TODD: Thank goodness we’ve got Justice Thomas, truly a constitutionalist. Rush loved Clarence Thomas — and I do mean loved. Last week Justice Thomas was approached by a TMZ reporter after leaving a restaurant and Thomas poked a little fun at him. I think Rush would have loved this audio showing how down to earth and approachable he was. Here’s a bit of how it sounded.
JUSTICE THOMAS: (outdoor noise) I’m just a civil servant. (big laugh)
COLIN: Oh, no, he… (busts up laughing)
JUSTICE THOMAS: (laughing)
COLIN: Juh… (laughing) Lance, Lance, Lance Ito. When Lance Ito retires, he gotta be looking for some, some work a little bit. No?
COLIN: (laughs)
JUSTICE THOMAS: What do you do? You just sort of stand around and photobomb people?
COLIN: No, no. I’m Colin with TMZ.
JUSTICE THOMAS: I know you! I’m just giving you a hard time.
COLIN: Okay, man. We love your work, though, man.
JUSTICE THOMAS: You crack me up.
COLIN: (laughing)
JUSTICE THOMAS: Did you go to NYU?
COLIN: No, my sister did. Great school.
JUSTICE THOMAS: Was she in law school there?
COLIN: No, she did… She did journalism also, but she —
JUSTICE THOMAS: Yeah, it’s a wonderful school.
COLIN: Yeah.
JUSTICE THOMAS: So you go around bothering people? (laughing)
COLIN: No, no!
JUSTICE THOMAS: (laughing)
COLIN: Actually, we find interesting people.
JUSTICE THOMAS: (big laugh)
COLIN: What did you…? What did you have to eat? I know you…
JUSTICE THOMAS: No, no no.
COLIN: No, no, no! Come on, man!
JUSTICE THOMAS: (big laugh)
TODD: I love that man! (laughing) I love that interaction. And, by the way, reporter, you got filibustered, you got owned, and you got outcharmed. Beautiful! Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, he gets a bad rap by the Drive-Bys. Started back during his confirmation all the way through today, and he doesn’t ask a lot of questions on the bench. So they think he’s either stupid or uninterested, neither of which could be further from the truth. What they don’t show is he’s a regular, down-to-earth guy you might find at Walmart or flying coach on a plane. Here’s a little bit of Rush talking about our regular guy, Justice Clarence Thomas.
RUSH: This is one of the greatest stories. Two kids from Maryland high school being recruited by Nebraska University. They fly out there; they go through the recruitment; they see the place. On their return flight home, in coach, is a black man, huge Nebraska fan, and they talk to him throughout the flight. They have no idea they’re talking to Justice Clarence Thomas.
STEPHENS: I was amazed that this guy knew so much about us as football players and as people. And that was — that was — that was… That was shocking in itself. So I was definitely — I felt honored to be known by somebody of his caliber and — and — and of his strength. But he was just a regular old guy. He was — I mean, he was sitting in coach, which really shocked me.
RUSH: Sitting in coach, just a regular old guy. Here’s Justice Thomas and a portion of his address to the students.
JUSTICE THOMAS: These young men had no idea who I was when I formed my first impressions of them. To them, I was just another stranger. They were wonderful ambassadors for your school and for their fellow students.
RUSH: And that’s Justice Thomas doing the commencement speech that these two kids wanted him to give after they met him on the plane. For most of the trip back to Maryland they had no idea who they were talking to, but he knew that they were football players, that they’d been recruited by Nebraska, that they were being looked at by Nebraska. He’s a huge Nebraska fan. He’s sitting back in coach, and you know what, aside from what’s obviously great about this story is, when the kids go back and ask the principal or whoever, “Get this guy to come speak,” they did. That’s what’s amazing.
TODD: And Rush scrutinized people like he scrutinized Justice Thomas.
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