I would just like to state publicly & for the record that Justice Clarence Thomas is a monster. Those who joined in this opinion are, I guess, sub-monsters of a sub-human consciousness. A reminder, if any were needed, of the moral bankruptcy of American Conservatism, so-called. And the logic of the death penalty, which requires limiting appealsin the name of expeditious punishment for a fifteen year old crime.  Thomas has more in common with Ann Coulter & radical right-wing talk radio than with any notion of justice. The defining feature of American conservatism is a particularly nasty combination of self-righteousness & cowardice. To even raise the issue of compassion would be so naive as to mark oneself an idiot. The American Right loves pain, torture & death.