Justice Clarence Thomas is really wound up about how the Supreme Court has completely dismantled reproductive rights, the right to privacy, the right to birth control and a lot more. Like, he’s mad that people are really freaking out about what he and the other Christofascists on the Supreme Court have already done. Roe v. Wade will not be formally overturned for another month and a half or so, which has given Thomas and the other right-wing justices ample time and space to whine and stomp their feet and pretend like they’re the victims. Thomas made some new comments at a Texas conference set up with the American Enterprise Institute, the Manhattan Institute and the Hoover Institution, meaning he collected a nice paycheck to fly to Texas for a day and tell a bunch of fascists what they want to hear. The “conversation” was conducted by John Yoo, the dude who wrote all of the torture memos during the Bush administration (Yoo clerked for Thomas). Previously, Thomas complained that the authority of the Supreme Court is “undermined” when Americans refuse to “live with outcomes we don’t agree with,” much like his wife attempted to violently overturn a lawful election when she didn’t agree with the outcome. Some highlights from Thomas’s Friday conversation:
The leak of the Alito draft: The leak of a draft opinion has done irreparable damage to the Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas said at a conference in Dallas on Friday night, adding that it had destroyed trust among its members. “What happened at the court is tremendously bad,” Justice Thomas said. “I wonder how long we’re going to have these institutions at the rate we’re undermining them.”
The trust is gone: The leak of the opinion…“like kind of an infidelity,” Justice Thomas said. “Look where we are, where that trust or that belief is gone forever. And when you lose that trust, especially in the institution that I’m in, it changes the institution fundamentally. You begin to look over your shoulder.”
He threw shade at Chief Justice Roberts: He drew a contrast with the court that sat for 11 years without a change in personnel before the arrival of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. in 2005. “This is not the court of that era,” Justice Thomas said, adding: “We actually trusted each other. We may have been a dysfunctional family, but we were a family.”
His thoughts on the peaceful protests outside justices’ houses: “You would never visit Supreme Court justices’ houses when things didn’t go our way. We didn’t throw temper tantrums. It is incumbent on us to always act appropriately, and not to repay tit for tat.”
What?? He added that conservatives had “never trashed a Supreme Court nominee.” He acknowledged that Merrick B. Garland, President Barack Obama’s third Supreme Court nominee, “did not get a hearing, but he was not trashed. You will not see the utter destruction of a single nominee. You will also not see people going to other people’s houses, attacking them at dinner at a restaurant, throwing things on them.” He said Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh had been subjected to particular abuse, but he referred only glancingly to his own brutal confirmation hearings, during which he angrily denied accusations of sexual harassment.
True story, as soon as Christina Blasey Ford’s name came out in reporting, conservative nutjobs doxxed her, harassed her, threatened her and forced her to move several times. True story, peaceful protests outside a justice’s home is nothing compared to the conservative nutjobs screaming and throwing sh-t at every woman and girl entering a Planned Parenthood. Not to mention all of the bombings of abortion clinics, targeted harassment of doctors and healthcare providers, the fact that Dr. George Tiller was murdered in church, and the simple fact that women are going to die soon after Roe is overturned.
The fact that Thomas, Roberts and the Senate Republicans are still so focused on “the leak” is so strange to me. I know they’re running a play and I know they have something set up for this, but it also feels like… not many people are taking the bait? Or maybe I’m just in my own echo chamber. It’s just so bizarre and unsettling to know that Roe is being overturned and the people who did that are assuming the cloak of victimhood because of “the leak” and because of “protests.”
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Instar, Avalon Red.
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- -Washington, District of Columbia – 20210423-Supreme Court of the United States 2021 Group Photo Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on April 23, 2021. Seated from left: Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Justice Stephen G. Breyer, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and Justice Amy Coney Barrett. -PICTURED: Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Justice Stephen G. Breyer, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch and Justice Amy Coney Barrett -PHOTO by: Erin Schaff/POOL/CNP/startraksphoto.com -042321_Supreme-Court-Pool_016 This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact Startraks Photo for licensing fee and rights information at sales@startraksphoto.com or call +1 212 414 9464 This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. Startraks Photo reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded
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- Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Clarence Thomas waits to administer the oath of office to Judge Amy Coney Barrett to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on Monday, October 26, 2020. US President Donald J. Trump and her husband Jesse M. Barrett look on.,Image: 565706222, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: usage worldwide, Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Kleponis / DPA Picture Alliance / Avalon
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- Washington, DC – Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Clarence Thomas administers the oath of office to Judge Amy Coney Barrett to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC. Pictured: President Donald J. Trump, Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas BACKGRID USA 26 OCTOBER 2020 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Washington, DC – President Donald J. Trump acknowledges Judge Amy Coney Barrett as the Supreme Court’s 115th associate justice, following her swearing-in on the South Lawn of the White House. Justice Barrett is joined by her husband Jesse, holding the Bible, and their children. Pictured: Amy Coney Barrett, Donald Trump BACKGRID USA 26 OCTOBER 2020 BYLINE MUST READ: Best Image / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
How do I say this nicely… F*ck SCOTUS.
The decline in the legitimacy of the court began the day he was confirmed. He was totally unqualified and unsuitable for the job.
That ship sailed when the Supreme Court shoved Bush into the White House.
Thomas was already on the Court when Bush v2 was declared President in 2000 (and was one of the votes in favor of handing the election to him). It was Bush v1 who put him there in 1991.
Ditto but I have to say it for emphasis F*UCK SCOTUS!
The end of SCOTUS is their own fault. They are a ridiculous group of unqualified, dangerous clowns and they can all go F themselves, except KJB and Sotomayor.
Kagan too, she can stay
It’s like wikileaks all over again.
Word!
It was going to come out anyways. They can all fuck off permanently. Useless, spineless, sacks of crap who can’t lay with the decisions they’re making on behalf of 175 million women.
sexual predators and a women who has to do what her husband says treating women like second-class citizens – no shock there.
This is a tried and true move – refocus the conversation on the details of the leak, spurious demands for investigations, and outrage – how dare someone disrespect and betray the institution etc etc and maybe everyone will forget about the bigger and more egregious violation of human rights. It’s worked before.
Classic DARVO
My tin hat theory based on nothing but my tin hat gut, Roberts or someone in his camp is the leaker. He is not in charge of this group of assholes and this is his last ditch attempt to reign them in. It’s the same thing as with the 1/6 committee. The cowardly and craven Republicans are working against doing the right thing all the while they’re secretly hoping the Dems and a the few Republicans who still occasionally feel their spines save them from the situation they created.
Maybe I’m giving Roberts too much credit though.
Good theory but I don’t believe any of the justices want to be caught with dirty hands. The job was passed on to some lowly dispensable clerk who had access or was given access.
Or someone’s coup organizing wife who has a history of reviewing her husband’s work with his clerks.
If anything, I think the leak was intended to undermine Roberts. It’s very likely he was working on one of the five, likely Kavanaugh, to change his vote (Kavanaugh is the only 1 to show any respect for stare decisis) and the intent of the leak was to lock in the votes. And Thomas has been screaming loudly to distract since the leak happened. To me, it smells very strongly like his wife leaked it.
That definitely makes the most sense!
this makes sense to me
all the pearl-clutching from conservatives about how a liberal leaked it to undermine the court is utter BS. Firstly, we all know that when it comes to the GOP every accusation seems to be a confession; Secondly, which of the liberals on the court who most certainly wouldn’t even consider signing on to this opinion would have had this sort of access to a draft opinion?
The legitimacy of the court has been undermined by a lot of things: justices who have spoken out with clear opinions on potential cases and indicating they would not recuse themselves on cases about the matter (eg, Scalia and separation of church & state); Justices actually not recusing themselves in cases in which they have a clear conflict of interest; refusal to actually investigate allegations of impropriety by potential justices; the overt hypocrisy of a certain party when it came to hearings or vote about a potential justice; and the lack of any ethics requirements that justices must follow or consequences when they don’t and I’m sure that I haven’t mentioned
Roberts is an institutionalist so I don’t see him leaking. Plus it makes him look bad.
Thomas doesn’t care. He didn’t recuse himself from an obvious conflict and he’s talking more than he ever has to distract from the likelihood that he and his wife are behind it.
I think Ginny Thomas and hubby know all too well that the focus would be on her as the leaker, which is why I say some lowly clerk did the deed and will be thrown under the bus.
Thomas wishes he were Chief Justice, and the deplorable “legal experts” like Jeffrey Toobin are painting SCOTUS as Thomas’ Court, so I wonder if there’s a coup afoot.
Hard to take jerkoff Toobin seriously. What’s more interesting is that Clarence Thomas is talking at all. His entire SCOTUS history is predicated on reliably conservative views and keeping quiet. Maybe he’s trying to draw attention away from his ugly insurrectionist wife
Ugh, all photos of and articles about him should come with a trigger warning. He’s beyond disgusting! Anyway, for someone who spent decades being silent while voting against many civil rights, he sure is talking and whining a lot. Its not the leaks! It’s the shadow court (that citizens weren’t aware existed) and its apparent ability to reverse established laws without the public’s awareness nor consent that’s costing SCOTUS its respect. No one seriously believes overturning Roe is the only law this shadow court is dismantling.
The most despicable Repubs are notoriously adept at playing victim while shooting poison arrows. Its interesting one of the arrows was fired at Chief Justice Roberts. Sounds like Roberts better watch his back.
Thanks Kaiser! From now on I will say “the Christofascist party” instead of “the Republican party”. It is not a lot, but every small step counts.
HamsterJam, I call the far far right politicals Extremists. I call the far far right religious mouthpieces and their minions Extremists. That’s what they are. I think the Republicans should take their party back and call these wackos what they are.
Edit: I’m surprised that Thomas can say all of that with a straight face. Why in the world would they put his face front and center. If he thinks this will help him to oust Roberts? Wow, deluded much?
Yeah whatever clarence. The Supreme Court in its current form is undermining democracy. That’s more concerning than the leak itself.
It’s funny, I’ve never heard Clarence say a word about anything in decades. Until now. He’s made multiple statements in just the past week or so. He doth protest too much. Also, I think comparing this leak to an “infidelity” is an interesting choice of words. My bet has been on Ginni Thomas as the leaker for a while, and so far, I still feel like that is a strong possibility. The word from my deep dive down this rabbit hole says that Ginni (who as openly talked about discussing cases w/ her husband), has access to his laptop and sent the draft to top-circle friends. One of those people shared it with Politico. There is even some evidence that WaPo got wind of it weeks before and vaguely referenced it in print, but didn’t have enough to outright report on it. Additionally, it adds up that a Friend of GT would send it to Politico. I think a lib clerk would have gone to NYT or WaPo. Interesting all around.
Clarence spent most of his SCOTUS career doing whatever Scalia wanted him to do. During Bush v. Gore he was advised, as was Scalia, by counsel, to recuse himself because each of them had relatives closely tied to the Bush campaign ( guess who in Clarence’s case? ) . They chose not to do so.
Deep down Clarence knows he hasn’t got the chops and never did. He wasn’t fit to clean Thurgood Marshalls shoes, much less replace him as the only African American on the court for decades.
When I was in law school over 20 years ago, I remember Thomas being widely regarded, not just by professors but by students, as a joke.
Thomas’s had been on the Court for two or three years when I started law school. He had been a non-entity the entire time and even then was being referred to as Scalia’s second vote.
Clarence went to Yale–that’s a private school. This guy don’t want to battle, he’s shook.
We see you put your pubic hair on Anita Hill’s Coke you absolutely slimy disgusting motherfucker. You’re trash and you’ve always been trash and you went too far this time.
What a garbage human being. All this noise about the leak when they know damn well it’s their archaic, misogynist, Christofascist rhetoric that has people up in arms. People lost all respect for SCOTUS when they gutted the VRA. Adding those 3 unqualified clowns to the court was just the icing on the cake. F*ck, Thomas and his seditious wife.
Just the fact that they have two known rapists out of 9 people, and then they’re going to presume to make “moral” orders for us laydeez to follow? I think not.
Why/How the F did Clarence Thomas suddenly become the voice of the SCOTUS?
This clown was dirty before he was appointed!
JFC, the entire establishment and gov’t is being shown to be crooked, idiots, working their own agendas, on the take, etc., etc.
The current Gov’t is making Team Dick Nixon look like F N choirboys!!
Sickening. All of it.
Watergate, if it occurred today, would last about a week in the news cycle.
Just the fact that they have 2 out of 9 people who have been very publicly, credibly accused of sexual assault, and then they DARE think they’re going to create and impose “moral” orders onto us laydeez? I think not.
It’s really shocking to me how out of touch these justices are about how people view their own institution.
He thinks THIS is what is undermining SCOTUS? No sir. You have been just another political arm for years.
I am just echoing everyone else’s sentiment here – F**K Clarence Thomas, his seditious wife, and the SCOTUS!! The “leak” didn’t undermine anything…its credibility was lost, a LONG time ago, starting with your placement on the court/denial of Anita Hill’s accusations!!!
AND yes, all this focus on the “leak” and not the fact that millions of women will lose their right to essential healthcare rights, and a choice over their body is ALL I need to know about this. “The lady doth protest too much, me thinks” isn’t simply a line from Hamlet that fits appropriately here lol. It is clearly the projection of fucking guilt, since that’s all the GOP/right wing media/and now Justices can focus on. And don’t you know, this “leaker” should be convicted and jailed?? LMAO! For what crime, no one can say, but they must be put away for a very long time, haha! I am now sure, as are many here, it was either Ginni Thomas (or given to someone that she knows), or one of Thomas’ clerks at his request etc. None of the Justices themselves would have done it, IMO.
Regardless, the Supreme Court is a complete joke to most people, after that POS Trump put those three conservative Justices on the court. Who is Thomas kidding, seriously???
Classic deflection technique, blame the symptom and not the true problem.
When will we see this man’s wife be investigated for her role in the insurrection? That one has been bugging me.
He can f right off! It would be really nice to live in a country where a handful of unelected assholes can’t just decide to take healthcare rights away from over half the population but I’m in America! I have zero faith in our democracy. We can’t seem to do anything here anymore except find new ways to screw people over.
Luna, unfortunately our democracy has already been eroded here. It’s up to all of the people to fight to retain what we have left. I honestly don’t know why this was leaked (I agree it was probably Thomas’ camp), what were they hoping to accomplish? They couldn’t have thought that we would stay silent. One thing that was talked about on social media was the fact that there was no violence and no one was hurt. If they were hoping to be able to shut down protests (which I’m convinced they want to do), the protests yesterday didn’t give them the ammunition.
The most popular theory as to why a conservative judge would leak it is to force wimps like Kavanaugh not to settle for a less extreme verdict than “overturn RvW.”
As SCOTUS has pretty much always supported the fascist theocratic powers that be, liberal / centrist judges often use their efforts to make rulings “less bad.”
Someone in Alito’s court didn’t want the ruling watered down in the next 6 weeks, so they pulled a gamble to “lock-in” the complete overturn of Roe v Wade.
Because if the ruling changes between now and then, they have to explain why.
F@ck roughly 60% of SCOTUS: they’re all a bunch of ghouls who are appointed to a life-long position and refuse to give up their power no matter what.
The ONLY thing that’s going to stop this assault on bodily autonomy right now is to make them feel the same amount of discomfort in THEIR personal lives as they are giving to millions of Americans.
They should NEVER be able to enjoy a dinner, trip to the grocery store, or a public airport again. They are murdering women and children in order to support their Christofascists goals: they ruin our private lives, they lose their right to privacy and civility. F&CK SCOTUS!
So is your wife’s involvement with the January 6th insurrection.
I’m leaning towards Ginni Thomas being the leaker, possibly sanctioned by her husband. That would explain his overblown posturing about the leak causing irreparable damage to SCOTUS, yadda yadda. I remember reading somewhere that she actually CALLED Anita Hill and left a voicemail asking her to apologize for accusing her husband of sexual harassment 20 years after it happened. She is privy to ALL of her husband’s caseload and often advises him on gun rights, affirmative action, and abortion. She was clearly in on the January 6th insurrection and there are numerous texts confirming she was in touch with Mark Meadows and others between the election and Jan. 6. She attended the rally and even reached out to Jared Kushner about Trump’s legal efforts to keep power. She even suggested the lawyer who should be put in charge of that effort — the nutbar Sidney Powell — who peddled debunked ideas about rigged voting machines etc. She’s as dangerous as she is crazy.
I absolutely believe this to be true about Ginni, knowing everything that goes on with the supremes by way of her loathsome husband. I do think it’s possible that she gave the info to another treasonous GQPer to leak.
It probably was the conservative justices themselves who leaked so they could play the victim and try to divert attention from their evil unlawful fascist ruling.
PS I haven’t seen anyone bringing up what’s going to happen to all the frozen embryos…if a women doesn’t want to get pregnant will she be forced anyway to try to get pregnant or have to give them away or pay for them to be frozen for eternity?
Good question! Many women who did IVF elected to have their unused embryos frozen. They now will have no say over them? And if that is true, who will have final say? I repeat, WHO gets to decide ? Not us, apparently.
@Julia YUP! I have two frozen embryos which I don’t think I will end up using because I am happy with having just my two kids but I can’t predict if that’ll change in a few years. I don’t know what to do: throw away my fertility right now for fear that in the future I’ll be sent to prison as a murderer if I don’t want to get pregnant again. Insane doesn’t even come close to describing this situation. I hope there’s a lot of republican women with frozen embryos who are now realizing what they’ve done to themselves.
I think some of the “heartbeat” laws are written to allow the wealthier (i.e., white) people to continue to use IVF. Using “heartbeat” as the limiting factor defies the position that “life begins at conception,” but it does allow them to continue IVF.
That said, if laws start outlawing destruction of embryos, keeping them frozen indefinitely may not violate the law. And/or fertility centers may implant the embryos during a time when they will probably never “take,” allowing the body to flush them out naturally.
But I cannot believe our nation has come to this, or the damage the republican party has done.
Oh, f–k him and the other destroyers of this country.
The only thing truthful about what he’s saying is the comparison to dysfunctional family. Collectively the right has been that toxic, higher up on the food chain set of relatives people are pressured to trust, or at least politely not respond to, just to keep the peace and not be made out to be disrespectful. Even while they look for ways to make others unsafe. Not enough responsibility has been put on people with religious and conservative beliefs to earn female and LGBTQ trust.
No Uncle Thomas. You, your seditious wife, Alito, Shiltz Kavanaugh, and the rest of your ilk have undermined the SCOTUS. Fixed it for ya.
If they re rule against abortion rights, they will have rendered themselves completely invalid. I will not be adhering to any anti abortion legislation, in fact I will work even harder to facilitate abortions.