George Takei Apologizes

George Takei has posted an apology for calling Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas "a clown in blackface." An excerpt from his Facebook page:

I am reminded, especially on this July 4th holiday, that though we have the freedom to speak our minds, we must use that freedom judiciously. Each of us, as humans, have hot-button topics that can set us off, and Justice Thomas had hit mine, that is clear. But my choice of words was regrettable, not because I do not believe Justice Thomas is deeply wrong, but because they were ad hominem and uncivil, and for that I am sorry.

I often ask fans to keep the level of discourse on this page and in comments high, and to remember that we all love this country and for what it stands for, even if we often disagree passionately about how to achieve those goals. I did not live up to my own high standards in this instance. I hope all of you have a wonderful, safe and joyously free July 4th, the first where all married couples in the U.S. can enjoy the full liberties of matrimony equally. It is truly a blessing to be an American today.

Critics and fans are responding at the link.

George Takei Raises Eyebrows With "Blackface" Comment About Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

Via The Hill:

Actor and gay rights advocate George Takei is slamming Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas after his dissent to last week's decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide claimed that the government can neither give nor take away human dignity. "He is a clown in blackface sitting on the Supreme Court. He gets me that angry," the former "Star Trek" star said in an interview with Fox 10 this week in Phoenix, standing alongside his longtime partner and husband. "For him to say slaves had dignity ... I mean, doesn't he know slaves were chained? That they were whipped on the back?" Takei asked.

Dissenting in the 5-4 Supreme Court same-sex marriage case, Thomas, an African-American, reflected on the origins of human dignity within society, invoking the belief that humans have God-given "inherent worth." "That vision is the foundation upon which this Nation was built. The corollary of that principle is that human dignity cannot be taken away by the government. Slaves did not lose their dignity (any more than they lost their humanity) because the government allowed them to be enslaved," Thomas wrote. "Those held in internment camps did not lose their dignity because the government confined them," Thomas wrote. "And those denied governmental benefits certainly do not lose their dignity because the government denies them those benefits. The government cannot bestow dignity, and it cannot take it away."

Matt Baume: Debunking The Dissents

SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas Hobnobs With Anti-Gay Activists And Must Recuse Himself From Marriage Case

Yesterday Heritage Foundation staffer and anti-gay marriage activist Ryan T. Anderson posted the above photo of himself, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and former NOM chairman Robert George, who wrote the Manhattan Declaration, whose signees avow that they will disobey (somehow) the legalization of same-sex marriage. Using hate group logic, Thomas must now recuse himself from the coming marriage case before his court. 

RELATED: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia must also recuse himself, as last summer he was the keynote speaker at an event organized by anti-gay marriage activist and Catholic Bishop Paul Loverde, who helped spearhead Virginia's battle against same-sex marriage.

FLORIDA: Justice Thomas Calls For Plaintiffs' Response Brief By 5PM Thursday

The plaintiffs in Florida federal marriage equality case have until 5PM on Thursday to respond to Attorney General Pam Bondi's demand for an indefinite stay while the Eleventh Circuit Court considers her appeal. Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia both dissented the last two times that SCOTUS rejected stay demands.

BREAKING: Supreme Court DENIES Stay Demand On South Carolina Marriage

BOOM! And that's THAT!

UPDATE: From the local NBC affiliate:

The United States Supreme Court has stepped in and decided to not issue an emergency stay in the ongoing political drama surrounding same-sex marriage in South Carolina. In a brief statement, the court straight denied the stay, but Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas said they would hear it. Thursday's ruling means same-sex marriage applications will be accepted beginning at noon. Last week's ruling was decided by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel, who ruled the state's ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional late last week. After the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to issue an emergency stay on Gergel's ruling on Tuesday, Attorney General Alan Wilson said he would appeal to the high court. 

Headline Of The Day

Chris Geidner reports at Buzzfeed:

In a statement published Thursday and joined by Scalia, Thomas complained that, while the court has generally heard cases when federal or state laws have been found to be unconstitutional by lower courts, the justices “have not done so with any consistency, especially in recent months” — specifically pointing to the various marriage cases that the justices have declined to hear. [snip]

Thomas went on to explain, writing that the Supreme Court has “recognized a strong presumption in favor of” hearing appeals when federal statutes have been held unconstitutional. “States deserve no less consideration. … Indeed, we often review decisions striking down state laws, even in the absence of a disagreement among lower courts,” Thomas wrote, noting, among other cases, the court’s decision to hear the appeal of California’s Proposition 8 marriage ban — an appeal that the court ended up dismissing in 2013 on the technical grounds of standing.

Then, turning to the Supreme Court’s current term, Thomas noted, “But for reasons that escape me, we have not done so with any consistency, especially in recent months” — citing the court’s decision to deny the marriage case appeal requests out of Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Wisconsin at the start of the term and the stay requests denied since in marriage cases pending in Idaho and Alaska.

Hit the link for much more and a copy of the statement.

SCOTUSblog On Kansas

Lyle Denniston writes at SCOTUSblog:

The Court has issued a series of orders in same-sex marriage cases over the past eleven months, but the Kansas order marked the first time that members of the Court had recorded dissents. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas noted only that they would have granted the delay sought by the Kansas attorney general. Kansas officials had attempted to show that their case was different from others that the Supreme Court had chosen to leave undisturbed, arguing that the federal judge’s order was an invalid attempt to second-guess a Kansas Supreme Court order delaying the issuance of same-sex marriages. The federal judge had rejected that claim, but it may have been the one that drew the implied support of Justices Scalia and Thomas. The state still has an appeal pending at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, but that has little promise, because that appeals court has struck down bans in two other states in its region — Oklahoma and Utah. The Supreme Court refused to review those Tenth Circuit rulings on October 6. The Kansas ban is almost identical to those in other states.

Fred Karger Launches WaPo Ads

NOM's arch-enemy and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Fred Karger is running the above ad on the Washington Post's site for the next five days.  I ran into Fred in the lobby of Broadway Backwards on Monday night and he mentioned that he's just moved to Manhattan.  Hit the link if you'd like to kick in for his web campaign.

SCOTUS Denies Debate Over Whether Justices Should Recuse On Obamacare

The Supreme Court today quashed a wingnut demand that Justice Elena Kagan recuse herself from the coming case to overturn Obamacare.

Freedom Watch, a group led by Larry Klayman, asked the court for permission to file a brief on Kagan's participation in the case. The court on Monday denied the request without comment, though it did note that Kagan did not participate in the discussion. Both Kagan and Justice Clarence Thomas have faced calls for their recusals from the case. Opponents of the law argue Kagan should not participate because she was solicitor general during the passage of the law. The law's supporters want Thomas off the case because his wife is actively trying to repeal the law.

Today's move doesn't necessarily mean that either justice won't recuse themselves voluntarily.

Ethics Complaint For Clarence Thomas

Several members of Congress have filed a formal ethics complaint against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas because of his wife's prominent role with the Tea Party.

"Public records demonstrate a failure by Justice Thomas to exercise the care expected of a Supreme Court Justice," the letter says. "Not only did Justice Thomas fail to report at least $1.6 million in income from his wife's employer, but the very public role played by his wife as co-founder, president and CEO of Liberty Central clearly merits investigation considering that federal law bars judges from participating in any matter in which their impartiality could be questioned. "The very public role played by his wife in opposing healthcare reform, and Justice Thomas’ insinuations in public speeches that he supports her positions, raises clear questions about the appearance of bias," it continues.

People For The America Way add:

The strikes against Thomas’ record are numerous. He has relationships with wealthy corporate benefactors such as Harlan Crow who have given him valuable gifts such as a Bible worth $19,000 and seed money for his wife’s Tea Party group, he has attended Koch-sponsored fundraisers, and he has failed to recuse himself from cases where briefs were filed by an organization (the arch-conservative American Enterprise Institute) that had provided him a valuable gift.

Wife Of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Joins Wingnut Site As Reporter

Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has been hired by The Daily Caller as a reporter.

"We are thrilled to have Ginni Thomas join The Daily Caller as a special correspondent to interview both established and emerging leaders about the serious questions facing our country," said Neil Patel, publisher and CEO of The Daily Caller. "Ginni is always upbeat, she has an unbelievable amount of energy and enthusiasm and she knows our political system as well as anyone in Washington. We could not imagine a better person to take on this role."

A longtime Tea Party activist, Thomas' political activities have prompted calls for her husband to recuse himself from some cases.

Anthony Weiner: Justice Clarence Thomas Must Recuse Himself On Health Care Fight

Watch our hero hand the Fox anchor her head.

Keith Olbermann Mocks Ken Mehlman

In a piece parodying that ridiculous phone call to Anita Hill by the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Keith Olbermann used Ken Mehlman as example of some other people who have no right to apologies.

Wife Of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Launches Tea Party Group

Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has launched Liberty Central, a Tea Party activist group. The move is raising eyebrows about the supposed impartiality of the Court.

The group plans to issue score cards for Congress members and be involved in the November election, although Thomas would not specify how. She said it would accept donations from various sources -- including corporations -- as allowed under campaign finance rules recently loosened by the Supreme Court. "I adore all the new citizen patriots who are rising up across this country," Thomas, who goes by Ginni, said on the panel at the Conservative Political Action Conference. "I have felt called to the front lines with you, with my fellow citizens, to preserve what made America great." The move by Virginia Thomas, 52, into the front lines of politics stands in marked contrast to the rarefied culture of the nation's highest court, which normally prizes the appearance of nonpartisanship and a distance from the fisticuffs of the politics of the day. Justice Thomas, 61, recently expressed sensitivity to such concerns, telling law students in Florida that he doesn't attend the State of the Union because it is "so partisan." Thomas, who was nominated by President George H.W. Bush, has been a reliable conservative vote since he joined the court in 1991.

It's almost unbelievable that the wife of a SCOTUS justice would take advantage of his recent ruling to allow corporations to campaign for elected officials. Almost. From the Liberty Central site:

LibertyCentral.org will serve the big tent of the conservative movement and assist all viable individuals and organizations with education and engagement. The site’s primary focus will be on emerging and new citizen activists – helping them discover a viable path to effective and efficient activism, along with an understanding of why their participation matters in accordance with founding principles and limited Constitutional governance. Visitors will be offered self-assessment tools directing them to profile-specific threats, opportunities, local activities, and groups they may wish to join.

The group has already been endorsed by Tea Party Patriots and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

SCOTUS: Clarence Thomas Asks Court To Consider Obama's Citizenship

Unbelievable:

In a highly unusual move, U.S. Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has asked his colleagues on the court to consider the request of an East Brunswick, N.J. attorney who has filed a lawsuit challenging President-elect Barack Obama’s status as a United States citizen.

Thomas’s action took place after Justice David Souter had rejected a petition known as an application for a stay of writ of certiorari that asked the court to prevent the meeting of the Electoral College on Dec. 15, which will certify Obama as the 44th president of the United States and its first African-American president.

The court has scheduled a conference on the issue tomorrow - ten days before the Electoral College meets. One expert quoted in the above-linked story speculates that Thomas may be bringing the case before the court merely so it can be denied and therefore unable to be presented at a later date.

I suppose we can expert another couple of hundred wingnut commenters on this post as happened when I last mentioned Obama's citizenship