So much for the theory that Justice Thomas was just another "House
Negroe". Clarence Thomas is slowly becoming the voice and conscience of
main stream black America. Associate Justice Thomas will make an
outstanding Chief Justice.

http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/1/202005g.asp


Black Conservatives Promote Justice Thomas for Top Spot on SCOTUS

By Chad Groening
January 20, 2005

(AgapePress) - A conservative black organization believes Supreme Court
Justice Clarence Thomas is well qualified to become the next chief
justice, if and when William Rehnquist decides to retire. But the group
says it is not happy with comments about Thomas made by the minority
leader in the U.S. Senate.

David Almasi is director of Project 21, the National Leadership Network
of Black Conservatives. Project 21 is calling for Senate Minority
Leader Harry Reid to apologize for telling NBC's Meet the Press that
Thomas is "an embarrassment to the Supreme Court." Almasi takes issue
with Reid's assessment of Thomas's credentials.

"Scholars of all stripes have come out saying that he has done some
good things on the court, so I don't think that his scholarship can be
questioned anymore," Almasi says. "However, Harry Reid has found
reasons to do so."

The Project 21 spokesman says Thomas should be considered a top
candidate to become the next chief justice of the nation's highest
court. "The best person for the job should be the one who gets it," he
says. "But Clarence Thomas has certainly proved himself to one of the
leading justices on the court right now -- and he should certainly be
one of the final people looked at, if and when that situation comes
about."

And in Almasi's estimation, Thomas is not the only sitting justice
qualified for the position. "Certainly what you should be looking for
in a chief justice is someone who can help guide the court, someone who
can help set the tone," he offers. "And Clarence Thomas [and] Antonin
Scalia [have] both shown, I think, a belief that the president shares
-- and would both be good nominees for the president to select when
[Chief] Justice Rehnquist retires."

The chief justice recently returned to the bench after an extended
absence, during which he received treatment for a form of throat
cancer. He has not announced whether he plans to retire anytime soon
because of health issues.