On Thursday, May 4th, Clarence Thomas addressed ISI's Dinner for Western Civilization in Wilmington, Delaware - only about 6 blocks from my apartment. Pretty cool.
We had over 300 people in attendance - most were donors, but the dinner also included about 40 ISI Faculty Associates and 30 student Campus Representatives, all of which came into the Brandywine Valley from all over the country to take part in this truly historic event. Notable people were also in the crowd, including Ed Feulner, who is Chairman of the Heritage Foundation and former Chairman of ISI's Board of Trustees. Also, former Attorney General, Ed Meese, was there. (I got to shake his hand!)
The day after the event I drove one of ISI's major donors back to the train station - he wanted to take the train back to Maine. He has been involved with ISI since the beginning and he told me the event the night before was one that all of the people who attended would "never forget."
He was right. Clarence Thomas was amazing - and he spent at least his first five minutes paying tribute to Ed Meese. Ronald Reagan once said, "If Ed Meese is not a good man, then there are no good men." Justice Thomas pretty much said some of the same. Finally, he got into his speech where he talked about the role of the judge and the judiciary and his own judicial approach. He claimed he didn't have a particular approach (strict constructionist, originalist, etc.) He said, he just tries to get it as close to what the Constitution says because that is the supreme document of the land.
After about 20 minutes, he opened the floor to questions from the audience (this was completely HIS idea). For about 30 more minutes, he took some really great questions. My friend and Oregon State Campus Representative, Nathanael Blake, asked one of the best questions (and the last question) of the night. He quoted Whittaker Chambers and asked if the West was "worth saving." He also asked if we in the West had "lost hope" and if that was important to retaining the faith that is so critical to Western Civilization.
Clarence Thomas answered by saying that if we are going to prosper in American and the West, than "we must have hope." He continued, "If a black man in the South in the early twentieth century had hope, than it is easy for me to have hope today." This was moving - as was his entire speech and the lengthy, detailed, and straight from the heart answers he gave to every question. Everyone I talked to during the reception that followed the dinner told me that they were completely impressed. They came to the dinner expecting a phenomenal time and they left with their expectations surpassed.
Clarence Thomas - WOW.
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