Justice as Fairness, Justice as Vindication

Forty years ago today, Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first black Justice to sit on the United States Supreme Court.
Justice Marshall earned such a title through his years as an attorney particularly with the landmark case Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka which effectively ended the racist policy of "separate but equal" segregation in America.

In an ironic twist to this historic anniversary, Anita Hill is in the New York Times today defending herself from the renewed accusations of the second black Justice to serve on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas. Thomas has a new book out, his memoirs "My Grandfather's Son" where he apparently seeks to settle some old scores.
I have never really understood any value in opening old wounds - they rarely make prettier scars.

I remember watching the Hill & Thomas testimonies in the 1991 confirmation hearings & I still feel incredible disgust for the candy-assed response of the Democrats on that Committee to Thomas' accusations towards them of being a high tech lynch mob. What a totally gutless performance...
Anyway, I believed Anita Hill then & I believe her now. I felt repulsed for her when one of Oklahoma's Senators who voted for Thomas' confirmation became President of the University of Oklahoma where she was teaching at the time - it is among several things I consider embarrassing & contemptible about my former school.
Well, if this rehashing confirms anything for me, it's that Thomas is a miserable toad of a person. I was content to ignore him as another grim reality but he had to flail about his dirty diapers in some long-suppressed temper tantrum.
As Thomas himself said upon learning about his confirmation to the bench by a 52-48 vote; Whoop-de-damn-doo.