Conservatives: The Ironic Ideology

From Clarence Thomas, via Maureen Dowd:

When he switched from a Democrat to a conservative as a young man, he knew that he would be a hotter commodity in politics. But he also knew that it would bring him the scorn of blacks who deemed him a pawn of the white establishment -- people like Justice Thurgood Marshall, who ridiculed Clarence Thomas and others as ''goddamn black sellouts'' for benefiting from affirmative action and then denigrating it.

As Jill Abramson and Jane Mayer write in ''Strange Justice,'' Mr. Thomas himself complained in a 1987 speech that, to win acceptance in conservative ranks, ''a black was required to become a caricature of sorts, providing sideshows of anti-black quips and attacks.'' (Just as blonde conservative pundettes flash long legs and sneer at feminism.)

I can think of someone locally who epitomizes Thomas' statement. Hip Musings anyone, he of the McCain moment.