Conservative Commencement

Life lessons from Justice Thomas | Power Line:

We are all prejudiced.

I am strongly prejudiced in favor of Jews because of their chosen position as a people, the suffering they have endured and persevered through, and the fact that some of the highest quality people I ever worked with were those from Haifa, Israel. The last judgment may be influenced by prejudice -- I don't believe it is, but that is the nature of prejudice.

I'm strongly prejudiced in favor of Blacks that hold opinions even slightly in contrast to the 90% plus percentage who hold that Blacks are required to 100% be Democrat, in favor of massive welfare, affirmative action, and assign all poor behaviour by Blacks to "discrimination or slavery". Clarence Thomas certainly earns my favorable prejudice on that front, as well as Thomas Sowell, Bill Cosby ( a Democrat, but willing to state that Blacks must have some sense of personal responsibility if they ever want to succeed), Mia Love, Allen West, Tim Scott and others.

I'm prejudiced against the left wing liberal establishment. People like Teddy Kennedy -- born to the most extreme privilege possible, a lifelong womanizer whose young secretary died in his car, in part because he failed to report the accident until the next morning -- who never the less, alone with former Kleagle of the KKK, Robert Byrd attempted a "high tech lunching" of Thomas in his confirmation hearings because of Thomas's  courage to stand up for his convictions in the face of attack from  TP - "The Party" (D).

I'm prejudiced against the arrogance of the left -- people like BO who talk of the common man as "... they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations". Or Hillary with her "the great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president". 

TP is the dominant power in the US by a wide margin, and with every added "entitlement", regulation, agency, interpretation of the "commerce clause", and Constitutional short circuit (immigration, BOcare, etc), they inch closer to totally UNLIMITED power. The Thomas hearings were a good example of how far they will go to prevent anyone who is not a "party believer" from being appointed to a position of power. Totalitarian power is the goal of the left -- to allow a "free and open sharing of ideas" or certainly power is anathema to leftist thinking.

The speech that Thomas gave to a graduating class at his alma mater in 2008 inside the linked article is a lesson in simplicity, humility, wisdom and extreme rarity -- as the LA TImes noted, the odds of having a conservative speaker at your commencement are at best 1 in 6, most years zero chance for the Ivy League.,

Though there are many enticements and distractions, it is up to each of you to take care of your respective business. Remember, the rewards of self-indulgence are not nearly as great as the rewards of self-discipline. 

But even as you take care of business, there are a few other necessities for the journey. At the very top of the list are the three F’s—faith, family, and friends. When all else fails and we feel like prodigal sons and daughters, they will always be there, even if we don’t deserve them. Having needed them, I know they will always be your saving grace.

Our modern society is all about self-indulgence and the opposite of at least faith and family -- friends are OK as long as they are "the right kind" from the left viewpoint. One should have a group of friends that agree lock-step with the liberal worldview that has been hammered in each day by school, music and entertainment.

Men like Clarence Thomas are very rare and getting more rare. I still like to have hope, that maybe "being good, saying your prayers, doing your chores/homework, respecting your elders and doing your best" will become so absolutely countercultural that a generation will look a the fallen civilization that we have become and reject the lack of useful values. I'm not holding my breath, but hope does tend to spring eternal.

We all have our prejudices. My prejudice for men like Clarence Thomas is one that I think I'll keep!