"I'd rather die than withdraw. If they're going to kill me, they're going to kill me."
— Retired Orrin G. Hatch (@RetiredOrrin) May 28, 2021
One of the most important and iconic moments of Justice Thomas's confirmation. It was a signal to the world that you should never let bullies win.
And he never has. #CTLive pic.twitter.com/FfISdoos4g
This is as if Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President of the USA in 2024 while supporters characterized him as a warrior against gender stereotypes. Suggesting that- of all people- Clarence Thomas was not a perpetrator of bullying but a target of bullying is akin to claiming that Trump is an innocent victim of sexual predators. sexual assault. Investigative journalist Jane Mayer, who (co-) wrote the book on Thomas' ascension to the US Supreme Court, in January, 2019 told PBS' Frontline
He absolutely played the race card to get on the Supreme Court of the United States, and played the victim card, which of course his ideology is that nobody should be able to ever see themselves as a victim. But he sure played it, and it worked.
That's precisely how, in 50 words or less (fewer), Judge Clarence Thomas became Justice Clarence Thomas. Challenging his fitness for the High Court was effectively shut down as he complained he was "lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate, rather than hung from a tree." It was "a high tech lynching for uppity blacks." Mayer explains
He worked it out with Ken Duberstein, who was working with the White House, one of his handlers, a great sort of political operative, and others, who came up with this fantastic phrase with him, which was to basically say that he was being put through what he called a “high-tech lynching.” He raised the “lynching” word. It obviously is one of the most explosive words you can come up with in American history, the most explosive word in racial history in America, evoking images of just a horrible racist process without any justice that was meant to kill him in the worst way, in front of the whole public. And he said it was cooked up only because he was trying to think for himself and think differently from the rest of the sort of black establishment.
Black conservative lawyer plays the race card to get on the Supreme Court of the United States, right?
He absolutely played the race card to get on the Supreme Court of the United States, and played the victim card, which of course his ideology is that nobody should be able to ever see themselves as a victim. But he sure played it, and it worked.
Thomas was pressured to drop out but responded "I'd rather die than withdraw," either of which would have been a stunningly patriotic act.
He suspected he had an ace in the hole, though. Waiting to testify against him were Angela Wright, Moira Smith, and Sukari Hardnett. Nonetheless, the Democratic chairperson of the Senate Judiciary Committee was thoroughly cowed. He put a quick end to the hearing, Thomas was approved by the Judiciary Committee, confirmed by the Senate, and remains on the US Supreme Court today.
That committee chairman was a guy from Delaware, Joseph R. Biden Jr.. He has since been elected President, a bizarre chapter in politics, given his history. It is not, however, as bizarre as worshiping a guy who demanded to be seen as a victim of lynching while he bullied himself onto the United States Supreme Court..
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