-
Thomas has now pierced that great black veil of secrecy, but only just enough to cash in. He has chosen to put himself in the public eye but to immunize himself from any kind of publicity that might upset or embarrass him. Thomas has already announced, for instance, according to the New York Times, that he will simply not appear on any TV show "unsympathetic" to his conservative views, which category he defines (with keen legal insight) as anything that isn't Fox News, with maybe a Barbara Walters caveat built in for extra flexibility....
Although Thomas is severely limiting his public exposure by declining virtually any unfavorable publicity, he has compensated HarperCollins by promising, according to the Times, "strong support" for his book from conservative commentators, especially from his buddy Rush Limbaugh. (Thomas performed Limbaugh's third marriage and never tires of listening to the conservative pundit.) According to Thomas, Limbaugh will read sections of the book on his radio program, literary merit notwithstanding. If HarperCollins can just get Ann Coulter to write about it and Ted Olson to somehow plug it during an oral argument, Thomas is guaranteed a best seller without the agony of a single book review. This isn't a book tour. It's a Federalist Society pep rally.
Rather odd, considering:
-
On his way up the hate-radio ladder, Rush took no prisoners. In the 1970s, Limbaugh told one black caller: "Take that bone out of your nose and call me back." His career as a right-wing radio jock flourished.
-- After becoming nationally syndicated, Rush
cleaned up his act, right? Wrong. Regarding one national civil rights leader, Limbaugh mused: "Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?"
-- Rush Limbaugh on the nation's oldest existing civil rights organization, with a ninety-year commitment to non-violence: "The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies."
-- It's not that Rush denies there is racism in America. There is, he says -"fueled primarily by the rantings and ravings" of blacks." If only those people would keep their mouths shut and behave nice and... Sound familiar??
...
-- Not that Rush doesn't have a head for figures. One caller had the temerity to say on Rush's air that black voices needed to be heard in American politics. Rush: "They are 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?"
and let's not forget:
-
Limbaugh promised to show his audience footage of everyday life among welfare recipients. He then ran video of the antics of a variety of great apes -- mostly orangutans, gorillas and apes -- hanging about zoos.
The audience, of course, applauded and laughed.