Make no mistake. The friction here isn’t about politics. It’s about something more primal: control. Liberals wanted to give people like Clarence Thomas every right except, it turns out, the right to think for themselves. If you forget that, you’ll be labeled a “sellout,” a “traitor,” a “right wingnut” or worse.

Most Americans probably look back on Thomas’ confirmation hearings in the fall of 1991, and think that what made them so messy were those unseemly accusations of sexual harassment by Anita Hill. That was a sideshow. The real reason for the tension in those hearings was that Thomas represents something liberals can’t stand: a black conservative.

Those on the left see conservatives of color as a kind of sociological experiment gone bad — these are people who are ungrateful for the many opportunities they were provided by the liberal establishment which, in return, asked for only three things: undying loyalty, constant agreement, and lifelong subservience.

Thomas doesn’t play that game. He never has. And that’s why he is always at the center of the storm.