Blight: Thomas's dissent reflects 'an ideology in search of a history' - The Last Word - MS NOW

[Rhiannon12866]

Pulitzer Prize-winning Yale historian David Blight joins MS NOW's Lawrence O'Donnell after Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson issued a rare concurrence directly challenging Justice Clarence Thomas's interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Blight argues that the dissenting justices bring "a political and racial ideology in search of a history that's not there," explaining why he believes the historical record of Reconstruction contradicts their reading of birthright citizenship. - Aired on 06/30/2026.

[Haggard Celine]

1. Clarence Thomas is a twisted fucker.

How anyone could be an admirer of Frederick Douglass and have Thomas's ideology makes no sense to me. Douglass was fighting the very system that Thomas embraces. He'll probably retire before Trump leaves office. Justice Jackson is turning out to be superb. I wonder what will become of CJ Roberts. Will he also retire before the end of Trump's term? I hope not. I would like to see him replaced by a Democrat, not just for obvious reasons. I'd really like to see his job given to Jackson. She would be at least as good as Earl Warren, I think.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I certainly agree completely with you, though I cringe at the thought of either Thomas or Alito retiring now

That's all we need is yet another felon's choice on SCOTUS, possibly for 40 years.

And I also agree about Justice Jackson, she was a terrific pick and has turned out to be capable, smart and brave. And I agree that she would be a marvelous Chief Justice when the time comes.

[Haggard Celine]

3. Yeah, I've heard that Thomas wants to stay

until he's the longest-serving Justice. He'll pass up William O. Douglas in May of 2028. So I think we are going to have to expand the Court if the Democrats take over the Congress and the Presidency in 2029. It should be a top priority. It'll be a hell of a lot easier to expand it than to chase away the knuckleheads. Besides, it needs to be done anyway. The Justices have to oversee the District Courts and I think there are still 13 of those. So why not add 4 seats to the Court? It would be enough to make things more balanced, but not too drastic of a change.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Well, that sounds like a plan as long as he waits until after the election

And expanding the court to 13 does make sense as long as it's our next Democratic president who's doing the appointing. But after all we've experienced - so far - under this unspeakable administration I can't imagine that anyone anywhere would vote for a continuation of that. And even those who tend to not pay much attention must be aware by now since everyone is affected by the price of gas and groceries among the nightmares attributable to this administration. And whoever is elected to take over the job clearly faces the biggest clean up in history. I'm guessing it could take a generation. *sigh*

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended

Thanks for the thread Rhiannon

[Rhiannon12866]

6. Thanks, Uncle Joe!

I'm so glad that Lawrence was back, I considered tonight's show to be must-see-TV.