Conservative outlet The Wall Street Journal called exposing Clarence Thomas's unethical behavior an "assault on the Supreme Court." I've heard people try to explain it like this: Imagine if a publication revealed Justice Sotomayor was gifted with fancy pants vacations from George Soros. Conservatives would lose their shit, and they would be right.
Clarence and Ginni Thomas have been basking in extravagant vacations paid for by billionaire Harlan Crow, who also happens to be a Hitler fanboy. This has been going on for 25 years. We're talking about trips to the Bohemian Grove, the exclusive California all-male retreat, and travels on superyachts.
Justice Thomas broke the law, but according to the WSJ, the left launched a smear campaign on Thomas. And the editorial board is upset that ProPublica, who broke the story, used words such as "luxury trips," but yacht vacations in Indonesia worth $500,000 are luxury trips.
Via WSJ:
ProPublica, a left-leaning website, kicked off the fun with a report Thursday that Justice Thomas has a longtime friendship with Harlan Crow, a wealthy Texas real-estate developer. The intrepid reporters roamed far and wide to discover that the Justice has sometimes traveled on Mr. Crow's "Bombardier Global 5000 jet" and that each summer the Justice and his wife spend a vacation week at Mr. Crow's place in the Adirondacks.
The piece is loaded with words and phrases intended to convey that this is all somehow disreputable: "superyacht"; "luxury trips"; "exclusive California all-male retreat"; "sprawling ranch"; "private chefs"; "elegant accommodation"; "opulent lodge"; "lavishing the justice with gifts." And more.
In 2014, Crow bought a home in Dallas for $55 million and renovated it with a 77-car underground garage, according to Business Insider. Or, as the Journal would put it, a single-family home with a garage.
He also spent $25 million building the largest privately-owned bell tower, standing at 288 feet, right outside his office in Dallas. We should probably refer to that as a nice view so we don't hurt the Journal's feels.
Crow financed $500,000 for Ginni Thomas's Tea Party-related group and funded a library project dedicated to Thomas. The WSJ probably thinks the insurrectionist wife of the Supreme Court Justice and the filthy rich GOP donor were being buddies when he tossed half a million dollars at her group.
This billionaire is throwing money at the Thomas's, and the Wall Street Journal doesn't want you calling a billionaire a billionaire. His yacht is a superyacht. It is what it is. The Journal would likely prefer it if we call it a big canoe with an engine.
The Bohemian Grove is an "exclusive California all-male retreat," but the Journal would probably prefer we call it a camping trip. And how dare they call a private chef a private chef. ProPublica should have said, "a cooking person."
Update: Nothing says servitude like wearing your master's shirt.
