Empty Man (No, Part III.)

In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.

And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. ~Matthew 28:1-7

So, the Clarence Thomas Gift-Gate scandal is still ongoing.

It's Easter, Jesus, can you people not fuck something up even for one damn day?

I haven't felt very festive this holiday, seems to be that way with a lot of people this year.

But ya know, if anything the fact that it's Easter made me think. It still amazes me how so many alleged Christians, most of them Republican, treat things as if their Lord and Savior was Republican politics and not Jesus Christ.

See, we go back a ways, me and Clarence. Not that Clarence knows this, or would care. But his confirmation hearings were really my first critical look at politics from an adult perspective.

See, I followed his Confirmation hearings and gave oral reports to my high school government class. I was a senior in high school at the time. It was an extra credit project and I wasn't doing badly in the class but I figured, why not?

So, newspaper, radio, TV. 

Between the Anita Hill scandal and the Navy's Tailhook scandal, that was a major boost in public awareness of sexual harassment, among other things.

Which kind of annoyed me, because if I knew better than that, why didn't these fucking people? Keeping one's hands to oneself was a lesson I learned early and somewhat painfully in sixth grade at the hands (and feet) of an Asian-Latina Catholic School student I'd decided to get a little handsy with, but whose parents had taught her not to take any shit. I got in trouble, she didn't. 

I'd probably have got my ass whupped when I got home that day, but my Mom (who had gotten a call, at work which was always trouble) pretty much took one look at me when she got home, literally laughed, and figured I'd probably never do that again.

She wasn't wrong. And my erstwhile partner that I had at the time? If she said no, she meant No.

So, yeah.

Needless to say I wasn't particularly impressed with Clarence Thomas, especially with his calling tough questions asked in the hearings a "High-tech lynching." Bro, it's a confirmation not a coronation, asking questions and making you sweat is literally their job.

Having even then learned a lot of things the hard way in life, I'm also always distrustful of excessive ego when combined with whining self-pity. Clarence was MAGA before MAGA was even thought of in that respect.

(I say that as somebody who'd register to vote as a Republican a month later.)

One day in particular sticks in my mind, though.

I was violently sick in the small hours of the morning one of those days, vomiting first and then basically felt like I had fire coming out of my asshole. So, I didn't go to school that day. It was bad enough I had to go to the clinic in town in the early afternoon and I was still dizzy and didn't feel Okay driving myself.

So my Grandpa took me.

We were listening to the confirmation hearings on the radio.

We went to the clinic, I got checked out, prescription-strength whatever and I was good to go. We stopped at the grocery store to go to the pharmacy and because my Grandma asked us to pick up a few things. Grandpa left the truck running so I could keep listening to the radio. My head was starting to clear.

And I'm sitting there listening to all these old Senators talk about some dude who went by the name of Long Dong Silver and wondering for the first (but obviously not the last) time; "My God, what the hell is wrong with these people?? Why is this garbage even acceptable??"

I thought the stupidity of the discussion alone should've disqualified Thomas.

(A generation would pass before I would fully appreciate what a dangerous thought had entered my mind that day.)

And I said so in front of my government class the next day, literally. I still felt horrible, but not horrible enough for my Mom to let me stay home. My best friend (who lived across the street) drove so I could get a little more sleep on the way in.

My government teacher (who was also a neighbor so I knew him to be conservative and religious, even though he deliberately obfuscated such things at work...in his own words his job was to teach us to be citizens, not partisans) was annoyed by my harsh language and the tone of my report. 

He said so, he was the kind of guy who thought civility a virtue. 

The class...which I think was about 50/50 in the political split at the time...essentially and rather contentiously and loudly argued him down.

I wasn't the only one who thought the conduct of both Clarence Thomas and the Senators to be asinine. My best friend (and aforementioned erstwhile partner) a budding liberal and future math teacher who was unafraid to argue with either me or the teacher? She led the charge...in my defense, for once.

I feel like, concerning Clarence Thomas in particular, the situation has not improved.

Not only that, but the Republican base...itself once a source of pushback on stupidity even from its own politicians...has blown its own brains out with "Own The Libs" garbage and partisanship rabid enough to have been likely considered mental illness in October of 1991. More to the point they're so addicted to outrage and racism that they'll tolerate literally anything.

Including an Empty Man like Clarence Thomas...who seems to have no values that cannot be waved away by waving a large enough wad of cash under his nose. You think his Catholicism or his alleged "Conservatism" even matters?

The Bohemian Grove ain't known for being a bastion of conservatism, yo.

And let's not forget Texas Billionaire, Harlan Crowe, who appears to have literally purchased Clarence with luxurious gifts (Bribes) and who frequently has cases before the Court.

Who's to say that a Putinist Communist or Radical Islamist could not simply purchase Thomas themselves with more gifts or more money?? We have no evidence he'd say "No."

This is, by the way, illegal. An Air Force Sergeant accepting 0.0001% of such bribes (or any at all) would lose their career, be dishonorably discharged, and likely spend a long time in Federal prison.

This isn't right. And it's because of stuff like this (and the fact that it's tolerated) that the fight for freedom isn't just over there.

Remember that.

And lest you think MAGA is the root of the problem here, Clarence Thomas is literally the legacy of outdated legacy Republicans who were posthumously drummed out of the GOP for being neither far-right-enough nor racist enough.

These people simply need to be told "No." And that "No" needs to be backed up by the clenched fist of the power of the people.

Vote Republicans out. All of them.

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For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ~Matthew 24:27