Right. Oy indeed - always. What's he done THIS time? Oh yeah - I see ... the Harlan Crow thing, right? Some commentary on that.. VEY! https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/18/clarence-thomas-scandal-corruption-00092335
Thanks, Rich. I had to look up John Marshall. And right you are. How is all of this not accepting a bunch of bribes? It IS accepting a bunch of bribes - I don't think there's any reasonable doubt about that, regardless of how the author tries to flower-arrange it. From the article: "We can focus on the salacious details of Crow’s largesse and Thomas’ long history of gifts from other rich people. (My personal favorite is the $1,200 in tires he got from a businessman in Omaha.) We can talk about getting Thomas investigated or impeached. We can talk about judicial ethics and how they don’t get enforced on the Supreme Court. Or we can use the reveations as a teachable moment." Yes - we should talk about ALL that -- then DO something. Except, perhaps, the bit about a teachable moment - unless it's to teach Justice Clarence Thomas what can happen to Justices who breach ethics multiple times.
Thomas (or any Justice) cannot be forced to resign. He can only be impeached. And we know that will never happen with a Republican House and a less-than-super majority in the Senate. So, what to do? I don't know if he will feel pressure to step down, even if it is applied by his peers. But he CAN be prosecuted for his crimes. Technically, he could serve on the bench while behind bars, but at that point the Republicans might just decide to dump him. Will it come to that? I doubt it. Republicans figured out a long time ago that the rules don't apply if you choose not to go along with them (and can convince others in high places to either comply or abide). So, Enrique Tarrio will spend more than a decade incarcerated while Trump and Thomas remain free. What a country!
Do what? The time to do something about Clarence Thomas was in 1988 when George HW Bush ran for president. It's too late now. When we decided to make the worst presidential candidate of all time our president, it led to three appointments to the Supreme Court. THAT'S when we made the mistake, not now.
