Hey guys I know it’s wild but there might be some corruption going on in the Supreme Court.
Lucky for us there is a system of checks and....oh wait...
Bribery. Checks and bribery.
A system of checks and money orders. And cash.
And luxury vacations. And forgiven "loans." And property purchased as "gifts." And free flights on private jets. And...
These fuckers. These absolutely amoral fuckers.
Don't forget the gold bars, and RVs
And cigarette cartons
Checks and bigger checks.
The biggest blunder of the framers was assuming we'd never form factions (i.e. parties). The assumption was that the branches would oppose each other, not collude.
I don't think that's their fault. They specifically addressed a two party system in multiple writings (they didn't like it) in addition to explicitly stating that they expected future generations to update the constitution as necessary to protect the republic from those who would seek to undermine or replace it. We didn't heed their warnings and now here we are.
To be clear, I don't think the framers were infallible or able to see all possibile challenges that our nation would face. However, they seem to have been pretty damn good at learning from history and that's something modern Americans are absolutely abysmal at. For all their faults they have a lot to teach us in that respect.
they expected future generations to update the constitution as necessary to protect the republic from those who would seek to undermine or replace it.
The problem with this is that it requires people in power to vote to limit their own power. And while there have been some, certainly, who have been willing to do so, getting a supermajority of people willing to do it is simply not something I see as remotely possible anymore.
there is a system of cheques and account balances?
The supreme court makes a mockery of democracy (intentionally) and should be treated with scorn instead of reverence.
I'd like to take a moment to remind y'all that Clarence "I'm For Sale" Thomas turned down a FREE RV offered by Last Week Tonight. So he's not corrupt. He's selective.
Let's wait and see how he votes on repealing https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia
I'm sure he'll vote his conscience
but he already has a free RV,
I think Oliver also offered him $1 million a year from Oliver’s personal moneys. Which is not an insignificant amount of money for a justice who isn’t corrupt.
In the past, he signaled he'd retire because he wasn't getting paid enough, meaning he needed to be bribed to keep a conservative justice on the SCOTUS.
If you take it at face value, then he should have jumped at John Olivers' offer.
The only thing Thomas likes more than money is respect. He would never take Oliver money because it would publicly embarrass him. He hates embarrassment more than anything.
Embarrassment suggests he has a sense of shame. He has already conducted a number of shameful acts already (taking gifts) without any sense he's embarrassed.
When he was in front of the Senate confirmation hearing he was absolutely embarrassed. He knew everyone was watching while he was accused of sexual harassment. He basically stopped interacting with the media because he was so furious with how he was portrayed publicly. Dude hates being publicly shamed. Doesn't mean he's wise enough to stop doing shitty things.
to retire, yes. i remember that, lol.
This one would be newer. A truth lost on us plebes who have to pay for things.
but he was holding out for a private jet.
How to avoid bribes with this one weird trick.
And one million dollar a year
Why take a bribe from John Oliver, who would immediately turn around and disclose that Thomas accepted it on his television program, when he could just go ask Daddy Harlan Crow for an identical RV and then not disclose it?
The Supreme Court is corrupt to the core. There's an inability to hold them accountable for anything. The system of checks and balances functionally doesn't exist for this "apolitical" branch.
I am shocked...shocked to find corruption going on in the Supreme Court!
I'm shocked that they kept the records of the corruption
This … I’d have thought he would not have put it in writing
Well not that shocked.
"Here's your free vacation, sir!"
“I think it likely that we will view the separation of powers analysis differently,” Roberts wrote to his Supreme Court peers, according to a private memo obtained by the Times.
That's all the Times is gonna give us? One sentence of a memo relating to one of the most questionable Supreme Court decisions of all time? The voters should know everything about how they got to this decision.
Yeah that's not even enough for me to know if it's controversial. I, also, think SCOTUS will have different opinions on separation of powers.
While I agree we need more, this may not sound like much to you or me... but a SCOTUS judge saying it basically states he already has made up his mind about where he stands before even taking the case. They are supposed to be impartial at all times
I'm GLAD that these LAWMAKERS are UNELECTED and Appointed for a LIFETIME!
Term limits won't help with systemic corruption, because replacing corrupt judges with new corrupt judges would be the natural response.
Enshrining impeachment as a regular and viable strategy for actual corruption would be.
Make them elected and dark money will guarantee that the self-same bastards are elected. You think that democracy is a roadblock to these people?
Not surprised that it happened, shocked that the story got out.
Are they going to vigorously investigate these leaks just long enough to find out it was one of the conservatives and then drop the whole thing?
I say..."And?"
Like anything will come of it.
Damn. Maybe time to revisit whether Marbury v. Madison was wrongly decided.
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