Clarence Thomas Must Go

Last week I argued that the Declaration of Independence was a part of our laws. The point I was making was that the principles upon which our laws are based are the very essence of our laws. Indeed, appellate courts take those principles and legislative intent into consideration when interpreting our laws. This is why it is not just congress that may not abridge the right to freedom of speech, religion, etc. If the states could abridge those rights the constitutional protections of those rights would mean nothing. Similarly, the principles for the conduct of judges are set forth in the rules of ethics those judges must follow. If U.S. Supreme Court Justices can ignore those rules and refuse to recuse themselves from cases in which those justices might have a conflict of interest or a bias in favor of one party over another then the right to an impartial hearing and decisions based upon the merits of the case mean nothing. In which case, our entire judicial system is a sham.

Obviously the intent of exempting Supreme Court Justices from those rules of ethics was not to permit the justices to act unethically; rather it was to preserve the independence of the court by preventing anyone from using a minor or questionable breach of those rules as a reason for expelling from the court a justice who has made an unpopular decision. As I said last week, the real question is not whether Supreme Court Justices must follow the rules of ethics but rather who, if anyone, has the authority to enforce those rules in regard to U.S. Supreme Court Justices. To conclude otherwise would be inconsistent with the most fundamental principles of our judicial system. The good reputation of the Supreme Court and its justices is essential if the people of this country are going to have any faith in the integrity of our courts. This was the argument Chief Justice Earl Warren made to Justice Abe Fortas when Mr. Fortas faced the threat of impeachment over the Wolfson scandal, and it was at least in part why Justice Fortas resigned from the court.

What Abe Fortas did to cause the threat of impeachment was not as egregious as the violations committed by Clarence Thomas. Justice Fortas at least had the good sense to recuse himself from hearing the cases involving Mr. Wofson. Clarence Thomas, on the other hand, heard the Citizens United Case and voted in favor of Citizens United even though Citizens United had contributed $100,000 to help Justice Thomas get confirmed. After receiving valuable gifts from American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Justice Thomas heard three cases involving AEI, and he either sided with AEI or took positions more extreme than AEI in all three of those cases. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Justice Thomas. He has demonstrated an unmistakable pattern of ethical violations that cannot be ignored. The evidence against him is mounting both in regard to the activities of his wife and in regard to his relationship with Harlan Crow, both of which should have caused Justice Thomas to recuse himself from cases he has helped to decide. Clarence Thomas is the perfect example of why judges must follow the rules of ethics and why Supreme Court Justices cannot be exempt from those rules.

As Abe Fortas faced the threat of impeachment so must Justice Thomas. The evidence against him must be presented to Congress and to the court of public opinion. Doing this is essential to the integrity of our entire judicial system. Impeachment and removal from the court are the only available remedies to protect us from the judicial misconduct of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. Clarence Thomas has committed more than just minor or questionable violations of the rules of ethics; he has disgraced the highest court in land with behavior that is unethical or criminal or both. The rules he has violated are serious enough to conclude that he is guilty of judicial misconduct at the least. We must not allow him to create even the impression that U.S. Supreme Court decisions can be purchased!

An Unethical Court

It is now being argued that Justices of the United States Supreme Court are not subject to the rules of ethics governing the behavior of judges. I liken that assertion to the argument that the Declaration of Independence is not a part of our body of law. The argument that this document, which sets forth the very principles on which our nation was founded, is not a part of our laws is absurd. Historians say that the first documented instance of someone quoting the Declaration as an authority was when Abraham Lincoln quoted it in his Gettysburg Address. In interpreting our laws, however, courts take into account the principles on which those laws are based, the intent of the law, and whether the law is equitable. There is little doubt that in framing the first ten amendments to our constitution our founding fathers had the principles stated in the Declaration of Independence firmly in mind. Unfortunately other parts of our constitution denied to many people the rights guaranteed by those amendments, and it took a civil war to cure that defect. Following that war several constitutional amendments and court cases extended citizenship to all people who are born in this country and established the primacy of federal law. Establishing the primacy of federal law meant that no state could deprive its citizens our groups of its citizens of the rights protected by our constitution. In doing this we made our written laws conform to the principles stated in our Declaration of Independence.

The assertion that Justices of the United States Supreme Court are not bound by the rules of ethics governing the behavior of all other judges defies all logic. The Supreme Court has enormous power. It can modify, change, and nullify laws. It therefore has the power to shape the fabric of the laws of this nation of laws. The guiding principal behind the rules of judicial ethics is to assure impartial hearings and fair and unbiased decisions. To say that the Justices of the highest court in the land are not bound by rules of ethics and can act unethically is ridiculous on its face. It violates the principle that no one is above the law, and it violates the intent of our entire body of laws. If those Justices are free to act unethically no one can be assured of a fair and impartial hearing, and no one can count on being afforded the protections guaranteed by our constitution!

The principles upon which our laws are based are the essence of our laws. Clearly it was not the intent of our founding fathers to establish a court that would undermine the integrity of our judiciary by acting unethically. The Supreme Court has tacitly acknowledged that its justices are not permitted to act unethically when it accepted the resignation of Justice Fortas who was pressured to resign because of his violation of the rules of ethics. The question, therefore, is not whether the Justices of the Supreme Court must follow the rules of ethics, but rather who has the authority to enforce those rules in regard to Supreme Court Justices. The only written law addressing the power to remove a Supreme Court Justice from the court is the power to impeach. A congressional committee or the Justice Department should therefore investigate Clarence Thomas to find the grounds for impeachment. The burden of proof to establish that he committed a high crime or misdemeanor is far more difficult than the burden of proof to establish that he behaved unethically, but the evidence of his corruption is mounting. There are also questions about whether a violation of judicial ethics constitutes judicial misconduct and whether judicial misconduct is a violation of criminal law. I will leave the answer to those questions to people who have the training and the time to research them, but I will say that Justices of the Supreme Court cannot be exempt from such laws. I am aware that many people will say that the precedent set by impeaching Thomas and removing him from the court could undermine the independence of the court. But the dangers of permitting Justice Thomas to remain on the court are far more dangerous than the precedent set by removing him. His refusal to recuse himself from hearing appeals when it is apparent that he has a conflict of interest is a judicial travesty. He must either resign or be removed. The integrity of our entire judicial system is on the line!

The Ladies of Wall Mart

Justice denied! That is what the five injustices of our Supreme Court have done. They have denied justice not just to the women of Wall Mart but to everyone fighting corporations that are blatantly violating the law. We no longer have a Supreme Court. What we have is a corporate court. I now modify my previous statements and pronounce this the worst Supreme Court ever. In my previous post I pointed to Clarence Thomas’s obvious violations of judicial ethics. I think it is apparent that he is not the only injustice who is guilty of such violations. Where are the feminist militants of the nineteen seventies? While this decision is a horrible precedent for everyone regardless of gender, it is particularly egregious to women. Women should be outraged about what the Republicans and what this outrageously partisan court are doing to them.

It is time to start using some of the civil disobedience tactics. The fact that the ladies of Wall Mart have no union or formal organization is going to make this very difficult but not impossible. What would be beneficial is if a very large number of ladies working for Wall Mart started filing small claims suits. Can you imagine how difficult and expensive it would be for Wall Mart to defend thousands of these suits filed all over the nation or risk losing those suits by default?

The second thing to do is to enlist women’s groups, Moveon.org, Credo and other liberal groups in this cause. All of them should call for a boycott of Wall Mart. Hit the bastards in their pocket books.

The third thing and I think the most important thing for this country is the need to break up the corporate cabal formed by the five injustices. Clarence Thomas is by far the most blatant violator of judicial ethics. Petitions must be circulated for his impeachment. Those petitions should be sent to Congressman Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, President Obama, and all news organizations. As I stated in my previous post, Thomas will not be impeached while the Republicans control the house. This, however, does not mean that the petitions are futile. We must win in the court of public opinion. We must start putting pressure on the politicians and the justices of the Supreme Court. The pressure must be relentless and eventually overwhelming. Republicans in particular must be warned that we will hold them accountable for the actions of the injustices appointed by Republican Presidents.

We Must Judge

If our present Supreme Court is not the worst in our history it is certainly the worst we have had in centuries. No court has been more politicized and no justice has behaved more unethically than Clarence Thomas. One has to be careful about accusing anyone of corruption. Such charges must be proven and the burden of proof is difficult. Ethical violations are another matter. Some behavior is so unethical on its face that it must not be tolerated. The evidence of unethical behavior is mounting in regard to Thomas. He ruled in favor of Citizens United even after receiving one hundred thousand dollars from Citizens United. He was the only dissenting voice in a decision rendered against a person who has given him valuable gifts and has done many favors for him. Justice Thomas has failed to report such gifts or to reveal his wife’s income, which is particularly egregious considering that she works for right wing groups that lobby for laws that are frequently placed before the Supreme Court. In no case has Thomas recused himself from hearing an appeal regardless of the apparent conflicts of interest that might have determined how he ruled.

Such behavior is the very antithesis of fair and impartial justice. It is a clear violation of the ethical rule that a judge must avoid any appearance of partiality or a conflict of interest. Justice Abe Fortas resigned over a scandal involving behavior that was no more unethical than Justice Thomas’s behavior. Unfortunately there is no higher court. Which is to say that there is no one who can enforce the ethics we have every right to expect members of the Supreme Court to follow. Justice Thomas’s action must not stand. Every other branch of government is subjected to a check and balance from another branch. Such must also be the case in regard to a Justice of the Supreme Court who violates the public trust. Impeachment has no teeth in this instance. The burden of proving a high crime or misdemeanor is too great under these circumstances. The politicization of the court makes it unlikely that the Republicans would ever oust a justice serving the very interests that support the Republican Party.

All we now have to redress this grievance is the court of public opinion. But what if that court never hears the case. What if there is no hue and cry that will make the public aware of these violations. Where is the President of the United States? Where is the Democratic Party? Where is the news media? Who will plead this case? It must be us and it must be now! The damage being done to our political and judicial system is far too great for us to remain silent. We must exert relentless and overwhelming pressure. We must make the Republicans set their interests aside and do what is best for this country. We must make the Republicans acknowledge that this is not a matter ideology because ethical standards have no ideology. Justice Thomas must resign or be forced out of office!

Where Is My Party?

I looked to the left. I looked to the right. I looked at the center. The Democratic Party was flitting all about. When Clinton was elected President the Democratic Party was holding its traditional position slightly to the left of center. Then the Democrats suffered a painful mid-term election. Clinton responded to this by moving to the right. He was seeking the center ground. It was called triangulation, but it caused him to slip ever farther to the right. It did no Good. George W. Bush won the Presidential election after Clinton finished his second term. Bush then took the country so far to the right that he ran it off the road and into an economic ditch. With the election of Obama it looked like the Democrats were going to reclaim their traditional ground. The economy was so bad that it looked like the country was in desperate need of another Roosevelt.

Obama started off well. The TARP bill had already been passed, and he managed to add a stimulus bill as well as a bill that provided the loans the auto industry needed in order for it to get back on its feet. Over a million jobs were saved and thousands of jobs were added. Then came the health care bill, which required compromises that made it less effective than it should be. Furthermore, in spite of the jobs saved and added unemployment remained unacceptably high. The Democratic Party then suffered another painful mid-term election. The Republican Party was not content to stay in Bush’s ditch. Instead they made matters worse for this country by digging in ever farther to the right. Every attempt to compromise with the Republicans then nudged to Democrats farther to the right. The Bush tax cuts for the rich were extended and important social programs were cut. Then with control of the House of Representatives the Republicans did the unthinkable. They were actually stupid enough to pass the Ryan Plan that would enrich the rich while destroying Medicare by turning it into a voucher program. Congressman Sessions has even introduced a bill that would destroy Social Security by privatizing it.

If the Democrats think that the stupidity of the Republicans is enough to cause a landslide they had better think again. It is not enough for the Republicans to be out of touch with the voters if the Democrats try to work out compromises that make them appear to be out of touch with voters as well. The Democrats need to draw a sharp contrast between their party and the Republicans. The Democrats need to excite their base and get them campaigning for all they are worth. The failure to do this in the mid-term elections should tell them that. It is about Jobs! This is no time to be timid. We need to get to work on our infrastructure. We need to create jobs! We can pay for this by letting the Bush tax cuts for the rich expire, by eliminating or greatly reducing the subsidies paid to oil companies and farmers, by eliminating the loopholes that allow our most prosperous corporations to avoid paying taxes, and by eliminating the incentives to export our jobs. We can also reduce the cost of gasoline and food by cracking down on the greedy commodities traders. The Democrats really need to get behind labor and vigorously represent all of the people who are getting hosed by the interests the Republicans so ruthlessly represent.

I realize that very few of those things can be accomplished before the next elections, but the effort must be made. Obama and the other Democratic candidates must be able to run on those policies and against the Republican Congress and the filibusters that are preventing us from making this country prosperous again! If this is what the Democrats do there will be an overwhelming victory for the Democratic Party, and we will be able to get on the right track again! The people of this country need and want another Roosevelt. They want a President and a party that will inspire them and fight for them. Compromise is impossible when the Republicans are being so unreasonable. The Democrats have given up far more than they should have. Tax and spend is preferable to choke and starve. We must never indulge in appeasement or capitulation! This is the can do nation, and now is the time for resolute action.

Weiner’s Scandal:

Congressman Weiner’s refusal to deny that the picture in question was of him was a cause for some reservations on my part, but I honestly believed that he did not post or send that picture to anyone. The reason I believed this is because the allegations were made on biggovernment.com, which is the blog of Andrew Breitbart. Andrew Breitbart is a proven liar who has posted videos that were deceptively edited to support totally false allegations. The veracity of anything and every thing posted on his blog must be questioned, and nothing he says can be believed unless some independent, credible source verifies it.

What Congressman Weiner did was most unbecoming, but what really irks me is his untrue denial. Thanks to this attempted cover up we were subjected to one of the most unethical men on earth demanding an apology. What Mr. Weiner did was so damaging because having to apologize and admit that the allegations were true creates the impression that Andrew Breitbart is credible when nothing could be farther from the truth. Even someone as unethical as Breitbart will tell the truth when doing so suits his purpose. Now even serious reporters will search the sewer scum in Breitbat’s blog for even the slightest grains of truth, while the gullible will swallow all the crap Breitbart dumps there.

The pundits are now arguing over whether Congressman Weiner’s political career will survive this scandal. The Republicans, forever the hypocrites, are now calling for his resignation, and the Democrats are trying to distance themselves from him. His scandal is sucking up the media attention right when the Democrats want to draw attention to the insanity of the Republican Party’s efforts to kill Medicare while further enriching the rich. As far as sex scandals go Mr. Weiner’s is fairly tame thus far. I have to say thus far because we do not know what else is out there. My brother characterizes Mr. Weiner’s actions as inter net flirting. I will not go quite that far, but as far as we can tell he has not done anything illegal. Furthermore, he has served his constituents and this country well. My sincerest hope is that he will be able to rehabilitate himself and will keep up the good work we have come to expect of him

Loony Tunes:

Crank up the merry go round song. The destructive Republican clowns in Congress are still doing their thing, and the joke is on us. The Ryan plan makes their objective crystal clear. They want to continue enriching the rich at our expense; they want destroy all entitlement programs by privatizing Medicare and ultimately Social Security. They also want to destroy all labor unions and those pesky regulations that would prevent another economic meltdown or protect the environment. How intellectually and morally bankrupt is the Republican Party? Well, the Republican Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, Eric Canter, wants to deny aid to the victims of the tornado in Joplin Missouri unless more programs are cut to offset the cost of that aid! The Republicans are also holding hostage the raising of the debt ceiling, and the ransom they are demanding are drastic cuts in all entitlement programs. As I stated before, this is where the Democrats must stand firm. They must say: Raise the debt ceiling clean, without any conditions! If the Republicans refuse to do this their masters, Wall Street and the large corporations, will lose billions of dollars in a worldwide economic crash that will be the result of the gross negligence of the Republican Party. The ironic thing is that the Republicans will be doing this in an effort to keep the corporations and the wealthy individuals so heavily invested in those corporations from paying the taxes they should pay in order to reduce the deficit. I am not merely using hyperbole when I say this is insane.

The fact is that the Republican Party has lost touch with the vast majority of the people of this nation. We do not want to go back to nineteen ten. We do not want our safety nets destroyed. We like Social Security and Medicare; we do not want to enrich the insurance companies and Wall Street at our expense by privatizing those programs. We do not want to go back to a time before labor unions gave us a living wage, ended child labor, and gave us safer work places. We do not want to continue exporting our jobs, or to allow the sort of frauds that nearly caused another great depression. The Republican Party has been unmasked. The attacks on labor unions and Medicare have awakened a sleeping giant. It is time for the Democratic Party to take this fight into the streets and for the voters to take it into the voting booths. I am not going to pull any punches here. This is a battle for the heart and soul of this country and the cost of defending our heart and soul could be very high if the Republicans do not raise the debt ceiling. What is also evident is that the cost of caving on this issue is equally high. This is where the Democratic Party must draw the line. The voters know the ransom the Republicans are demanding, and if the Republicans carry out their threat to let America default on its debts it will very likely mean the death of the Republican Party.

The Republicans have been defying the polls for quite some time now, but they will not get away with it this time. The smart Republicans are the moderates who will not throw their hats into the Presidential ring in two thousand twelve. They are the ones who do not want to act like Mitt Romney by denying their positive accomplishments in order to win the primary elections. They are the ones who read and understand the polls. The Republican Party has set out on a very destructive course. Hopefully there are still enough reasonable Republicans to keep the lunatics from dashing America on the rocks by causing it to default on its loans. I do not envy their task. The careers of those Republican legislators in particular are on the line. Saving this country and their party is going to be very costly for them. Unfortunately we cannot rely on such uncommon valor. We must rise up and join the battle. Now more than ever it is time for an informed electorate to make their voices heard! It is time to let the Republican Party know that the fait of this country and their party is on the line! It is time to let them know that they must do right thing or call an end to their political careers and their party!