Quotes From Around Yon Blogosphere

I have had a few regrets in life. One of them was supporting Clarence Thomas during his bitter confirmation hearings back in the early nineties. I was still in Law School then, and although I knew his views on things like abortion was right of center, and he was selected by a Republican president, I still thought it was nice that a second person of color was about to join the Supremes.

I even believed Thomas and his "high- tech lynching" bullshit line. A line that he used to hoodwink us black folks into supporting him, and scaring the rest of the country away from talking about his lack of qualifications and intellect. . . .

Amazing how Clarence played the race card when it suited him, but now that he has what he wants, the race card is no longer relevant in A-merry-ca.

I am writing all this about my favorite uncle because his new book, My Grandfather's Son, hits the book shelves tomorrow. In it, he will talk about his childhood living in poverty with his mother and brother in a one bedroom apartment with no running water. And he will talk about his transformation from a George McGovern supporter and protesting college student, to a right wing Reagan appointee and Bush loving lap dog for the right.

So Anita, sorry it took so long, but I owe you an apology. Wherever you are today, I want to say sorry for not believing you about what a creep this guy is. You were right about Clarence Thomas, and our country should have believed you and not him. If we had, I honestly believe that we would have all been better off today.

-- THE FIELD NEGRO

On Oct. 11, 1991, I testified about my experience as an employee of Clarence Thomas’s at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

I stand by my testimony.

Justice Thomas has every right to present himself as he wishes in his new memoir, My Grandfather’s Son. He may even be entitled to feel abused by the confirmation process that led to his appointment to the Supreme Court.

But I will not stand by silently and allow him, in his anger, to reinvent me. . . .

The question of whether Clarence Thomas belongs on the Supreme Court is no longer on the table — it was settled by the Senate back in 1991. But questions remain about how we will resolve the kinds of issues my testimony exposed. My belief is that in the past 16 years we have come closer to making the resolution of these issues an honest search for the truth, which, after all, is at the core of all legal inquiry. My hope is that Justice Thomas’s latest fusillade will not divert us from that path.

-- ANITA HILL

Let me repeat that because I think it bears repeating. Multiculturalism will never work so long as white folks don't undo their whiteness in a way similar to how the Negro became black. Without that component, multiculturalism is a waste of time, another species of white liberalism and subject to the same blindness and excess.

-- MICHAEL "COBB" BOWEN

If Republicans follow through on their threats, some time this month six United States Senators will gather in a hearing room to study and debate urgent questions about a men’s room stall in the Minneapolis-St. Paul air terminal.

Ending the war in Iraq, starting one in Iran and health care for poor children will have to wait while the Senate Ethics Committee considers charges against Larry Craig, brought by the Republican leadership to embarrass him into resigning his seat, as he had promised to by the end of September but now shows no sign of doing.

Senators would publicly examine such weighty matters as the original allegation against Craig of "interference with privacy" for peeping into the stall occupied by an undercover police officer as well as witnesses and documents.

The committee could also spend time looking for "a pattern of conduct" by combing court records elsewhere to find out if Craig has had prior arrests.

To unsophisticated taxpayers, this may look like burning down the barn to get rid of a field mouse, but Senate leaders will do anything to keep the place squeaky clean.

-- ROBERT STEIN

Lawmakers from both parties are rushing to reinstate a perk they once enjoyed: the power to book multiple flights out of Washington, D.C., but only pay for the one they use.

-- JUSTIN ROOD

The last day of Summer now seems to mark the beginning of the Crusade season, October is become a cruel month, breeding anger out of the dead truth, mixing memory with hate, stirring dull brains with new lies. In other words, It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Of course there's no chill in the air where I live and the local merchants are hawking Halloween candy and plastic pumpkins made in China but Fox is gearing up it's war stories again. Captions like "War on Christians" and "Anti-Christian Crusade," are appearing on the official propaganda channel of the religious-military-industrial complex.

--CAPT. FOGG

When a nation can't solve the problems that concern its citizens, it's in trouble. And that's where America now finds itself on nearly every big issue -- from immigration to Iraq to health care to anti-terrorism policies.

-- DAVID IGNATIUS