You know, I didn’t expect to talk about Clarence Thomas and the current political climate without making a comparison of his confirmation hearing back in the 90s to Brett Kavanaugh’s this last month. But here we are! No talking about Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford! (Except for that). So Clarence Thomas spoke at some random event last week (I think it was the expansion of some judicial building or something…It makes me wonder what kind of events command his attention…) and he spoke about a number of things. Of the topics he brought up, most prescient was probably the importance of avoiding partisanship on the bench, and not being a puppet or mouthpiece for people in power. It’s admittedly hard not to see that as a jab at the Kavanaugh confirmations. Whether that was meant as an unsubtle message at his new coworker remains to be seen.
So, the Supreme Court reversed the lower court ruling on Trump’s travel ban. Despite his rhetoric clearly indicating what it is, the Supreme Court decided that his public statements shouldn’t count in determining the legality of the ban. It’s frustrating and Un-American at it’s heart, but here it stands. The swing vote on this verdict, as is historically the case in these situations was Justice Anthony Kennedy. Kennedy, in his statement wanted to assure everybody, that he hates religious and racial intolerance, and that this was not about that. This was about the constitution dammit! Also, he wants everyone to know (in a very subtle way, without using anyone’s names explicitly) that this isn’t the court’s permission for important people to disregard the constitution. Because that’s still what’s important! No one is above the law! And yet, those words probably fall on deaf ears. Or at least distracted ears, distracted from the loud gloating of the President, who sees this as nothing less than a win for him.
Mind the Exit 