Oh Come On Steve, That's Just Silly

So says Supreme Court justice in the puff piece reported by Steve Kroft. As in, it is silly for anyone to suggest that Clarence Thomas benefited from affirmative action but has since pulled up the ladder from behind him. We don't know whether Kroft ever asked Thomas a real tough question like: Well is it so silly for people to suggest that? But he didn't, so what we get is a puff piece that makes Thomas look sympathetic. While Thomas's views on affirmative action may be in the minority in the African American community, he has as much right to them as anyone. Kroft still should have challenged him by asking whether Thomas ever benefited from programs that he now disdains.

Thomas's story is one of true poverty and hardship in his youth; it is a story I cannot relate to and it is a story that inspires true respect for what he has overcome. And while I have little doubt Thomas is a friendly colleague and mentor, his views on nearly everything important to me are completely repugnant.