{"id":1689,"date":"2026-08-28T05:08:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T05:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1689"},"modified":"2026-08-28T05:08:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T05:08:36","slug":"clarence-thomas-played-the-long-game-he-won","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationallogisticspost.com\/?p=1689","title":{"rendered":"Clarence Thomas Played the Long Game. He Won."},"content":{"rendered":"
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A<\/span>n important new book by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Going Further<\/em>, calls attention anew to the life and career of the single greatest living American, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.<\/p>\n

Read more After We Laugh, We Must Treat DSA Program As Deadly Serious<\/a><\/p>\n

For many years after Thomas arrived on the court in the early 1990s, his conservative, originalist views were relegated to dissenting opinions. Three and a half decades later, Thomas, now the second-longest-serving justice in the court\u2019s history, regularly finds himself in the majority.<\/p>\n

Thomas, in short, has won the long game. But how?<\/p>\n

Thirty-five years ago, mainstream legal training and judicial practice suggested the proper way to interpret a legal document is to probe for nebulous concepts such as legislative history and legislative intent. It\u2019s now hard to believe, but the commonsense notion that one should begin the interpretive exercise with a document\u2019s text and plain meaning was pretty much unheard of.<\/p>\n

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Thomas \u2026 galvanized an intellectual revolution in American legal and judicial practice.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Thomas, along with his then-colleagues Justice Antonin Scalia and Chief Justice William Rehnquist, galvanized an intellectual revolution in American legal and judicial practice. Today, law schools instruct students to begin the interpretive exercise with the text. In fact, this is hardly controversial. As the liberal Justice Elena Kagan put it in a 2015 Harvard Law School lecture, \u201cWe\u2019re all textualists now.\u201d\u00a0(RELATED: Why Justices Thomas and Gorsuch Want to Revisit\u00a0New York Times v. Sullivan<\/i>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

A big part of the reason for this success is simple: sheer persuasiveness. The straightforward nature of the originalist and textualist position quickly found mass appeal, putting defenders of legislative history or \u201cliving constitutionalism\u201d on their back feet. They haven\u2019t been able to keep up.\u00a0(RELATED: Justice Thomas Stands Up for the Declaration and Constitution)<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the area of legal interpretation, liberals have lost the public argument \u2014 badly. In recent years, we\u2019ve seen this manifest in conservative victories at the high court on religious liberty, abortion, gun rights, affirmative action and the administrative state.<\/p>\n

There is an underappreciated additional ingredient in Thomas\u2019 winning formula: his kindness, affability and genuine human decency.<\/p>\n

Thomas\u2019s life story is the stuff of legend. He grew up in the most abject poverty imaginable in Jim Crow-era rural Georgia. English was not even his first language. He overcame all that, in addition to his onetime wavering faith and even an infatuation with Malcolm X and the Black Power movement, to become one of the greatest conservatives in American history.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing: Thomas never<\/em> forgot where he came from.<\/p>\n

It is well known that, inside the Supreme Court building, Thomas is the personal favorite justice. That\u2019s true for the justices themselves, it\u2019s true for the law clerks, and it\u2019s even true for the janitors. Thomas is the justice who will talk NASCAR with the court security guard (he\u2019s a big fan of the sport), and he is the justice who will regale law clerks with funny stories from years gone by \u2014 with his signature, boisterous laugh.<\/p>\n

Read more Statuary Murder Moves From the Streets to the Courtroom<\/a><\/p>\n

The one topic Thomas will not talk about, because it would offend his old-school Southern manners, is himself.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court, unlike Congress or the executive branch, is a small, intimate institution. Passions can run high, but a justice can best achieve success over the long haul if he can persuade his colleagues in conferences, memoranda and other communications. As the saying goes, you usually catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.<\/p>\n

That was not always Scalia\u2019s way, but it is definitely Thomas\u2019 way.<\/p>\n

The next Supreme Court term begins in just over a month, and the court\u2019s senior-most member will once again anchor the court\u2019s originalist bloc.<\/p>\n

There will be Viramontes v. Cook County<\/em>, a prime opportunity to extend a Second Amendment guarantee to modern sporting rifles (\u201cAR-15s\u201d). There will be St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy<\/em>, another case out of stubborn Colorado that could, and should, extend otherwise-universal preschool voucher access to religious schools. Other big cases on the docket touch on voting rights, climate change and more.<\/p>\n

Thomas\u2019s influence will be palpable. He will once again serve the role he always has: that of dependable workhorse and beacon of intellectual clarity. He will once again be the court\u2019s most principled originalist, establishing a barometer off of which other originalists can assess their own instincts and rulings.<\/p>\n

In a nation short on exemplary role models, Thomas fills the void. He would never dream of saying so himself, but Thomas is an American hero and the nation\u2019s most inspiring man.<\/p>\n

The only question is whether he will stay on the court until May 20, 2028, at which point he will become the nation\u2019s longest-serving justice ever.<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one thing we know from Clarence Thomas\u2019s life: Don\u2019t bet against him.<\/p>\n

READ MORE from Josh Hammer:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Florida Is the New Ground Zero for Both Political Parties\u2019 Civil Wars<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Electoral Integrity Issue Isn\u2019t Israel \u2014 It\u2019s Islam<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Good and the Bad of the \u2018Common Good\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

To find out more about Josh Hammer and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.<\/strong><\/em>
\nCOPYRIGHT 2026\u00a0CREATORS.COM<\/p>\n

Read more Team Trump Is Touting Its Wins. As It Should.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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