Working for the man every night and day

I understand Scott is going to write about the latest 17 scandals that have broken out about Clarence Thomas, Leonard Leo, et. al., so this post is about something completely different.

Justice Clarence Thomas — who has accepted lavish vacations and other financial benefits from GOP megadonor Harlan Crow for years — said in a speech in 2001 that serving on the Supreme Court wasn’t worth it for what it paid.

“The job is not worth doing for what they pay,” Thomas said during a speech in 2001, The New York Post reported at the time. “The job is not worth doing for the grief. But it is worth doing for the principle.”

Thomas was speaking to the Bar Association in Savannah, Georgia, according to the Post. In the speech, which was resurfaced this week by The Nation writer Jeet Heer, Thomas discussed his efforts to gain custody of his then-10-year-old grandnephew. The Post reported Thomas cried during the speech and thanked his lawyer who worked on the custody battle.

In 2001, the salary for an associate Supreme Court justice was $178,300, while the chief justice made $186,300. As of 2023, the salary for an associate justice is $285,400, while the chief justice makes $298,500.

Whining resentment about the unfairness of the world is what really binds the American right wing across lines of race, class, gender, etc., and Thomas’s complaint is a true classic of the genre.

Let’s consider what sort of job he has:

(1) Salary is in the 98th percentile for individual income.

(2) Four months of paid vacation every year.

(3) Could have retired 15 years ago with full salary and benefits for life.

(4) Can make unlimited amounts via book contracts that depend on the author’s employment status for approximately 99.87% of their value. Example: Thomas received at least $`1.5 million, plus royalties beyond that figure, for a book he published in 2007.

(5) Can pick up an extra $30K per year for taking lavish fully-paid for vacations, supplied by law schools eager to throw money at SCOTUS justices who “teach a class” for a few hours in some exotic and delightful locale.

(6) Almost all unpleasant aspects of the actual work involved in the job can be delegated to staff.

(7) Can’t be fired, ever.

(8) Spouse will be thrown all sorts of highly paid cushy “jobs.” In addition, she won’t be arrested for trying to overthrow the legitimate government of the United States, because immunity from prosecution for yourself and your spouse is an informal but very real perk of your cozy little employment situation.

(9) Psychic income is very high. Countless people who would otherwise never give you the time of day shamelessly grovel at your feet, solely because of your employment status.

. . . (10) Oops, almost forgot a minor but significant point: Get to impose your crackpot ideology on a nation of 335 million people, whether the majority of them agree with you or not (mostly not).

I’m well aware that absurdly privileged people with highly paid well protected extremely non-strenuous jobs love to whine about how they’re not paid what they’re worth — I’ve been in legal academia for 33 years after all — but even by the standards of this emetic genre Thomas’s whinging stands out.

And of course his preposterous complaining explains why he walks the track for his oh so generous billionaire “friend.” How else is he going to get what he deserves?