RANGER AGAINST WAR: Buh-Bye, Clarence <

Monday, June 20, 2011

Buh-Bye, Clarence


I don't stop until I know she's sas-i-fied
And I can always tell when she gets sas-i-fied

'Cause when she gets sas-i-fied she start calling my name

She'd say: 'Clarence Carter, Clarence Carter, Clarence Carter

--Strokin'
, Clarence Carter
____________________

There is not much to add about the need for the eminently mediocre and venal Mr. Thomas to resign from the Supreme Court appointment which he has so silently and inadequately filled (see RangerAgainstWar's "Bench Warmer" and "He's No Fool".)

Submitted for your consideration:



CREDO Action | more than a network. a movement.


It's time for Clarence Thomas to resign.

Enough is enough.
Take Action!

Clicking here will add your name to this petition to the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court:

"It's time for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to resign."

Take action now!

Dear Lisa,

A New York Times expose published Sunday details the improper ties between Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and influential rightwing funder and activist Harlan Crow.1

Crow is a major contributor to conservative causes and a stalwart supporter of Clarence Thomas. In past years he reportedly gave Thomas' wife, Ginni Thomas, $500,000 to exploit the Citizens United decision and start a shadowy, Tea Party-related group called Liberty Central. He gave Thomas a bible (estimated value $15,000) that once belonged to Frederick Douglass, and allegedly provided the Supreme Court Justice with access to his yacht and private jet.

As if that wasn't enough, the New York Times has revealed that Thomas may have improperly solicited a multi-million dollar donation from Crow to benefit one of his own pet projects near his birth place in a remote coastal community outside Savanna, Georgia.

Enough is enough. It's time for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to resign. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

Shockingly, the Supreme Court is not legally bound by the code of conduct for federal judges, though Justices Breyer and Anthony M. Kennedy have testified to Congress that members of the Supreme Court voluntarily follow the code which explicitly prohibits justices from directly soliciting charitable donations. If Thomas can't legally be removed from office because adherence to ethics rules for the Supreme Court are voluntary, then we must simply demand his resignation.

Crow is far from a disinterested philanthropist. He has donated nearly $5 million to Republican campaigns and rightwing groups, including a six digit donation to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth which so effectively attacked Sen. John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election. He's on the board of the ultra conservative American Enterprise Institute which brought a case to the Supreme Court challenging federal voting rights laws, a case that found only one sympathetic vote on the court — that of Clarence Thomas.

Recusal is not enough. It's time for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to resign. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

Crow is not the sole source of questionable ethical behavior on the part of Clarence Thomas. His highly questionable relationship to an ethically challenged Supreme Court justice is simply the latest to be exposed.

Clarence Thomas participated in a secret political fundraising event put on by the Koch brothers to fund Tea Party infrastructure groups.2

And for years, Thomas disregarded rules requiring him to report his wife's income on financial disclosure forms. His household received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the conservative Heritage Foundation during a period when he was voting on landmark cases in which the rightwing think tank had a clear ideological stake.3

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas must resign. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

This type of behavior wouldn't be tolerated for any other federal court judge. Common Cause Attorney Arn Pearson says in the Times, "The code of conduct is quite clear that judges are not supposed to be soliciting money for their pet projects or charities, period. If any other federal judge was doing it, he could face disciplinary action."

Even absent a legally binding code of conduct for Supreme Court Justices, a Justice resigning for ethics violations is not without precedent. Justice Abe Fortas resigned in disgrace in 1969 after it was revealed that he had received gifts from interested benefactors similar to those received by Clarence Thomas.4

Fortas, prior to resigning, actually recused himself from voting in cases related to his benefactor. Thomas, however, has refused to recuse himself from cases before the court in which organizations related to Harlan Crow continue to file briefs.

Enough is enough. It's time for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to resign. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

Clarence Thomas' behavior has long been beyond the pale. In response to these latest revelations by the New York Times it's long since time to demand Clarence Thomas' resignation.

Becky Bond, Political Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets

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9 Comments:

Blogger Brooklyn Red Leg said...

I'd be happy if every single sumbitch sitting on the circus we call The Supreme Court were forced to resign and/or were impeached. Its 9 douchebags in faux-robes of nobility whose job is nothing more than to give cover to the government. The government, in turn, gives cover to the megacorporations to steal our property and force us into a sort of feudal servitude. SCOTUS also gives cover to the Banksters to impoverish us. Piss on them. As for Clarence, I won't defend him. One less boil on the ass of society.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 2:47:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Brooklyn Red Leg said...

BTW, the latest bit of 'hide the inflation' is in toilet paper (I shit you not, no pun intended): the TUBES holding the toilet paper are about 20% bigger. The roll hasn't changed size, but the frikkin tube is bigger so that you end up with fewer sheets to wipe you butt with. Can someone PLEASE get me OFF this merry-go-round?

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 2:52:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

BRL,
I'd respectfully request that you tone it down a bit.
We can attack without using terms like douchebag etc...
We can maintain our civility even in protest.
It's your call, but my request.
jim

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 11:53:00 AM GMT-5  
Blogger Ghost Dansing said...

i don't like republicans very much... even the SCOTUS ones. clarence isn't a very good judge either.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 2:46:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

BRL,

Spoken like a proud anarchist ... but we have had some fine legal minds on the S.C.; it's just that Clarence isn't one of them.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 4:10:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous CholoAzul said...

I don't think that I would like the situation if all the judicial power were invested anywhere but an unsupervise-able Court.

The unpleasant tradeoff is that people being what they are, it is only a matter of time until someone abuses any system.

Anything that could be used to leverage Thomas into doing the right thing, could, and would, be used to coerce other justices into doing the wrong thing.

Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 7:56:00 PM GMT-5  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

but but but but but LISA!!

WEINERS!!!

bb

Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 8:57:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger Lisa said...

cholo,

Thomas was a middling choice to begin with, so this amoral/immoral turn is not unexpected from one of his stature.

It is hard to recoup trust in a person/institution once lost. As Justice Stevens so aptly suggested after the Supremes shut-down the voting recount in 2000, it will take many generations to reinvest full trust in the S.C.

If Thomas remains, this will be yet another blow to the one branch of government which has generally maintained its integrity and functionality during our national crisis of the last decade. I'm not sure I understand your last graph.

bb,

They're all over, no?!? I must write something about this soon.

Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 10:15:00 PM GMT-5  
Blogger rangeragainstwar said...

Cholo,
I understand your point BUT......
If we followed your logic to the logical conclusion then we wouldn't need ethics rules for Congress.
Ethics for the Supremes is not about influencing their decisions , but rather about influencing their off court behavior so that their integrity remains constant. Or close enuf for guvment work.
Thomas has crossed the line.
jim

Friday, June 24, 2011 at 10:18:00 AM GMT-5  

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