George Will Makes An April Fool’s Joke About Justice Clarence And Virginia Thomas*
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George Will’s April 1 Opinion in the Washington Post, Clarence Thomas and his wife’s texts: A kerfuffle over appearances, must have been an April fool’s joke. There can be no other explanation.
Will completely misses the point, except in his description of Ginni Thomas:
“…politically, mad as a hatter. The shelves in her mental pantry groan beneath the weight of Trumpian hysterics about the 2020 presidential election having been stolen and the republic’s certain ruination under Joe Biden. She bombarded Donald Trump’s White House with 21 (that are known) texted exhortations, and received eight replies, about preventing Congress’s Jan. 6, 2021, certification of the electoral vote.”
To say Ginni Thomas was “strategizing” with the White House, Will suggests, is akin to a fan in the stadium’s upper deck yelling “Roll Tide!” after shouting suggested plays, then claiming this is “strategizing” with Alabama’s football team.
Poor analogy. More likely, she was sitting in the offensive coordinator’s chair in the coaches’ box. She did, after all, have a direct line of communication inside the White House and considerable access to Trump. No, unlike a fan in the upper deck yelling indecipherably over the drowning noise of the crowd, she had direct interaction in the play calling.
It is now being revealed that Ginni Thomas came and went from the Oval Office with abandon during the Trump era. Trump loved the flattering visits during which she made hiring and firing recommendations of who was and wasn’t sufficiently Trumpian. Trump listened and acted on her suggestions. The White House staff looked unfavorably on her visits.
A major premise in Will’s argument, with which I agree, is that spouses should not be presumed to be under each other’s “direction.”
So what!
This is where Will veers off.
The question is not whether Justice Thomas is influenced in his decision making on the court by the extremist beliefs and conspiracy theories…