Justice Thomas: Americans don't sacrifice as much

[caseymoz]

Source: Yahoo News

LEXINGTON, Va. – Americans today are self-indulgent and don't make the sacrifices that their parents and grandparents did, and the nation's leaders don't ask people to act for the higher good, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Monday at a Virginia college in a rare public speech.

"Our country and our principles are more important than our individual wants," Thomas told close to 400 people who greeted him with a standing ovation at Washington and Lee University, a Shenandoah Valley liberal arts school.

He quoted President Kennedy's famous, "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech, but said Americans today are more likely to say, "Ask not what you can do for yourselves or your country but what your country can do for you."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090317/ap_on_re_us/justice_thomas

---

I think Justice Clarence Thomas' message could not more uninformed and inauspicious. After all the money the big banks and AIG have sucked from our treasury while giving their execs bonuses, while people get thrown from their houses, while tent settlements have started to be seen in our cities, with our economy fighting collapse, with signs of sacrifice everywhere, Justice Thomas shakes his finger at us. Don't worry Justice Thomas, we're sacrificing now, and we'll probably going to sacrifice for the foreseeable future, thanks to your party.

He doesn't give speeches rarely enough, as far as I'm concerned.

[LeftishBrit]

1. So does that mean that he thinks that the rich should pay more taxes?

[caseymoz]

40. Doubtful, I'd say-- to him they've already "sacrificed" to earn their wealth.

Mostly, it their rich, that's the assumption.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "The problem is our perverted, wide-stance Republicon Family Values." - Clarence

"We need to make old-fashion Republicon Family Values sacrifices like cutting back on our diaper budget, and picking the pubic hairs off of our Coke cans, smirk."

- Clarence

[saigon68]

11. "LONG DONG SILVER" rides again

Toward the end of the confirmation hearings, an FBI interview with Anita Hill who had worked for Thomas at the Department of Education and the EEOC, was leaked. Hill, an attorney, was then called to testify at Thomas' confirmation hearings, where she alleged that Thomas had subjected her to inappropriate harassing comments of a sexual nature. Hill's testimony included lurid details. Including testimony which alleged Thomas invited her over to his apt to watch the famous "Long Dong Silver" in ACTION.


Long Dong Silver (possibly born Daniel Arthur Mead on April 20, 1960), is a retired English porn star from London. He appeared in several pornographic movies with Brian Carl in the UK and USA during the late 1970s and early 1980s. His debut film was the low-budget Sex Freaks released in 1979, in which he co-starred with Vicki Scott. In 1982 he appeared with the legendary Seka in Beauty and the Beast, shot in America. His name is a reference to Long John Silver.

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/91/91cthomas.phtml For more

[caseymoz]

46. In all fairness, Thomas says it never happened. It's her word against his.

There are no witnesses to what she alleged, no witnesses to the coke can incident either, and there not a peep from any other woman about the same behavior. All we know is one of them lied, and it's a 50-50 chance. Thomas and Hill are both innocent until proved guilty.

I don't like him for other reasons, and this speech shows he's out to lunch, and shares the same philosophy as the very mean Bill Bennett.

[noiretextatique]

58. he did the same thing to another woman

angela wright.
http://www.democraticwings.com/democraticwings/archives/womens_rights/003490.php

[defendandprotect]

75. ..and many witnesses to his EEOC perverted behavior...sexism --

a dozen or more ready and waiting to testify --

betrayed

[The Second Stone]

67. Other women made similar allegations

And on that basis, I believe her, and I believe that Thomas perjured himself when he denied it.

[caseymoz]

70. I had forgotten that, and I'll have to read up on it.

He did make a show of being shocked, shocked I tell you!

[defendandprotect]

76. Try "Srange Justice" -- the book -- by Jane Meyer and Jill Abramson . ..

[defendandprotect]

74. No .. it's Thomas' lies vs his own friends' honesty about his

lifelong obsession with hard-core porn ...!!!

The dozen or more women who would have testified about Thomas' real/perverted behavior at EEOC were

not permitted to testify ...

They were betrayed -- ready to testify -- not called.

[HughBeaumont]

3. Filthy Five member who gave us Bewsh II: The Nightmare: "Suck it up, bitches! Life's tough!"

I'm surprised 400 people didn't throw Brillo pads at him. You know, so he can scrub all the blood off his hands.

Could it be, "Justice" Thomas, that it's kind of hard to sacrifice when the dog-turd present you and your co-horts gave us in 2000 took so much away from 93% of us?

Stay classy, Clarence Shithead. Have a coke and smile.

[Hissyspit]

4. Shut up, asshole.

Everyone hated your whiny, self-serving, hypocritical book.

No one cares what you have to say.

[aquart]

5. A horse would be ashamed to have him for an ass.

[bdamomma]

31. ......................

:rofl:

[specialed]

6. The Modern Day welfare queens from Fair Field County......

http://www.fairfieldcountylook.com/gallery.php?id=7

[No Elephants]

36. Welfare queens?

[Mithreal]

7. How much human sacrifice to their god is enough?

People are losing their jobs, their careers, their investments, their savings, their homes, their children, their health, their food and shelter and that is not enough.

And he talks about wants and selfishness? His party made selfishness and "wants" a virtue.

[yy4me]

8. I was about to say the same thing. It is always about "us" giving

up, how about the likes of the judge? I have, like many others, nothing left to give up that won't put me on the street.

I have never considered myself selfish and I'm sure most others feel the same way. We just do our best and try to meet our obligations.

Give this man a can of Coke!

[ixion]

9. Bite me, Mr. Thomas

you have no idea what I have sacrificed, or what I've had to do to survive in this crappy, cut-throat society all the while you've sat on your fat ass earning a living from other people's money.

You should be ashamed of yourself, sir.

[newfie11]

10. Maybe this jackass should leave the beltway area

drive his own self around the country and see how people are living, For that matter maybe he should checkout areas inside the beltway. People who make the rules should not live in bubbles.

[trthnd4jstc]

12. Justice Thomas pisses me off. Like Bush, he blames the working class for being poor. F#ck Him!

I still work a bit more than 60 hours every week. I eat sack lunches or at home most of the time. I do not watch TV much. And, I am a single parent. Fuck Clarence Thomas. Fucking Asshole. Americans not willing to sacrifice. The Goddam Rich, for the most part live useless lives of leisure. They contribute little to the world, and yet take the most. This fucker never mentions the lizard class, and their parasite lives.

[peace frog]

13. Have a coke and a smile and STFU, Clarence

Nobody gives a flying frig what you think. N.O.B.O.D.Y.

[n2doc]

14. I agree

So Clarence, please give up 90% of your wealth to pay down the deficit. You surely don't need anything more than the folks back home in Pin Point...

Sane goes for the rest of the "1%ers"

[D-Lee]

15. Just remember that he helped Americans "sacrifice" discrimination complaints

by keeping them in his former agency until the statute of limitations passed ... to the eternal gratitude (at our expense) of the Republican employers.

I guess "voluntary" wasn't part of his vocabulary ...

[Roland99]

16. Guess Clarence never tuned in to a single Obama stump speech where he addressed that DIRECTLY

Community service?
Parental responsibility?


Ayup...covered.

[City Lights]

17. Sacrifice starts at home, Clarence.

What have you done for your country, Clarence, besides foist Dubya upon us?

How long before Cheney declares that "sacrifice is a virtue?"

[One_Life_To_Give]

18. Volunteer Fire Dept's, Ambulances etc

have been noticing this decline for many years. Compared to the WW2 (Greatest Generation) we do oerhaps fall short. Today instead we have to attend Soccer Practice, a dance lesson, etc.

Now we are also spending an extra several hours a week commuting. Can't make ends meet while one parent stays home. And in this economy who isn't paranoid that there job will be eliminated? Which doesn't make it any easier to donate our time and ourselves to noble causes.

[Oak2004]

62. Part of why that volunteerism has faltered is that too many people work too many hours

It's true that in cul-de-sac land free time has been taken up with soccer practice, etc. But a large part of that is, what exactly can kids do in cul-de-sac land, other than go to organized activities to which their parent need to drive them?

Everyone who isn't working too much or trying to raise kids in the wastelands built for the better-off worker bees is either too poor to afford to volunteer (on "assistance" even one round of bus fare can make the difference between eating and not eating for the week), or is a parasite on society who couldn't imagine doing productive labor (i.e., the rich, Clarence Thomas, etc.).

Oh, and many of the few who still have free time have been caught up in Republican culture (the me-me-me, fuck the welfare queens, not in my backyard, why should I do something for free, culture of privatize everything and sell it to a corporation). Those unfortunate brainwashed people don't do anything for anyone, and never know the secret truth that loving, giving, and caring are the keys to human happiness.

It's the few of us who, somehow, haven't yet been snipped and frayed by all these public policies which, collectively, couldn't be better designed to destroy the fabric of American civil society who are left to do the volunteering.

I personally would like to see a lot more volunteerism (and not just because I volunteer in a role that would be so much easier if I had more volunteers). I guarantee that a culture that valued giving over selling and buying would see clinical depression rates plummet, as people reaped the benefits both of giving, and of knowing that their community has got their backs. But that requires taking our culture back from corporatism, and repairing the damage it has done to civil society.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

69. Thats true.

[End Of The Road]

19. Haven't we been encouraged to BUY BUY BUY

(or CHARGE CHARGE CHARGE) to keep the economy going? Certainly that was the case after 9/11. To a certain degree (I'm not trying to overstate this) it has been "patriotic" to be self indulgent.

In that light, I sacrificed a lot of potential savings for my country.

[newspeak]

35. yeppers, you're right!!!

* told us to go shop after 9/11. See, that was our sacrifice. Oh, except those of us who actually have family members in the military. Our family members are also considered sacrificial lambs. Hmm, now, what did Kissinger call our soldiers?

[caseymoz]

42. You're right, the constant message to consumers was that their spending drove the economy.

It was practically our patriotic duty, and the government, the media, urged us to spend out of recessions, I knew people after the dotcom crash who believed exactly that. Consumer credit companies certainly made it as easy as possible as well, and it was rewarded. The guy is worse than out of touch.

[tanyev]

20. So I guess Mr. Thomas supports raising taxes on those who can afford it.

Riiiiiight.

[spotbird]

21. Isn't this class warfare? nt

[radfringe]

22. although he's been on my F-U list for a long time

he's just moved up a few notches

[Ganja Ninja]

23. If you ask me Kennedy was all wrong with his "ask not" speech.

You should not only ask what the government can do for you, you should demand it. We should be doing the exact opposite of Grover Norquist's philosophy. We should saddle government with so many social responsibilities that they can't go out and fight wars of choice or bailout mega-corporations.

[caseymoz]

47. Yes by that soundbite he was, but you've reminded me to read the text of it.

It's in the government and state interest to give its people some benefits. Conservatives don't like to face this, but otherwise people become alienated from their country and government. For defense of the nation, you can't expect soldiers to fight faithfully for a government that does nothing for us. It's part of our problem in Iraq, where few of those Young Republicans have volunteered for service. Now we're putting unnaturalized immigrants into our service. That's going to work out.

[Happyhippychick]

24. Is it disrespectful for me to say that I hate this asshole?

[UpInArms]

25. Thomas is a pig and should give everything away to a homeless shelter

and resign his lifelong taxpayer paid position, together with all his healthcare benefits and pension.

[DinahMoeHum]

26. Hey, Clarence: Go take long walk off short pier.

Asshole.

[gratuitous]

27. Two things I know for sure

Will Rogers never met Clarence Thomas and Slappy has never been mistaken for Thurgood Marshall.

[MotorCityMan]

34. Clarence Thomas....

Oh yeah, he's the one that Bush the greater said was the most qualified person for the Supreme Court at that time. I remember laughing my ass off at the time.

Maybe he can add another volume to his book-length whine.

Does ANYone care what he thinks about ANYthing?

[defendandprotect]

77. Marshall said: "The color of a snake isn't important ....

it's whether or not he bites."

Thurgood Marshall said that before Bush appointed Thomas ...

probably surmising what the r-w would do --

[Le Taz Hot]

28. You mean like the Civil Rigts Movement AND

Affirmative Action -- both of which YOU benefited from then proceeded to close the door behind you? Like that? Clarence Thomas, whose sole contribution to the United States Supreme Court consists of pointing to Scalia and uttering, "What he said." thhpppptttt!!!!

[KansDem]

29. "Hey, who put the Coke in my pubic hair?"

What Clarence Thomas said when somebody spilled a soft drink in his lap.

Fuck you, Clarence; We sacrificed plenty with Election2000...

[bdamomma]

30. I would like him to "sacrifice" his seat.

[Doctor_J]

32. He should know - a stupid, incompetent, corrupt Affirmative Action case

He'd be living in a cardboard box somewhere if he weren't one of the nation's 5 Black Republicans.

[joeglow3]

33. Really? People disagree with him?

Granted, he is an asshat, but I see it every day. We have friends who don't have a pot to piss in, but they have their 46 inch LCD television, their new house they cannot afford & cars that cost waaaay more than they need. When I was handing out school supplies at the Salvation Army, at least 50% of the people had Iphones, blackberries, etc. I see people everyday spending money on crap I know my parents would NEVER had bought (and we were a single income, construction union household).

Now, I agree that people should not need to sacrifice at the altar of the corrupt CEO's. That said, I still am not going to spend money I don't have on toys I don't NEED.

[caseymoz]

43. There's just enough truth in what he said to make it a very good lie.

Granted, he himself believes it, but let's consider the subtext: first of all, his ideology's cornerstone is de-regulated capitalism, which is not about sacrifice, especially at this stage when the rich are stealing to get richer. Those people became filthy rich by urging people not to sacrifice, except in terms of the credit they have to pay back. Thomas is not chiding them, I assure you. Meanwhile, his timing couldn't be worse.

As for actual sacrifice, granted there are people who are just self-indulgent, I've known such people, you have, but you can't actually judge that by a single iPhone or Blackberry you see a person using in line. As far as you know, that's the only pleasure, the only indulgence they allow themselves, and they are using it in line where they would be doing nothing anyway. It's exactly the moment to use them. I know a guy on public assistance who bought a Kindle 2.0 for $359, on public assistance. Sounds impractical and frivolous, doesn't it? He explained that the main reason he did it was because it comes with free wireless Internet, and if he ends up living in a tent, he would still have Internet access to keep him in touch with the rest of the world. So, it was absolutely practical, he was considering his environment, and it was a sacrifice. For iPhones and Blackberries, many people have dumped their landlines in favor of them, and while the initial investment is high, they are very practical for keeping people networked.

Why did he do it? It was a practical Look at what they have other than that and what their daily habits are. As far as you could tell, it's the one pleasure that they allow themselves. For myself, I have this huge, home-built kick-ass PC.

[Javaman]

37. mr. thomas, they clue phone is ringing, will you fucking pick it up already?? nt

[No Elephants]

38. Look, Thomas, when we want your opinion, we'll ask Scalia for it. Until then, sit down and shut up.

[caseymoz]

49. You're right, and Scalia gives speeches more. Damn him.

[No Elephants]

39. 400 people at Wash. and Lee U. gave this guy a standing ovation?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

55. Tuition for W&L's undergrad program is $37,412

Maybe these kids are pissed that they had to take out loans to attend?

[Solly Mack]

41. 5-4, asswipe. 5-4.

[ramapo]

44. I hate to agree but I agree

This might be the only thing Thomas has ever said that I agree with.

In general people don't want to pay taxes but want the best of services, always think they're the ones getting screwed, don't want to change their lifestyle to use fewer resources, and are basically too self-involved to think of the poor family down the block or the consequences of our actions on the next generation. It is always "whoas us" rather than "we're pretty damn fortunate" as compared to the majority of the billions who share this planet with us.

Flame on.

[caseymoz]

48. I don't read the subtext of his speech like that.

He's not talking about sacrificing to fix the environment. No way does he mean that. He's talking about sacrificing to eventually become successful-- wealthy that is. Or sacrifice for religious reasons.

What I actually can't stand is that the Conservatives (like him) promote the value of individual rights and include in that the chance to become wealthy. Now, I actually agree with that part. But then he says that those same individuals shouldn't enjoy the wealth they have, and no matter how slight it is. He can't say both without considerable contradictions, that Conservatives like himself can't recognize.

Plus, as I said, his timing couldn't have been worse.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

52. I thought he was talking about personal sacrifice for country and family.

[caseymoz]

59. But for that part of it, we're doing it already, and he doesn't perceive it.

There he is out of touch, he is negative about people. He has believed what the Bill Bennetts have told him. He might have been positive on that point and told us to do it more and keep it up. Without all the finger waving. But what he said there, I felt I had to just disregard that, it was such bullshit.

He is a religious Conservative, Catholic Religious Conservative. With him the free market is good partially because he thinks it sets a sort of discipline that he admires. (Market discipline comes up in conversations with Conservatives.) That's what think. Like Bork: he sees a lack of discipline in general society as the root of our troubles. To him, that is the major moral failure in our society and the cause of all our problems. He criticizes too broadly, so he misdirects his criticism from the people who have caused us all the grief, and he couldn't have said it at a worse time.

Now that's only what I believe about him, and that's what goes through my head when I read his speech.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

61. People are sacrificing now because they have to.

It seems a lot of people under the age of 40 want what their parents have at 65 but they want it right now. I didn't see the speech so I can't comment on his attitude. All I know is the greedy people on Wall St. didn't sacrifice, the jackass that makes $40,000 a year and bought a $400,000 house on a interest only ARM didn't sacrifice, my dumbass buddy that took out a 2nd mortgage to buy a boat didn't sacrifice, and we all know that congress and Bush sure as hell didn't sacrifice and all of them contributed significantly to our current situation.


David

[caseymoz]

64. People in the country do a lot of charitable volunteer work

And we have plenty of people who serve and have served in the military. That's what I meant with "sacrifice" my previous to this one. No, the greedy people on Wall Street didn't sacrifice, and they were on Wall Street to avoid sacrificing. For people who just made terrible financial decisions, maybe they didn't sacrifice, but for many it might have also been the problem that many did not know how to do math or calculate compound interest. For many more, it might have just been that the mortgage industry told them over and over that it was possible, and that their wages were so low for so long that they would never otherwise be able to own a house, and all houses were selling at inflated prices.

Those are just a few other possibilities, but IMHO, the problem does not come down to a lack of willingness to sacrifice, and if it was, we could certainly count on being taught it now, and carry it's lessons for charity work twenty years from now.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

65. I do a ton of charity work, I give significant portions of my income to charities.

I served in the military, we bought a house that we could afford if either one of us lost our jobs, I worked 3 jobs while she finished her doctorate and guess what I'm pretty sure Clarence Thomas was referring to me, you or people like me and you.


David

[One_Life_To_Give]

68. Dave, you are the exception

Most DU'ers probably are too. But memcership numbers in volunteer service organizations tell another story.

[One_Life_To_Give]

53. I disagree

"Our country and our principles are more important than our individual wants,"

Thats not about sacrificing to become personnally rich. Thats about taking the time to Volunteer, help a neighbor out, etc. Concidering that this echoes comments form every volunteer fire company, ambulance service, Civil Air Patrol, Power Squadron and Coast Guard Auxiliary, that the younger generations, under 60, don't have the same public service ethic. The thought may not be original b ut neither is it surprising coming from someone in his generation.

[llmart]

80. I won't flame you......

because I agree.

[Joe Bacon]

45. Gee thanks, Slappy Thomas!

Lets see...once I had an IRA, but my mother needed surgery that her insurance refused to cover. So what did I do, well I busted my IRA and paid for her surgery. I sacrificed my retirement to relieve some of the severe pain she suffered. In return, I sacrificed a chance to buy a house, start a family, have a car...Yet ol Slappy Thomas says I don't sacrifice enough.

FUCK YOU, SLAPPY THOMAS! FUCK YOU!

[mitchum]

50. Delete: double post

[mitchum]

51. Good Ol' Clarence: "They's fixin' to run off, missy!"

Fuck him

[VaYallaDawg]

54. Oh go sacrifice this, Mr. Thomas.

[anitar1]

56. what a disgusting ass he is. n/t

[GinaMaria]

57. There are people who have agreed to cut their work hours

so no one at their job would be laid off. People taking paycuts to keep themselves and their company going. I don't know anyone who hasn't cut back. Everyone I know, has at least one person in their lives who has lost a job and or health insurance.

What a sad, disconnected little man.

[caseymoz]

60. I know, he's wrong. People already sacrifice already help others,

. . . and country. You talk about lack of appreciation.

[Supersedeas]

63. where's the Leadership? The GOP War President tells the Nation to "go shopping"

[nolabels]

66. It's just a one simple word observation for me, and the word is "projection"

Psychological projection
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_projection

[blueclown]

71. Does suffering for 8 years under W count? n/t

[sofa king]

72. This disappoints me.

I know Lexington quite well, and I know that only two months ago Dick Gregory gave a speech in the same place to the same audience (more or less).

In Gregory's speech, he stood above the grave of Robert E. Lee and gave partial credit for President Obama's election to Prescott Bush, who funded the Nazis and then built a family dynasty so powerful that it could put a person as foolish as George W. in office.

Now, that's really saying something, and I could have kicked my own butt for missing it. But it didn't make the papers. This guy, the mouthpiece of a corrupt ideology, a stolen election, and eight years of unabated destruction and misery, unfortunately did.

That's a damned shame.

[treestar]

73. Those in high places always lecture the little guy to make sacrifices

makes you wonder.

[Raine]

78. Chimp asked a lot of the American people

sacrific and "go shopping" ... :shrug:

[NYC Liberal]

79. Thomas went begging to Congress for a pay raise last year. Where's his "sacrifice"?