http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/08/29/110829fa_fact_toobin?printable=true
TOOBIN WAS PART OF THE JOURNO CLIQUE THAT DELIBERATELY WITHHELD LEGITIMATE CRITICISM OF OBAMA WHILE GOING OVERBOARD IN TRASHING AND BASHING PALIN. ….AT LEAST HE ACKNOWLEDGES:
These tempests obscure a larger truth about Thomas: that this year has also been, for him, a moment of triumph. In several of the most important areas of constitutional law, Thomas has emerged as an intellectual leader of the Supreme Court. Since the arrival of Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., in 2005, and Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., in 2006, the Court has moved to the right when it comes to the free-speech rights of corporations, the rights of gun owners, and, potentially, the powers of the federal government; in each of these areas, the majority has followed where Thomas has been leading for a decade or more. Rarely has a Supreme Court Justice enjoyed such broad or significant vindication.