Sometimes “out with the old” is a good thing. Such is the situation at FOX News. You’ve just got to hand it to FOX executives in giving Tucker Carlson and now Laura Ingraham a forum as replacements for Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly.
Right out of the starting gate, Ms. Ingraham has distinguished her new program, “The Ingraham Angle,” with remarkable guests and poignant interviews. One such case was last evening’s on-air chat with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
As they mused about life, liberty and the state of America, the viewer couldn’t help but feel they were watching something of great magnitude as the associate justice spoke of his grandfather’s formidable influence on his life. The grandson of a freed slave, Thomas’ grandfather had a saying: “Old man Can’t is dead. I helped bury him.” Here’s a clip worth watching:
As a black conservative Thomas has taken more than his fair share of public beatings, but he’s still in the ring – still standing tall – even after all the leftist floggings. One can’t help but think that this is in part due to the way he was raised: the work ethic, an inability to play the victim, and the gift of a “can do” attitude given to him by his grandfather.
Perhaps Nietzsche was right when he said, “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.” And so, Justice Thomas soldiers on. He keeps working to defend the Constitution as written and intended by the American founders. He keeps the faith that what he is doing matters and is ultimately right and has value to the people he serves. He maintains a steady head, heart, and hand in the midst of an increasingly polarized country:
“That’s what keeps you going. That’s what energizes you. That’s what makes it the endeavor — of the criticisms and the other things. That’s what makes it all acceptable. Because what you’re doing is so important and so critical to the things that matter.”
It’s a rare thing indeed when a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice goes on live television to talk about his life and beliefs. Perhaps it was the relationship between Ms. Ingraham and Justice Thomas that caused him to come before the FOX cameras, as Ingraham clerked for Thomas many moons ago. Still, it was a substantive talk that viewers were privileged to witness, as both parties comported themselves well.
In a way, the Ingraham interview was a history lesson for the American people. For once, the utter superficiality of television news gave way to something more than one inch deep. If Ms. Ingraham keeps this up, there’s no telling what Americans can hear and learn from people who have suffered in service and still live to tell about it. After all, there is a dire shortage of real American history being taught in our educational system today. Who would have thought that television would come to the rescue?
