MLK Day
By AndrewHyman Posted in Holidays — Comments (4) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Here's a brief part of Martin Luther King's letter from a Birmingham jail (1963):
One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.
If an unjust law violates the Constitution, then judges can overturn the penalty. But not all unjust laws violate the Constitution, in which case the penalty should be accepted, as Dr. King said.
Andrew, Quin, Feddie,
by BillM
Andrew, Quin, Feddie, everyone, I don't know know what we can do to counter-attack on this, but someone has to do something.
It's just outrageous. Can you imagine if a white conservative professor from the SEC published something like this about even Kanye West, or Obama, let alone Thurgood Marshall, ON MLK DAY?!
I'm as upset as I've been in years; almost in tears in fact, and I'm just a white middle-aged nobody from Utah. Gotta be a bigger gun than me stand up here.
STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.
Too many
by AC1
conservatives are wasting time attacking John McCain, a man with an 82% lifetime ACU rating and a man who voted for Thomas, to take time to defend Thomas. Not that I am bitter about this campaign or anything.
BillM
by AndrewHyman
Don't worry about it. Justice Thomas hasn't sold out anyone. He knows it, we know it, any sane person who reads his book knows it, and it's not worth getting upset about some insane person writing in Slate.
...that on MLK Day the most hated black man since MLK's murder is vilified & slandered yet AGAIN by a new article in the "mainstream" press: http://www.slate.com/id/2182429
And yes, a quick Google search reveals that the author is your typical corduroy jacket-wearing sixtyish white liberal professor at a big name Eastern university. It's just unreal.
Thank God Justice Thomas wrote his book. IMHO, he needs to keep giving interview after interview, as well as option the book for a movie, in order to fight this garbage. Any fair-minded person who reads his book, or saw the 60 Minutes interview, comes away on his side.
Most of the attacks on Justice Thomas have either saddened or (wearily) amused me. Something about the content, timing & author of this one, though... Had I the time, ability & resources I'd devote great amounts of all three to fighting back on this.
STEVENS, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which SCALIA, J., joined.