Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas told students at the University of Texas Austin Law School on Wednesday that progressivism is an existential threat to America and to the principles that founded it 250 years ago. He said the movement seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and, with them, the American form of government.
Thomas said a spirit of cynicism, rejection, hostility and animus toward America has taken hold among Americans, and argued that the values enshrined in the 1776 Declaration have fallen out of favor. He said some intellectuals and the nation’s colleges and universities have driven that trend, leaving many people unwilling to accept that all men are created equal and possess unalienable rights protected by a limited government.
The justice said progressivism instead teaches that rights and dignities come not from God but from government, a view he said demands subservience and weakness that cannot be squared with a constitution built on the transcendent origin of rights. He also said Washington has been overrun by elected and appointed officials who lack commitment to righteous cause, traditional morality, national defense, free enterprise, religious piety or the original meaning of the Constitution.
Thomas, 77, is the Supreme Court’s senior conservative member and was appointed to the bench by Republican President George H.W. Bush in 1991. He has been a reliable vote in favor of the Trump administration’s positions in cases, and his remarks came as the country approaches its 250th birthday.
He closed by urging Americans to stand up for their principles and endure personal sacrifices if necessary to preserve democracy, saying the courage shown by the signers of the Declaration should be found again now. For Thomas, the answer to the question his speech posed was direct: preserve the founding ideals, or watch them be displaced.
