Virginia Thomas. You remember her? The wife of Clarence Thomas, head cheerleader at Liberty Central, foam crown and all? The one whose income Justice Thomas "forgot" to disclose? That One.
After leaving her gig with Tea Party front group Liberty Central, Virginia Thomas has moved on to start up her own lobbying firm, Liberty Consulting, Inc (catchy name, that). According to that raving liberal site (NOT) The Politico, Ginni Thomas is on to the next venture:
Now, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, has recast herself yet again, this time as the head of a firm, Liberty Consulting, which boasts on its website using her “experience and connections” to help clients “with “governmental affairs efforts” and political donation strategies.
Thomas already has met with nearly half of the 99 GOP freshmen in the House and Senate, according to an e-mail she sent last week to congressional chiefs of staff, in which she branded herself “a self-appointed, ambassador to the freshmen class and an ambassador to the tea party movement."
Interesting that these very same freshmen aren't admitting to it or had no idea what Politico was talking about when asked if they had met with her.
An interesting thing, though -- Politico had a hard time finding a freshman who has actually met with Ginni Thomas. "This is the spouse of Justice Thomas?" said a seemingly surprised Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ). "No, I've never met her. It's not something I've heard about. And I hang out with a lot of freshman," he said.
I sought info from some high-ranking GOP aides, who also have no idea what this is about. In addition, I have left a message with Ginni Thomas, but I doubt I'll be any more successful than Politico's efforts on that front:
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Thomas said she was having trouble with the signal, telling a POLITICO reporter: "I would be happy to talk with you, but I really can't understand clearly what you're asking, so maybe this is not a good time to talk."
A visit to the website for Thomas' new venture reveals things I never knew about her. Like how she's connected to the "center-right movement." If the Tea Party is "center right", we're all screwed. Just emigrate now. The endorsement page includes glowing reviews from Steve King, Donald Rumsfeld, Morton Blackwell, and the ever-annoying Rick Berman. Yeah. Center right.
Is it just me, or is there something deeply unethical about the spouse of a Supreme Court justice being paid by conservatives to lobby against things like health care reform, and financial regulatory reform, and just about anything that might be called progress? In some ways, this is even more blatant than Liberty Central was. Liberty Central was astroturf advocacy aimed at ordinary people. This is another hack lobbying firm aimed at shaping legislation toward conservatives corporate persons, not citizens. You know, those people Justice Thomas legitimized in the Citizens United decision?
Dave Weigel thinks her situation is a mess. I'm not so sure, but I'd like to think so. He puts it this way:
So you can hire Ginni Thomas to help determine whether a bill will pass constitutional muster if it comes before, you know, her husband. And she's having trouble getting work! It's quite possible that a combination of media blackout and embarrassing gaffes that echo for weeks (the call to Anita Hill) is not a good way to build a consulting shop.
About that drunk-dial late-night telephone call to Anita Hill. It seems to have displeased some conservative donors. Ohhh, can't have that. But no worries. They've already got their bought-and-paid-for justice in place. No need to worry about the spouse, right? Perfectly consistent with the current conservative trend these days to shove women back into their "place".
Perhaps Ginni should spend some time listening to progressive women after playing handmaiden to conservative old men who use women and toss them aside routinely.
