Doubting Thomas

Conservatives are crazy. That's all there is to it. They're fucking crazy. Not that you didn't already know that, but I had to start this post off somehow. I was reminded of it this time when reading an article on Clarence Thomas' new book and how he is apparently still bitter about the fact that Yale admitted him based upon racial preferences.

As he said:
"I learned the hard way that a law degree from Yale meant one thing for white graduates and another for blacks, no matter how much any one denied it," Thomas writes. "I'd graduated from one of America's top law schools, but racial preference had robbed my achievement of its true value."

Thomas says he stores his Yale Law degree in his basement with a 15-cent sticker from a cigar package on the frame.

What a schmuck. Who the hell cares how Thomas got into Yale? The point is he got in. Does anyone really believe that Bush could have gotten in if he wasn't a legacy? If anything, it may have lessened the achievement of getting into Yale somewhat, if he didn't really deserve to be there. But once he was there, he earned his diploma the same as everyone else.

And what's truly sad is that his real complaint isn't against affirmative action, but against the very racism that affirmative action is intended to fight. I mean, is he really suggesting that he would have gotten a job more quickly with a diploma from East Schboykin Community College? Of course not. His Yale diploma opened up many doors that would have been closed to him without it. If employers were doubting his intelligence, that was all him.

But he can't see it that way at all. The dumb schmuck has to blame affirmative action, rather than racism. The only one who downgraded the meaning of Thomas' diploma was Thomas. I'm honestly sad for him that he'd insult himself by putting that 15-cent sticker on his diploma. Hell, I don't even know exactly where my diploma is, but I sure as hell wouldn't put an insult on it.

Of course, the irony is that he likely only got on the Supreme Court because of affirmative action. And he knows it. He was picked because he was a loyal, but not too bright hardline conservative who would be difficult for the Democrats in Congress to shoot-down because of the color of his skin. And adding insult to injury, the people on his own team loathe affirmative action and insist that it's unethical and wrong; yet he owes everything to it. In that context, it would seem that perhaps he's so embarrassed by the problem that he'd rather have been denied the privilege of going to Yale, simply to avoid it.

And so while he probably earned that Yale diploma, his daily life is just a cruel joke mocking him. He still doesn't feel secure with where he got in life. He's still haunted by the ghost of affirmative action. He still feels like people are doubting his abilities. But this time, they're right.