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CLARENCE THOMAS DOESN'T THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE ALL THOSE RIGHTS.
In a time when a liberal President and a conservative President are in agreement that the government can detain anyone it wants indefinitely without trial or charges, and that it can break the law and then obscure its lawbreaking under the rubric of national security, I'm not inclined to say that there is a "proliferation of rights". In related news, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas may have just clarified why he doesn't talk much:
‘Today there is much focus on our rights,” Justice Thomas said. “Indeed, I think there is a proliferation of rights.”“I am often surprised by the virtual nobility that seems to be accorded those with grievances,” he said. “Shouldn’t there at least be equal time for our Bill of Obligations and our Bill of Responsibilities?”
Funny, I don't remember there being a "Bill of Obligations" or a "Bill of Responsibilities" in the Constitution of the United States of America. But since Thomas is an originalist who interprets the Constitution the way the founders intended, I suppose it must be in there somewhere.
-- A. Serwer
COMMENTS (18)
Maybe it's a good thing Thomas doesn't ask any questions during Supreme Court arguments. They would probably be about magic dishwashers or Douglass MacArthur
Posted by: TheFritoPundito | April 13, 2009 2:52 PM
Curiously, he doesn't mention any obligation or responsibility he has for being a beneficiary of Affirmative Action, beyond taking that recompense away from others who find themselves similarly situated.
Posted by: Rich | April 13, 2009 3:09 PM
I'd love to see Justice Thomas write up his suggested "Bill of Responsibilities".
That would be a hoot.
Posted by: r€nato | April 13, 2009 3:15 PM
Um, Clarence Baby, the "Bill of Obligations and Responsibilities" is called the U.S. Code (among other statutory and common-law sources). You know, don't murder people, pay your taxes, etc., etc. I'd say that gets more than "equal time" with the Bill of Rights.
Posted by: Glenn | April 13, 2009 3:19 PM
"a href="http://www.livevideo.com/video/embedLink/EA99CA387EE64D0FA10FE7F6E23E4C30/216455/the-simpsons-an-amendment-to.aspx">There's a lot of flag burners, who have got to much freedom...."
Posted by: Aaron | April 13, 2009 3:56 PM
Sorry....
There's a lot of flag burners, who have got to much freedom.
Posted by: Aaron | April 13, 2009 3:59 PM
If by "today" he means, "since the dawn of the enlightenment", I would have to agree with him. Lots of rights in the last 300 years.
Posted by: eric | April 13, 2009 3:59 PM
It's that damn Ninth Amendment again, that arrow shot by the founders from the eighteenth century into the heart of Robert Bork.
Posted by: parsec | April 13, 2009 4:17 PM
He is an Uncle Thomas and I as a black woman don't have any problem saying that. A disgrace to the idea of justice.
Posted by: anita hill was right | April 13, 2009 4:21 PM
He is talking about the Wall Street bailout and saying something pretty liberal.
Posted by: Peter Waksman | April 13, 2009 4:27 PM
I saw Thomas on C-Span a number of years back (shortly after the Bush v. Gore debacle). It was clear from his speech that he believes in making decisions "with his gut", and then looks through the law and constitution to support his instincts.
In other words, he has at best only a grudging respect for the concept of "rule of law".
Posted by: RickD | April 13, 2009 4:46 PM
What a mediocre, pathetic creature is judge Clarabelle. But he has a nose that's magic and the power of life or death.
Posted by: Weniger Gottquatsch | April 13, 2009 5:33 PM
Clarence Thomas doesn't have to know anything about constitutional law. All he does is watch how Scalia votes, and then he says "ditto".
Posted by: jasperjava | April 13, 2009 5:50 PM
All he does is watch how Scalia votes, and then he says "ditto".
That's how he earned the nickname "Sock Puppet".
Posted by: SFAW | April 13, 2009 7:15 PM
Clarence Thomas was an incredible piece of right-wing vengeance, foisted upon the American People and the SCOTUS by Bush I as a big, fat, FUCK YOU to the Democrats, and the rest of the country. He was ALWAYS that, and has done absolutely nothing to contradict that notion.
Posted by: LL | April 13, 2009 7:36 PM
All he does is watch how Scalia votes, and then he says "ditto".
That's how he earned the nickname "Sock Puppet".
Actually, all he does is watch how Scalia votes, and then he says "dildo". Never forget what he did to Anita Hill.
Posted by: long dong silver | April 14, 2009 6:53 AM
Justice Thomas" complete speech is going to be aired this Wednesday, April 15, at 8:pm EST on CSPAN, should anyone want to hear Thomas in his own words.
Posted by: BillofRights | April 14, 2009 3:02 PM
Do any of you really hear what he is saying, or want to listen? Or are you listening to yourselves?
Posted by: Whatisheard | April 16, 2009 12:13 AM