Sometimes when politics seems at its craziest, we see signs that sanity is possible. One of those signs came when retired Supreme Court Justice Breyer stood up for Justice Clarence Thomas:
‘A Friend Of Mine’: Former Justice Breyer Says Clarence Thomas Is A ‘Man Of Integrity’ https://t.co/5goSIlKg7v via @dailycaller
— David Strom (@DavidStrom) April 21, 2023
From The Daily Caller:
As far as I’m concerned, I sat next to him on the bench for 28 years. I like him. He’s a friend of mine. I’ve never seen him do anything underhanded or say anything underhanded[.]
My personal point of view is he’s a man of integrity[.]
This gave us hope that perhaps a liberal center could assert itself and stop this latest weird and racist jihad against Thomas. Then the leftists began to screech, starting with Elie Mystal (who is a man):
You know, and this is a true story, I sat next to Mike Tyson at dinner one night and… he never PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE. So, as far as I'm concerned, Tyson cain't fight. https://t.co/E0rFpg3Ek4
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) April 21, 2023
Of course, Mad Scientist Fat Albert (as @redsteeze calls him) is killing a straw man, but that’s nothing new with him. Sadly, he goes on:
Also, what was Breyer gonna say? "I sat next to him for 28 years and, man, the stories I could tell. Crazy stuff, man. We'd be hearing a case and he'd lean over and say 'That litigant there paid for this watch. It's nice. I can hook you up.' Crazy stuff."
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) April 21, 2023
And Ian Milhouse Millhiser had to chime in:
The problem with Supreme Court justices, both current and former, is that their prestige and power all flows from the false perception that the Supreme Court is a noble institution that isn’t run by partisan hacks. https://t.co/4EEaxHqBMg
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) April 21, 2023
As did others:
if you ever wondered anything like, "is breyer really that dull, or is it an act because he has to be collegial while sharing the court with a conservative majority?" the answer is, he's really that dull https://t.co/PkLmPNmiBR
— Michael (@_FleerUltra) April 21, 2023
Can’t stress enough how little I want to hear from Stephen Breyer right now about how his old friend Clarence Thomas is a “man of integrity” https://t.co/jXVkgt4TDN pic.twitter.com/MDoCRVixNg
— Jay Willis (@jaywillis) April 21, 2023
Don't care if Breyer sat next to him. Don't care if he likes Thomas. Perhaps Breyer didn't "see" anything underhanded bc he wasn't invited on the yachts or vacations. Maybe his mom's 🏠 didn't need 2be purchased&reno'd. All fmr. Justice Breyer did is damage his credibility 🤨⚖️
— Life's A Bouquet (@AndraLThomas1) April 22, 2023
Breyer, who was once Thomas' workmate, says Clarence is a "man of integrity"
A: I have worked with a lot of people. I have little idea of what most of them were like outside the office.
B: Don't serial killers' neighbors often say, "We had no idea?"
https://t.co/PsuSn3KJaX— Pitt Griffin (@pittgriffin) April 21, 2023
Knowing that Breyer is defending Thomas is the kind of stuff that will push you further left. https://t.co/FTHY35nxsX
— george gardiakos (@callmegiorgie) April 22, 2023
Stephen Breyer telling us about his pal Clarence Thomas like pic.twitter.com/CnCAKEm37U
— Roger Spark, of Counsel (@chicacalack) April 22, 2023
I’ll say this for Breyer: He’s really strengthened my suspicion that the rot is institutional and that we should be prepared to learn that other Justices have corrupt arrangements with the plutocratic class. (I still suspect the Ginni Thomas situation is p unique, though.) https://t.co/yUf9LteZ87
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) April 21, 2023
There were even accusations that Breyer was protecting for Thomas to cover for his own alleged ethical lapses:
Stephen Breyer is one of those Clarence “sought guidance?”
C. Thomas ~
“I sought guidance from my colleagues & others in the judiciary & was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court was not reportable” pic.twitter.com/xLFUMuNymE— Jeppa (@Jeppa97963298) April 21, 2023
The only reason for Breyer to speak up is because he is afraid of the skeletons in his closet.
Hell, breyer was one of the only justices trading individual stocks, he’s probably dirtier than Thomas
— Lucky (@Lucky_Tradez) April 21, 2023
Indeed, one man claimed he had the goods. But he didn’t make the point he thought he was making:
A reminder that, while on the court, Breyer was one of three justices to trade individual stocks. Even Thomas doesn't do that, so far as we know. And Breyer failed to recuse himself in multiple cases where he owned stock in one of the parties: https://t.co/AnJSPj2lVR https://t.co/4Db6d4oyF0
— James Downie (@jamescdownie) April 21, 2023
Of course, factually, there appears to be some evidence to support this claim:
As I wrote here last October, Supreme Court justices need to GET OUT of individual stocks too.@SpeakerPelosi is right on this.
Supreme Court Justices' Stock Ownership Could Pose Conflict of Interest https://t.co/MLYYnJc6fn via @TheNLJ
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) February 12, 2022
Supreme Court justice took part in case despite wife's stock ownership http://t.co/1HlZxHufX5 pic.twitter.com/5BChTQZvWq
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) October 16, 2015
Yet, there were no significant calls to impeach Breyer while he was serving on the Supreme Court, a point hammered home by another Tweeter:
Democrats attack Clarence Thomas because he has a lifelong wealthy friend. He's flown on his plane, vacationed on his yacht & in his mountain cabin. What he did isn't against the rules. Breyer took 225 free trips but Dems say nothing about that. Thomas ain't leaving SCOTUS.
— llanier💥💥🦮💥💥 (@llanier67) April 19, 2023
Her numbers do not appear to be exact, but they are reasonably close:
Supreme Court Judges and the Gifts https://t.co/2vuiWcxV5h
— AmericanLady (@AmericanLadyUSA) April 18, 2023
And her point is that there is a clear double standard. Breyer’s conduct was more troubling than Thomas, but there were no serious calls to impeach him over it. So, to talk about impeachment with Thomas is unjustified discrimination.
Of course, the very same people who claim every criticism of George Soros is automatically Anti-Semitism or that any criticism of the totalitarian communist government of China is automatically racist against Chinese Americans will never admit their hatred of Clarence Thomas is racist. And it clearly is. What Democrats hate the most about Thomas is they feel like he betrayed them. He is black. They think, therefore, he is supposed to be on their side, automatically. Let’s not forget that Joe Biden told people that if they weren’t sure if they should vote for him, they aren’t black:
Does it get more racist than this?👇 https://t.co/afxNmgG6ol
— Nicholas Tutora (@Tutora2020) April 20, 2023
Or that he said that Latinos, unlike black Americans, had an incredible diversity of views:
Joe Biden: "Unlike the African American community with notable exceptions, the Latino community is an incredibly diverse community." https://t.co/BaTrycHSLm pic.twitter.com/ExuGTqAsMk
— Gritty is the Way (@Gritty20202) July 12, 2022
These were only gaffes in the sense that Joe Biden accidentally said what Democrats really thought out loud. Thomas himself recognized it years ago:
Clarence Thomas on the “high tech lynching of uppity blacks who deign to think for themselves….” Watch every second of this. pic.twitter.com/kJrJ1SMJog
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) September 27, 2018
And it still goes on today. Yes, his conservativism plays a crucial role in their hatred of him, but the most significant element is the color of his skin and the racist sense of betrayal that comes with it. ‘You’re black! You’re supposed to be on our side!’ is what they believe.
Good for Justice Breyer for rising above that racism and being able to disagree with Thomas without making it personal, and for defending Thomas. He didn’t just call Thomas a friend. He showed he was a friend in the truest sense of the word.
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