Justice Thomas Comes out Swinging

Justice Thomas Comes out Swinging

NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, Feb. 15, 2001

WASHINGTON (UPI) - What are we to make of Justice Clarence Thomas' well-mannered attack on civility?

Thomas, surely one of the most affable and personable public figures in Washington, told a sympathetic crowd at the American Enterprise Institute's annual dinner Tuesday that civility in public debate was overrated, especially when compared to the "vigorous virtues" of courage, ambition and creativity.

And he directly suggested that the outcome of the "cultural" war between conservatives and liberals would determine "whether this nation, conceived in liberty, can long endure."

"By yielding to a false form of civility, we sometimes allow our critics to intimidate us," Thomas said. "Active citizens are often subjected to truly vile attacks. They are branded as mean-spirited, racist, Uncle Tom, homophobic, sexist, et cetera.

"To this we often respond, if not succumb, so as not to be constantly fighting by trying to be tolerant and non-judgmental. That is, we censor ourselves. This is not civility, it is cowardice, or well-intentioned self-deception at best."

Thomas' comments - before an audience of heavy hitters, including Vice President Dick Cheney - could be an oblique slam against President Bush's call for a new tone of civility in Washington and against Bush's obvious and public queasiness for the congressional hearings into presidential pardons.

On Wednesday, a White House spokesman said, "The president's commitment to turning the page and moving forward is genuine," but declined to address the justice's remarks.

Steeling the Troops for Battle

More likely, Thomas was addressing his own critics and steeling the conservative troops for battle in the face of Bush's call for a new era of good feeling.

Though he did not refer to the Supreme Court's historic Dec. 12 decision in Bush vs. Gore or any of the high court's rulings on social issues in which he has participated, Thomas was sending a clear message.

Thomas was among the 5-4 majority in Bush vs. Gore that stopped the hand recount in Florida, ensuring that Bush, not Vice President Al Gore, would be the next president of the United States.

The Supreme Court decision and the outcome of the election - without Florida, Gore lost in the Electoral College, though he claims he won the national popular vote by a half-million ballots - was particularly bitter for blacks. Some prominent blacks, such as Jesse Jackson, have characterized Bush's victory as illegitimate.

To Thomas, such criticism must echo blacks' frequent hostility to his own actions.

Tuesday's remarks were a defiant response to those who criticize Thomas as an "Uncle Tom," a disparaging phrase used as an epithet against black citizens who promote views shared by mainly white conservatives, and to those blacks who suggest he has betrayed his own race.

In his remarks, Thomas plainly recast his own position and that of other conservatives as one of courage in the face of attack, comparing it to the resistance against Nazism in World War II. The justice cited the case of a Bulgarian official who defied the Nazis and prevented the shipment of Bulgarian Jews to concentration camps.

He also cited John Paul II, another conservative who has "has traveled the entire world challenging tyrants and murderers of all sorts, speaking to millions of people, bringing them a simple single message: 'Be not afraid.'"

Thomas's critics might find his remarks tinged with more than a touch of irony. Can standing up courageously for the principles of the privileged, they might say, really compare with personal courage against the Nazis in World War II? Can Thomas, who rarely speaks from the bench, genuinely be a champion of outspokenness?

Such cheap shots aside - and they are cheap shots - Thomas deserves a better hearing.

No recent public servant, with the possible exception of former President Bill Clinton, has had his legitimacy so relentlessly questioned, and Thomas has been especially targeted by blacks. Given that history of hostility, and Thomas's painful and unfair collision with Anita Hill during Senate confirmation in 1991, the justice might be entitled to feel personally and politically besieged, even while conservatives control Congress, the Supreme Court and the White House.

In evaluating any public figure, the truth is a useful tool.

The truth is that Thomas has earned his place on the court, and in each new Supreme Court term demonstrates his ability to operate with his peers. The truth is that skin color should not disqualify even a Supreme Court justice from expressing what he believes. The truth is that in person and on the stump Thomas is a charismatic figure who can inspire a crowd with his passion. And Thomas believes the stakes are very high.

"Today we are not called upon to risk our lives against some monstrous tyranny," Thomas said in his speech Tuesday. "America is not a barbarous country. Our people are not oppressed, and we face no pressing international threat to our way of life, such as the Soviet Union once posed. Though the war in which we are engaged is cultural, not civil, it tests whether this nation, conceived in liberty, can long endure."

Commentary by Michael Kirkland, UPI Legal Affairs Correspondent.