Time's 'Misconduct Matrix' Lumps Clarence Thomas with Schwarzenegger, Gingrich, and Jefferson

May 22nd, 2011 4:51 PM

Featured on Time Magazine's Web site is "The Misconduct Matrix."  Subtitled "Not all affairs are created equal," the graphic presents 19 men guilty of - make that allegedly guilty of in some instances- serious sexual misbehavior.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn is listed, as are Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, Tiger Woods, John Kennedy and, of course, the president who gave phone sex a bad name, the impeached Bill Clinton.  Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is also included on the matrix.

Sharing the same quadrant (Doghouse, Massively Hypocritical) with Justice Thomas are Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's admitted to fathering a child with a staff member, Newt Gingrich, who's admitted to at least one affair, and Thomas Jefferson, who "reportedly fathered six children with his slave."  Even if Thomas were guilty of what Anita Hill charged, his conduct was not nearly as egregious as the others.  Talking about pubic hair on a Coke can isn't close to adultery or fathering children out of wedlock.

Two decades after Hill's charges, there's still no proof.  It remains a he said, she said situation, even though why Hill followed the supposed sexual harasser from one agency to another, and maintained telephone contact with him for years afterward are reasons to question her story.

Clarence Thomas's alleged behavior doesn't qualify him for inclusion in Time's Misconduct Matrix.  Not when Senators Teddy Kennedy (D-MA) and Chris Dodd (D-CT) didn't qualify for their infamous waitress sandwich.  Or Bill Clinton's alleged assault of Juanita Broaddrick isn't even mentioned.  And what about the late Congressman Gerry Studds's (D-MA) censure for having a sexual relationship with a young male page?  Or former Congressman Mel Reynolds's (D-IL) 12-count conviction of sexual assault with a 16-year-old?  The list could go on.

I suspect that Justice Thomas is included mainly because he's a conservative jurist who actually looks to the Constitution for guidance.  At Time Magazine, which now "partners" with CNN, that's real misbehavior.