Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, May 27, 2016

Hypocrisy, thy name is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court Justice seemingly incapable of speaking when his job requires it, gave a commencement speech at Hillsdale College over the weekend in which he provided ironic insight into his infamous silence, urging the graduates “not [to] hide your faith and your beliefs under a bushel basket…in this world that seems to have gone mad with political correctness.”

As a sitting judge on the highest court in the land, it would seem commonsensical for someone of his stature to deliver such advice — or would, if Justice Thomas ever demonstrated that he himself abided by it.

“I admit to being unapologetically Catholic, unapologetically patriotic and unapologetically a Constitutionalist,” said the justice who never said anything. The “hallmarks of my youth, such as patriotism and religion, seem more like outliers, if not afterthoughts.”

Thomas noted that there “could be no freedom without each of us discharging our responsibilities. That was first and foremost,” and that in “that context, when we heard the words ‘duty,’ ‘honor,’ ‘country,’ no more needed to be said. But that is a bygone era.”

He added that “we rarely hear of our personal responsibilities in discussions of broad notions such as freedom or liberty,” but failed to note that one of his responsibilities as a sitting justice on the highest court in the land might require him to be an active participant in the debates occurring before him.

Original Article
Source: salon.com/
Author: Scott Eric Kaufman

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