Alright I’m getting really fucking tired of the way the left treats Clarence Thomas. The level of vitriol but even as liberals spew hate at him they demand to know why he can’t “let it go” even as op-eds in major media criticizes him for being angry even while re-attacking him over the whole Anita Hill controversy and liberal blogs demand he be impeached for being so angry. Now maybe I’m going out on a limb here but if Justice Thomas’s views make you angry maybe he fells something similar and being personally attacked as a result is a further catalyst.

As far as Hill goes there is nothing unusual to explain. It would be surprising to find a sexual harassment case where both sides weren’t angry about it. Whatever the truth each person always (mis)remembers events from their own point of view. That’s in the past and whether or not he was a cruel or socially clueless guy back then really isn’t relevant to his legal scholarship. However, what really bugs me about the Thomas issue is the constant suggestion that he is somehow a hypocrite for benefiting for affirmative action and then opposing it. The logical fallacy here is clear. No one would believe that opposing nationalized health care meant you shouldn’t use it if it is created so why would you think this about affirmative action. In fact being able to oppose something that has benefited you is an important virtue (not claiming this is at play here) not a flaw. The new attack is to call him a hypocrite for not believing he was getting an affirmative action appointment to the supreme court¹ but is it really that hard to believe that someone convinced themselves they were being rewarded for their merit? It isn’t like most people don’t convince themselves religion is true because they want to believe.

Now I happen to think that Thomas’s views on constitutional interpretation are harmful and would much prefer a justice who believes in a more evolutionary approach to jurisprudence but this doesn’t mean I can’t recognize that Thomas has a respectable intellectually plausible approach that he follows with at least as much consistency as other supreme court justices. Even if you disagree with his view on the harms of affirmative action it is a plausible theory seriously tendered and your obligation is to cite evidence refuting it not personally attack it’s proponents. For the love of god Thomas is just a guy, he may believe some gloriously wrong things but his beliefs are far more coherent and thoughtful than most liberals (or conservatives) I’ve met. He just happens to be wrong.

The furor and emotion surrounding Clarence Thomas is perhaps the best example of the true nature of politics. People aren’t really concerned about ideas and argument they care about group loyalty and emotional signaling. It doesn’t seem to matter to people that Thomas may have a reasonable argument for his position (they don’t even bother to refute it) they are angry because instead of showing gratitude to his ‘team’ even after benefiting from their gifts he switched sides and criticized those programs. No doubt this was a great way to approach things when you were trying to gain advantage in your tribe but it isn’t a good way to approach serious intellectual issues.