The court reporter's filing on yesterday's historic Supreme Court session is in, committing to public record the moment Clarence Thomas ended his seven years of silence... with a joke about Yale. Thomas infamously holds the record for lasting the longest of any Supreme Court justice without asking any questions during oral arguments. But yesterday, he broke his self-imposed silence of almost seven years to take a potshot at lawyers who obtained their J.D.s from Yale. Here's his reported statement about Yale-educated lawyers—all four words of it: 

Rimshot! You can't really tell what Thomas said from this hasty shorthand—many justices were speaking at the time, making it hard for the poor court reporter to catch Thomas' every word. But the zinger that put the court in stitches was described as a jab at Yale Law School. Even though Yale is Thomas' alma mater, he feels nothing but resentment for the school that he feels treated him like a token affirmative action student. 

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David Wagner