Month: June 2011

-Originally blogged by leveymg on Democratic Underground

June 26, 2011- We've all heard them, the reasons given for why Clarence Thomas can't be immediately removed from the Supreme Court. But, like so much else we've been told, they're mostly a batter of lies with some plain, simple ignorance of Constitutional case law mixed in.

Here are the top 5 reasons given why we should just move along and leave poor Clarence and Ginny Thomas alone, and why most of what we're being told in the corporate media about this is plain pig-headed nonsense:

MYTH 1) Clarence Thomas may have committed some obscure ethics violation, and he’s a creep, but there’s no real crime here for which he might be removed from office. Why do you go on about Indicting Clarence Thomas?

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June 25, 2011- Associate Justice Clarence Thomas is famous for not asking questions during oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. But that doesn't mean questions shouldn't be raised by the public about his failure to report gifts and his dealings with friend and Dallas real estate mogul Harlan Crow.
A major contributor to conservative causes, Mr. Crow has an unusual, if not improper, relationship with the justice. According to The New York Times, the Texan is financing the multimillion-dollar purchase and restoration of the seafood cannery in Georgia where the justice's mother worked as a crab picker.

The restored facility also will house a cultural center and museum extolling the history of Pin Point, Ga., the birthplace of Justice Thomas. But the justice may have played a role in getting Mr. Crow to underwrite the museum, which has drawn criticism from close watchers of judicial ethics.

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-By Ian M. MacIsaac

June 26, 2011- For the majority of this country’s history, the Supreme Court has stood as our national model of impartiality and justice. Our High Court was the last forum of decision-making in Washington removed from the petty political concerns of things like lobbying and reelection campaigns and all the money-grubbing.

But it seems that truly nothing is sacred anymore in today’s post-American era of conservative radicalism, not even the Supreme Court.

And although of course no one person deserves all the blame for any screw-up so huge, the Court’s huge loss of integrity over the past decade or so seems to be crystallized—if not defined—by the behavior of Justice Clarence Thomas.

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-By Michael Isikoff

June 26, 2011- When you're raising political cash these days, it helps to have a few billionaires in your corner.

The outside role a small number of extremely wealthy donors is playing in the run up to the 2012 elections is highlighted by the first early finance reports of the new campaign cycle filed late last week by two so-called "super PACs " — political groups that can raise unlimited amounts from individuals, corporations and labor unions.

American Crossroads, the super PAC spearheaded by Karl Rove, is vowing a massive attack ad campaign aimed at defeating President Barack Obama next year. The group reported it had raised $3.8 million during the first six months of 2011.

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-by: William Rivers Pitt

June 23, 2011-

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.
– Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart

For the sake of full disclosure, I will tell you that I do not like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. In my opinion, he has no business sitting on the high court after the reprehensible treatment he forced Anita Hill to endure, and has been a disgrace to the bench lo these last twenty years. Anthony Weiner, one of Clarence Thomas' most ardent critics, was just run out of Washington DC on a rail for behavior far less offensive; Mr. Thomas is lucky there was no such thing as Twitter when he was sexually harassing Hill, or he'd be chasing ambulances outside of muni court like the hack he is. He sits up there like a lump, never speaking or offering questions to petitioners, and has not had an original thought since his shameful Senate approval.

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-By Linn Bayne

June 24, 2011- Nearly 200,000 people have signed a petition calling for the resignation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and those people are making making waves in Washington. Thanks to their activism, momentum is building behind an effort to hold Thomas accountable for his blatant disregard of the Judicial Code of Conduct.

Just yesterday, Congressman Chris Murphy penned a “dear colleague” letter, asking his fellow Members of Congress to sign on to an urgent request to Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith. This letter, spurred by the recent New York Times expose of Clarence Thomas’ unethical relationship with rightwing funder and activist Harlan Crow, urges the House Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on escalating reports of unethical behavior by Supreme Court Justices.

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