Changes

In 1991, upon the death of Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]], President [[George H.W. Bush]] nominated Clarence Thomas to fill the newly vacant seat.  Supporters of abortion desperately opposed his nomination.  

In 1991, upon the death of Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]], President [[George H.W. Bush]] nominated Clarence Thomas to fill the newly vacant seat.  Supporters of abortion desperately opposed his nomination.  

Radical [[leftist]]s attempted to block Thomas's nomination to the High Court through a persistent series of public [[guilt by association]] smears. [[Chip Berlet]] of [[Political Research Associates]] noted that Thomas was on the editorial board of the ''Lincoln Review'', a quarterly black conservative publication of the Lincoln Institute.  Berlet issued a rather dubius ''ad hominem'' attack which claimed "it is a far right group that has worked in coalition with… fascist and anti-Semitic groups," and goes on to “link” Lincoln Institute head J. A. Baker with the Indiana Ku Klux Klan by virtue that Baker is on the board of the Council for National Policy and another board member is supposedly a former Klan member.  <ref>Chip Berlet, [http://www.theroc.org/roc-mag/textarch/roc-07/roc07-13.htm ''A Few Facts About Clarence Thomas,''] Political Research Associates, Cambridge MA, 1997.</ref>

Radical [[leftist]]s attempted to block Thomas's nomination to the High Court through a persistent series of public [[guilt by association]] smears. [[Chip Berlet]] of [[Political Research Associates]] noted that Thomas was on the editorial board of the ''Lincoln Review'', a quarterly black conservative publication of the Lincoln Institute.  Berlet issued a rather dubius ''ad hominem'' attack which claimed "it is a far right group that has worked in coalition with… fascist and anti-Semitic groups," and goes on to “link” Lincoln Institute head J. A. Baker with the Indiana Ku Klux Klan by virtue that Baker is on the board of the Council for National Policy and another board member is supposedly a former Klan member.  <ref>[http://www.theroc.org/roc-mag/textarch/roc-07/roc07-13.htm ''A Few Facts About Clarence Thomas,''] Chip Berlet, Political Research Associates, Cambridge MA, 1997.</ref>

In a flagrant violation of the rules of the [[Senate]] <ref>[http://www.loc.gov/rr/law/nominations/thomas/debates.pdf Congressional Record -Senate, 102nd Congress, October 7, 1991], Vol 137, Part 18, p. 25706. </ref>, staff members <ref>[http://www.uiowa.edu/~030116/153/articles/brock01.htm ''The Real Anita Hill''], David Brock, Harper Collins, 1993.</ref> for a sitting [[Democratic]] member of the Judiciary Committee leaked a routine confidential FBI background report to [[Nina Totenberg]] of [[National Public Radio]] (NPR) <ref>[http://backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/92/1/thomas.asp  The Clarence Thomas Hearings], by William Boot, ''Columbia Journalism Review'', January/February 1992.</ref> which contained a vicious defamatory smear intended to mar Thomas for life.  The accusation was known to be false, and was concocted to publicly intimidate an African-American Republican from accepting an appointment to the nations High Court, and derail his nomination.  None of the allegations could be substantiated. The deliberate falsehoods did however persuade former [[Ku Klux Klan]] Democratic Senator [[Robert Byrd]] to change his vote from "yes" for confirmation to "no".   

In a flagrant violation of the rules of the [[Senate]] <ref>[http://www.loc.gov/rr/law/nominations/thomas/debates.pdf Congressional Record -Senate, 102nd Congress, October 7, 1991], Vol 137, Part 18, p. 25706. </ref>, staff members <ref>[http://www.uiowa.edu/~030116/153/articles/brock01.htm ''The Real Anita Hill''], David Brock, Harper Collins, 1993.</ref> for a sitting [[Democratic]] member of the Judiciary Committee leaked a routine confidential FBI background report to [[Nina Totenberg]] of [[National Public Radio]] (NPR) <ref>[http://backissues.cjrarchives.org/year/92/1/thomas.asp  The Clarence Thomas Hearings], by William Boot, ''Columbia Journalism Review'', January/February 1992.</ref> which contained a vicious defamatory smear intended to mar Thomas for life.  The accusation was known to be false, and was concocted to publicly intimidate an African-American Republican from accepting an appointment to the nations High Court, and derail his nomination.  None of the allegations could be substantiated. The deliberate falsehoods did however persuade former [[Ku Klux Klan]] Democratic Senator [[Robert Byrd]] to change his vote from "yes" for confirmation to "no".