Simple as that. US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas issued an hour-long warning on April 15, making an unusually strong bid for citizens to understand that “progressivism,” which is essentially Marxist, power-centralizing, definitionally atheist, and fundamentally anti-constitutional, is dangerous.
He is exactly right, and as a former federal litigator, investigator, and US Court of Appeals clerk, he allows me to synthesize or summarize why Thomas is so right, his call a clarion one to be prepared.
Our Founding Fathers – whatever their personal religious views – were clear about one thing, made indisputable in the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These rights that they asserted – against a centralized government and on behalf of individuals – are God-given.
The reason we must concur, and never seek to minimize, endanger, or erase these rights identified in the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights, as well as foreshadowed by the Declaration, Constitution, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” John Locke’s “Second Treatise” and all the natural law thinkers, back to the Magna Carta, is that these rights are immutable, unchanging, given at birth.
In other words, a child born 1000 years from now, will want – just as we want – freedom of speech, worship, travel, an innate ability to protect themselves and their family, a right not to be held captive unfairly, a right to due process, equal protection, fair trail and the chance to defend themselves, as well as freedom from cruel and unusual punishments, and freedom from oppressive government.
This is a timeless awareness, one that predates documents that codify these individual rights, and yet – this is where progressivism is so dangerous – the left (concentrators of power under names like communism, socialism, utopianism) wants to say these rights come from government.
If the government gives them, and not God, then they can be taken away without further discussion. Moreover, and this is another dangerous tenet of progressivism, the idea is put forward that there are no individual rights, only group rights, thus skin color can define rights, which leads to ideas like CRT and DEI, inventions of the left to seek to blur or erase the sanctity of individual liberties.
At no point did our Founders, or any legal scholars before or after who understand and studied the premises of our supporting documents, believe that these rights were other than individual, with the exception of the rights they denied to a class of individuals, which a civil war, the 13th and 14th Amendments, made clear belong to all individuals who are citizens.
So, keeping this observation tight, what Justice Thomas was pointing out – and on one distant occasion, I sat in his chambers and heard him articulate these ideas in person – we are not a nation of people but of laws, not laws unanchored, but anchored to a Constitution, and that Constitution enshrines timeless rights which were and are possessed by individuals not groups, because these rights do not come from government, but from God who has created them in us, us to defend them. Simple as that.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
Well said and thank you Justice Thomas! I am a China (CCP) observer, and for some time, have been seeing the parallels between the CCP and Democratic Party.
Justice Thomas is one of the best legal Minds in America and a True defender of the constitution as it was written. Too bad he was not made Chief Justice, was it Racism that he was not.
Long live Justice Thomas/
God Bless America!
RBC,
I read Justice Thomas’ complete comments when they came out last week and he perfectly articulated the threat that so-called “progressivism” (what the Democrats re-branded their support for Marxism in the early 20th century after the horrors of what was going on in the Soviet Union became public). Obviously, none of the MSM elected to cover the Justice Thomas story, as it would have run completely counter to the MSM’s own support of both the Democrat Party and the Marxist ideology most of them openly support themselves. What’s left of our constitutional republic and communism cannot co-exist as they are diametrically polar opposites with no common, shared values.
As always, the fate of the country will come down to the citizens themselves. As to whether the nation addresses the threat or merely chooses to shrug its collective shoulders, once again, and continue to allow the threat to continue to increase as it did under both Obama and Biden. Just look at how today Congress can no longer function today on the simplest of terms, because the so-called Democrats oppose virtually anything that does not advance their Marxist agenda without causing more harm to our economy, national security or the well-being of its citizens.
It is due to lack in our education system that more people don’t know this simple truth. Our young people are learning communist principles rather than democratic ones. BTW, the democrat party is misnamed, as they no longer are.
RBC, wonderful article. The people aren’t paying attention to the antics of the Democrats over the years, who are bent on the destruction of the US Constitution so a One World Order can be established. The nation is so close to this wrong road and if the Democrats win this November elections, the nation will end up going down this road.
Justice Thomas is right!!! Do not give absolute rights to man, but to God Almighty. The Lord never changes in having our backs. Man on the other hand can be corrupted!!!
I watched Justice Clarence Thomas speak before the University of Texas graduating class. Justice Thomas is an outstanding person. His speech was very straight to the point of honoring God first and then out country. The United States is being held by anti-Christ socialist communist. I don’t understand how these evil people are able to lead the blind to the election polls. I feel sorry for my grandchildren and great grandchildren who will never know freedom as my generation did. I know it started years ago creeping into our lives and we never saw it. So very sad.
Justice Thomas leaves no room for anyone to misunderstand, or twist, his words. He helps me understand why I feel so strongly that no one should ever be allowed to try to remove any of those rights. Evil will always try to make us think good is evil, and evil is good, in order to enslave us.
Fabulous article. Justice Thomas is my favorite. His dissertation on anything,especially constitutional and my interest is peaked. When Justice Scalia was on the bench he also made for some very excellent listening.Thank you for this article. By the way if you are running for governor of Maine why haven’t we heard about you????? It would certainly be refreshing know that this beautiful state would be in the hands of a patriot. Also please do not let the interlopers take hold of the best frontier in America. These people will ruin the state. Anyway MAGA MAGA MAGA
My response was cut off. I will only respond with a short but glaring reality: we need to be respectful of a government that was built to withstand nay-sayers and witch-hunters to bring it down. These inalienable rights are protections that are a rationale for a lifetime.
Get it done, Justice Thomas. Some or us Common Trash out here in ‘Murica still hear and appreciate you…and RBC.
Having the opportunity to be part of 14 different presidencies and how import