Soccer Dad

Complications?

via memeorandum

Sub-Headline from the Washington Post:

Friendship With Thomas May Complicate Chances for Left-Leaning Georgia Judge

Georgia's State Supreme Court's Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears has a friend. It's United States Supreme Court Associate justice, Clarence Thomas. This is the from the article:

But if the choice does turn out to be Sears, the nation's first black president would be nominating someone whose closest friend on the court is the very person civil rights activists have accused of failing to represent African Americans' interests.

Sears's relationship with Thomas is anchored in their home towns in southeastern Georgia and the rough roads they both took to the top levels of the American judiciary. Sears, 53, has been called a liberal, activist judge by conservatives who ran hard against her. Thomas, 60, has been accused by African Americans of betraying them with his conservative views. They have both spent their careers beating back critics.

"He holds her in the highest respect," said Orion Douglass, a judge from Savannah who serves on the State Court of Glynn County and has known Thomas and Sears since they were youngsters.

Sp who's suffering from the complications this friendship? Sears? Or the people who only want here to associate with the right kind of people?

Here's what happened:

Four years ago, Thomas was about the only conservative celebrating her rise to chief justice along with Atlanta's cadre of civil rights veterans, and it made for some discomfort. The Rev. Joseph Lowery, the longtime leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, quickly called Sears to congratulate her but also let her know that he would not attend her swearing-in because Thomas would be there.

"I was a little disappointed," Lowery said.

State Rep. Tyrone Brooks, president of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, also begged off. "I would have been a hypocrite to go up there, skin and grin, smile and shake hands," he said. His deep disdain for Thomas trumped pride in Sears's accomplishment. "[I] don't think we have any black people on the Supreme Court. It's not just the pigmentation of skin. It is philosophy, and even though Justice Thomas has our skin, he really does not vote the way African Americans would have him vote."

Does this complicate things for Sears, or for these political figures who felt that they couldn't be tainted by Thomas. It seems that Sears' friendship with Thomas complicates things for those who wish to view Clarence Thomas as tainted on account of his political beliefs. I wonder if Eric Holder is brave enough to discuss this. More from Surber and Tiger Hawk.