Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas blasts progressivism as threat to America
2mon 2d ago by lemmy.world/u/tacoplease in news from abcnews.com
The one who may not have gotten his seat at all if it wasn't for progress, blasts progress.
Clarence "Steven Candie" Thomas, raper of Anita Hill...
says the guy who sells his vote for yacht vacations
Not even yacht vacations. RV vacations are enough for him.
The offer still stands!
Excuse you - they're Coach vacations thankyouverymuch.
RV's are for plebs.
By "America" he means himself. Same with trump.
“[Progressivism] holds that our rights and our dignities come not from God, but from government,” he said.
Because it's unequivocally true. Even if you believe your rights originate from God, unless or until God comes down and forms a state capable of enforcing those rights, they're meaningless.
“It requires of the people a subservience and weakness incompatible with a constitution premised on the transcendent origin of our rights.”
What a stupid thing to say. He's the one advocating for subservience, that is subservience to the supposed God who is supposedly the originator of our supposed rights.
That being said, I agree that we should not be subservient to the government. The government should be subservient to we, the people.
This coming from one of the jerks who wrote the tenth amendment out of the constitution is the rankest hypocrisy ever.
Rights don’t come from government or god. The USA based their form of government on the idea of “natural rights.” These rights are inherent in human beings. They are the default.
We give the government the power to restrict those rights in order for everyone to get along and thrive. The government does not grant rights. We let the government restrict or strip those rights under certain circumstances.
I’ve never heard of progressivism denying natural rights.
He’s trying to put religion above the State. The State, in a democracy, is the people. Fucker wants a theocracy.
I don't see any material difference between divine rights and "natural" rights. Both seem to be supernatural or metaphysical, to me, so I don't think it matters if you believe that these rights come from a god or something else. Either way they are meaningless without some means of enforcement.
You can certainly say that you have rights and that those rights emanate from some inherent part of your human being, but without a means of enforcement, it's immaterial.
It’s not supernatural, it’s philosophical.
And it’s the foundation for most, if not all, liberal democracies.
It’s not supernatural, it’s philosophical.
What's the difference?
And it’s the foundation for most, if not all, liberal democracies.
I'm aware. That doesn't mean it's above reproach or critical examination/reexamination.
Philosophy can be tested, it is an evolving system of methods used to think.
The supernatural is a set of (false) claims about reality. Bigfoot exists and magic god says we should do stuff.
Philosophy can be tested
Like, through repeatable experimentation and observation and study of natural phenomena?
Some branches of philosophy, yes. I think that your best defense would be to claim that there are metaphysical aspects of philosophy. We use metaphysics as a shortcut, even in pholosophy. I am a materialist, so I dont really think that anything can be "immaterial" or "metaphysical". Anything we have identified as immaterial has just not been adequately defined.
Ok, look, I'm really not interested in getting into these weeds. My point was just that human rights, whether one believes they are divinely given or inherent to some part of our being, are, for all practical purposes, useless without some means of enforcement. Do you dispute that?
Nope, not really. From my perspective, whether they came from a deity or from this place of "they just exist", humans made them up. Human rights can be more accurately defined as: A bunch of apes have the ability to perceive fairness and are intelligent enough to use language collectively decided that fairness should be the rule. The collective will punish those who break the rules.
It’s not supernatural, it’s philosophical.
What's the difference?
Are you serious? Honestly, you’re not worth talking to if you have to ask that.
So basically you can't come up with a response to this person and insulted them instead? You people are no better than redditors, what a fucking joke
Just like the divine right of kings was the foundation of most if not all medieval monarchies. You're really not defending your case here.
It's always these 'believers' that are the most morally corrupt people.
If you believe in God and that He watches you all the time, why are you open to being bought by your billionaire buddies? Should a good Christian not fear hell for that?
"Morallity comes from God"
Where you hiding when He handed that out?
I wish I could kill God in front of these mother fuckers to show them that the old ways are dead. The only thing we know for certain is that we are here together and better work it out - anti-progressiveness is radically against the people and should be put down with extreme prejudice because it is so wholly toxic to all life on the planet.
"[O]ur rights and our dignities come not from God, but from government,” he said.
Hmm.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
Ephesians 6:5
...and...
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.
Colossians 3:22
Is that the God you want to derive your rights from, Clarence?
He's such a slimy snake...
I think every American who comes across this article should read the whole thing. It's not long, and any reasonable person with a high school education will see he's talking nonsense.
Here are a few choice quotes and responses
Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government
Our form of government's most basic premise is that it changes if people vote to change it. They can literally change everything about it.
A spirit of “cynicism, rejection, hostility and animus” toward America -- by Americans -- has taken hold, Thomas said in remarks carried live on CSPAN.
The founding fathers literally started a war of rebellion against their government. That's what that Declaration of Independence that Thomas mentioned was all about.
He said that the values enshrined in the 1776 Declaration of Independence have “fallen out of favor” among Americans -- a trend perpetrated, he argued, by “intellectuals” and the nation’s colleges and universities.
Those values aren't "enshrined". They're not even backed by the laws that our founding fathers ratified.
Thomas called on Americans to stand up for their principles and endure personal "sacrifices," if necessary, to preserve the nation's democracy.
“In my view, we must find in ourselves that same level of courage that the signers of the Declaration have so that we can do for our future what they did for theirs,” he said.
Those people, with that document, started a war of rebellion against their government. They were willing to sacrifice their lives to rid themselves of tyranny. How can Thomas reference this and come to the exact opposite conclusion?
And to "preserve our democracy" can only mean one thing. To ensure that the will of the people becomes the law of the land without violating the Constitution or the rights given by it.
Anyone who wants to preserve our democracy has to be viciously opposed to Donald Trump, who's been trying to oppose the will of the American people and the Constitution.
Thomas also said he believes many people no longer believe “all men are created equal” and deserving of “unalienable rights” protected by a limited government.
No, progressives actually believe we are all equal and that we possess inalienable rights. He's saying that we believe rights come from the government, but no, we believe the government must be forced to acknowledge and enforce our rights and to never treat certain groups as lesser.
Clarence Thomas and all magat trash conservatives are liars. They can't win an argument on the merits so they resort to ad hominems, dishonest cherry picking and outright lying. I fucking hate these people. Everything they do is in service to making themselves more money and giving themselves more power, they give a fuck about anything else
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—-That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
It's wild that he's referencing this document in opposition to those seeking to alter or abolish their government - believing it has become destructive of our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - in order to make it more likely to effect their safety and happiness. Progressives are acting in the spirit of those values which saw the American revolution take place by acting perfectly in line with what the Declaration of Independence clearly states is our right.
Progressives are acting in the spirit of those values which saw the American revolution take place by acting perfectly in line with what the Declaration of Independence clearly states is our right.
Eh, acting in line with the Declaration of Independence would require most of Congress to be hanged from the nearest tree or put on a boat to England.
Yo, what the fuck?
We bear no responsibility for your current crop of shitheels. You collectively put them in power, they're your problem. We have enough self-fellating fuckwits of our own to be going on with, thanks very much.
Sorry man/woman/person dem are da rules. It's what the Founding Fathers intended.
The biggest violations of the constitution are in due process and illegal search from ice. Like the biggest to me in all of history really. They are not one offs but part of an executive administrations policy.
Of course, it's completely subjective what is the biggest violation. The constitution itself doesn't really make any distinction between which violation is worse, unless I am misremembering something.
If you're offended by a lack of due process and racism and that sort of thing, you might also find the Internment of Japanese Americans during WW2 similarly offensive. 2/3 of them were US citizens whose only "crime" was being ethnically Japanese. Or the infamous Trail of Tears.
Every time an erudite conservative throws out "animus" as a negative trait, I grow another pineal gland.
So he's going to recuse himself from all future cases involving progressive groups, right?
The old timers have been itching to go mask off fash for so long. They could just maintain the illusion of judicial objectivity for a couple more years and be more effective to their rotten cause, but this guy has been floating around social events with Heritage ghouls for decades now and he wants to be free to join in with his friends.
A black man, repeat, BLACK MAN, is saying that progresivism is bad?
Does this idiot even know that the reason why he can have that job is because progresivism gave black people rights?
Fuck! We keep seeing studies linking low intellect with conservatism and we keep seeing imbeciles willing to prove them right...
Look into his past, he was against interracial marriage until his own.
He has that job because he was purchased long ago.
He was a former Monsanto lawyer who never recused himself from any case involving them and always ruled in their favor.
"Fuck you, got mine"
Corrupt judges are one of the biggest threats to America.
Fecking Dems just don't understand that these are the best. Just give a couple of them a yacht, cases of their favorite whisky or whatever, just find out what tickles their fancy, and they are yours.
This fucker should be in pound-me-in-the-ass prison for the rest of his worthless life.
The asswipe fails to realize the progressives are the ones who allowed women and minorities to occupy a SCOTUS seat.
And for those groups to intermingle. Virtually no aspect of his life would've been if it were up to conservatives.
I wonder who paid for this statement from Sugar Baby Clarence.
Ok, Uncle Thomas. Just retire to your bribe bus.
For the record, this statement would immediately get a judge dismissed in Canada. The fact that you guys allow a supreme court justice to act like this is absolutely insane.
And yet, this comment is still much less disqualifying than the open bribes Thomas is receiving. Remember his RV.
I know. That's what I find so unfathomable about this. The notion that you can even call this a justice system, without even the faintest pretexts of impartiality, is frankly deranged.
Fuck you Clarence Thomas.
And your bulldog wife, too.
Oh no, the black supreme justice decries progressivism. Oh boo fucking hoo. You fucking asshole.
He's just doing what his owner wife says to do
instead of downvoting or upvoting you, I would like to know why you posted that in the way you did.
Look up Ginny Thomas.
"Progressivism hurts my deals with rich billionaires who bribe me" -Clarence Thomas.... probably
Sustained.
“In my view, we must find in ourselves that same level of courage that the signers of the Declaration have so that we can do for our future what they did for theirs,” he said.
This last line has a much darker tone than I think the article realizes.
Yeah that's a call to violence against his political opponents
Okay! Let’s turn back the time to where he would have been a slave.
No relation...
Samuel L. Jackson did a great job portraying him in Django Unchained.
Absolute moron
These people do not fear the public nearly enough
America is the only threat to America atm.
Apparently the (United States of) America is a threat for even Canada, Central America and South America.
That is a way to say: I concur.
Citizens v United brought to you by Clarence motherfucking Thomas and his POS wife. Progressivism allowed you to get married you pieces of shit.
He's the definitive example of 'fuck yours, got mine', he's set for the rest of his miserable life and doesn't give a shit about anyone else.
Can't he just take his RV quietly into the night!?
And not continue to take out his hate against everyone not a white, wealthy, Republican!?
Can’t he just take his RV quietly into the night!?
John Oliver offered to buy him a $1 million RV to retire and he didn't, so....
Someone should blast Clarence Thomas for being an actual threat to America
...in Minecraft
there's no need to specify minecraft. if the news outlet can describe criticism as "blasting" then so can you.
Which of those values include giving corporations "personhood"?
So are weak and evil men in positions of great power, Clarence.
Remember Anita Hill.
This guy is an Uncle Thomas. Be it to Americans or black folk in general, he is a traitor.
Remember this is the justice that's in Leonard Leo's pocket. The bullshit he's spouting is why.
First, fuck Thompson with a pineapple.
Second, before anyone points out the irony of doing this speech at the university of Texas, which is often considered a liberal University in liberal Austin, TX, their law program is extremely conservative with a large Federalist Society presence. Additionally, the Texas legislature installed an army of extremely conservative appointees at all levels of the UT system, so it’s getting such an extreme conservative overhaul that the NYTimes wrote an article on it
Thomas*
Most obvious sign that this is a class war
I wish this perverted fuck would just have a heart attack and die already.
I'd want him to wait till after midterms at least
True
ICE raids on our cities came from which side of the aisle?
Who cares what this uncle Tom ass mfer says? The judicial is violated, the legislature is violated, the executive is quite clearly violated, you got you and that's it.
This Uncle Tom... my man... do you even hear the words pouring forth from your mouth?
That face says "it's my turn now."
No one wants to hear from uncle tom.
Who cares what this guy thinks? He's a paid shill.
If he was just a paid shill who cares, but he's a SCOTUS and that's all the difference in the world.
That doesn't carry as much weight as it used to now that we're bordering on lawlessness.
This black man did not just oppose progressivism.
Uncle Clarence.
Uncle Clarence's RV
Old coke pubes pipping up again? Someone get Harlan Crow's yacht ready and gassed up for epstein's island. Thomas wants to rape some more kids.
I think Justice Uncle Thomas really wants to get whipped and pick cotton.
Uncle Ruckus should not be a judge.
Fuck you, ungrateful sellout. Remind that bastard how he came far took a lot of blood before him. Specifically the Civil Rights Act.
I heard Thomas doesn't even mind when Trammel Crow calls him boy.
Fuck that corrupt Christian nationalist motherfucker. He doesn't know or care about history, and he is the national stability threat.
That guy, I hate to say this but it's a thought that popped up, has probably sucked the dick of every rich guy before him to get that job. Metaphorically speaking of course.
White dick? Nah ... Rich dick is more probable, all the colors of his mother's lipstick.
You so right I'll fix it
no, just Long Dong Silver
This is some real raciest shit dude. Take a fucking step back and breathe.
Sry yeah I changed it. I am truly sorry about t that comment.
The US is so comically corrupt. The fact they used to go around the world denigrating other countries for being corrupt is funny.
It is literally a joke to have a "democracy" that has high ranking, life time appointed, unaccountable, unrecallable justices. Then USAmericans are like uhhh the Ayatollahs are so evil... they are high ranking, life time appointed, unaccountable, unrecallable justices.
My guy needs to look in the mirror for once.
Centrist democrats agree with him.
About everything at all times, but particularly this.
He is the same as Sotomayor and Jackson according to many Lemmings.
Thanks for helping this fucker get power over us, Biden.
He doin' a right good job for massa!
If Clarence Thomas was made a freeman in the 1800's, he would have become a slave owner too.
What we need is another Supreme Court Justice to blast conservatism as a threat to America.
He should have taken the bus.
Hes been reading comments on TOS videos.
Someone should blast his face with a chocolate pie.
hey no kink shaming.
Getting fucked is not a bad thing. What a misogynistic/homophobic thing to say.
Said like a privileged person that keeps society from moving forward socially.