If you're in the DC area, here's a reminder to check out Washington Post writers Kevin Merida and Michael Fletcher tonight--Tuesday, May 1, 2007 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Karibu Bookstore15624 Emerald Way Bowie, MD 20716, before they roll out again on tour (Atlanta area). They'll be discussing an amazing and hornet-stirring biography of who my late mother called, "a handkerchief head and spook-a-demus of the worst kind," Clarence Thomas. Supreme Discomfort: the Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas is a must read, even for your up-coming beach trips, believe it or not. Click here for the authors' website and excerpts; you can purchase the book on amazon through my website's "What I'm reading" page.
Was Mom right? Hell Yes and Hell No, according to the authors, who have painstakingly opened the life of a very complex, closed individual, from birth to present day, and track the seminal events that shaped and continue to shape his views, his rather insidious and often insincere sponsors/backers/handlers, his jurisprudence and the public's perception. This is a man who very well may party with hogs like Rush Limbaugh--whose wedding he officiated--then goes home and cries in his sleep for doing so. Torture, hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance run that deep.
I hope to have an interview with the authors very soon; later this month they'll be discussing the book in the DC area--Silver Spring and Politics & Prose bookstore--and then Baltimore. In the meantime be sure to check out another fantastic non-fiction choice: Ghetto Nation by Cora Daniels.
FYI, facist sluts Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter have been attempting to evade debate on Supreme Discomfort on the barking head circuit lest they give it too much piggyback PR. Keith Olbermann and Charlie Rose need to headline this book, and hell yes so does Tavis, along with Ghetto Nation. Feed your brains, folks. Your teeth will rot from too much candy-ass street lit and soap opera novels (you know of whom I speak...)
Any comments on Mr. Justice Thomas, especially if you've read the book?
8 comments:
I have a comment about Clarence Thomas. I think "Justice Thomas" as big of an oxymoron as "jumbo shrimp."
I can't imagine what insights this book could contain that would make me feel any differently.
lol...wow what a comment to come behind.
I look forward to reading what the book shares.
Thank you for finding your way to my page. As for the event, I use my blog as a pot luck of sorts on fridays. Last Friday was the 5 part of Pot Luck Friday and the readers went crazy to the tune of 227 comments.
Thanks for stopping by my page and I will definitely check out your post topics.
Have a great day and come back around my spot anytime you like.
Clarence Thomas was the preacher marrying Rush Limbaugh?!
I will definitely have to pass this on to my wife's book club!
Yo niggah, lay off mah boy Clarence. He a ballah and shot-callah, yo!
i haven't read the book, but i've always felt that even though Justice Thomas is an enigma (especially in the Black and liberal communities), there has to be another side to this man. there has to be a straw that stirs his drink.
being born and reared in racist South Georgia and then apparently rising above his station to be afforded a "high priced" Ivy League education had to have a profound affect on the lens through which he views the world and how he views his place in it.
if nothing else, this brother has had the cajones to take his political position and has been unwavering in it for close to 20 years on the Bench. i'm not a fan of his politically, but i will admit to being in awe of his steely determination to be that "silent Originalist" Justice. i'm sure the book be an interesting read on a very mysterious man.
I've read a few chapters and you are right he is VERY complex and closed, Chris. But I disagree with Plez. There's nothing "steely" about this guy, and it would appear that this image is part of the same right wing machine, from Senator Danforth and then Ashcroft (his original rabbis and shepherds) to Rush Limbaugh and Faox News posse. I think they've always viewed him as a poster boy and not a real person, but individually some have had personal like for the dude. Then an aide or friend of theirs comes along and disses him and all black folks. The two faced stuff has many examples that are stone facts of conservatives who love hi personally but are so dismissive of black folks that they constantly include him, or other examples like the guy who helped shoot down Lani Guanier but is a personal friend of Thomas. When Thomas pointed out that he respected though disagreed with Guanier (he went to school with her) and she'd be good for the Civil Rights department of the attorney general, this guy basically told Thomas to shut the f*ck up, and then apologized, of course.
Look I'm not saying all of the forces in his life weren't important, or that the brother's retarded like our El presidente, but let's not confuse him living in a weird bubble with being steely!
PS The Terminator came to inspect our collapsed freeway...Caltrans had better get it's act together or we won't be able to buy any books! So lobby!
I've read the book and I agree with the one statement you made about Thomas hanging out with fairly harsh conservatives and yet having an inner voice protesting that very act. He seems the abhor the very confrontationalism his "allies" thrive on.
Especially troubling was the way he avoids events where there is any hint of Q & A other than from a handpicked crowd, and that he travels with a "posse" of law clerks and body guards. The other justices, including the conservative members of the court, don't do this, and freely discuss and debate their opinions in open forums.
I cannot wait to read this! Thanks for the tip!
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