of this act.
The appearance of a conflict of interest merits recusal under federal law. From what we have already seen, the line between your impartiality and you and your wife’s financial stake in the overturn of healthcare reform is blurred. Your spouse is advertising herself as a lobbyist who has “experience and connections” and appeals to clients who want a particular decision - they want to overturn health care reform. Moreover, your failure to disclose Ginny Thomas’s receipt of $686,589 from the Heritage Foundation, a prominent opponent of healthcare reform, between 2003 and 2007 has raised great concern.
This is not the first case where your impartiality was in question. As Common Cause points out, you “participated in secretive political strategy sessions, perhaps while the case was pending, with corporate leaders whose political aims were advanced by the [5-4] decision” on the Citizens United case. Your spouse also received an undisclosed salary paid for by undisclosed donors as CEO of Liberty Central, a 501(c)(4) organization that stood to benefit from the decision and played an active role in the 2010 elections.
Given these facts, there is a strong conflict between the Thomas household’s financial gain through your spouse’s activities and your role as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. We urge you to recuse yourself from this case. If the US Supreme Court’s decision is to be viewed as legitimate by the American people, this is the only correct path.
We appreciate your thoughtful consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
ANTHONY D. WEINER
…I’ll never forget Hill’s thoughtful answers as Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) tried to pick apart her testimony, failing to grasp the most rudimentary aspects of sexual harassment in the workplace. He challenged Hill’s every statement, every motive. Why didn’t she quit her job? Why didn’t she tell someone? Calmly, Hill tried to explain something Specter has never endured—power politics from the unempowered side. I was screaming at my television set, but she never raised her voice and never showed her anger.
In contrast, Thomas spewed ad hominem attacks when he took the mic. “This is a circus. It’s a national disgrace,” he barked at the Judiciary Committee. “And from my standpoint, as a black American, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree.”
by Nell Scovell May 1, 2009 - Continue reading… VanityFair
“
If you get a call in the middle of the night and there is silence on the other end, that is not Virginia Thomas. That is Clarence Thomas.
”Andy Borowitz
Jane Mayer on Ginni Thomas’ message for Anita Hill:
“Thomas released a statement confirming that she left the message for Hill and saying that she was ‘extending an olive branch,’ but when I heard a recording of the message, it came off as more adversarial than most peace offerings. The message begins with a singsong female voice saying, ‘Anita Hill, this is Ginni Thomas, and I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband.’”
“ABC News’ Huma Khan reports: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ family is alleging that his epileptic nephew was unfairly punched and tasered at a Louisiana hospital for refusing to put on a gown.”
Justice’s wife launches ‘tea party’ group
The nonprofit run by Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is likely to test notions of political impartiality for the court. - latimes
pic via MSNBC
“
“I am an ordinary citizen from Omaha, Neb., who just may have the chance to preserve liberty along with you and other people like you,” she said at a recent panel discussion with tea party leaders in Washington. Thomas went on to count herself among those energized into action by President Obama’s “hard-left agenda.”
“I adore all the new citizen patriots who are rising up across this country,” “I have felt called to the front lines with you, with my fellow citizens, to preserve what made America great.”
Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas - LATimes
this wrong and scary in oh so many ways.
