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Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events (www.propublica.org)

submitted 9 months ago by tintory@lemm.ee to c/politics@lemmy.world

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[-] assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world 69 points 9 months ago

Imagine the outcry if instead this was a liberal justice at a Soros donor event. You'd have so many antisemitic dog whistles that it would attract every canine in the tristate area.

I really don't understand how anyone who likes logical consistency can tolerate Republicans. The hypocrisy is mind boggling.

[-] relevants@feddit.de 33 points 9 months ago

anyone who likes logical consistency

That's the neat part, they don't.

[-] DrDeadCrash@programming.dev 9 points 9 months ago

... An "in group" that is protected by laws but not bound by them and an "out group" that is bound by the laws but not protected by them.

This is a (paraphrased) description of the conservative world-view that I saw the other day (sorry I don't remember who to attribute) here on Lemmy. Anyway it sure seems to track with their hypocrisy.

[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.one 8 points 9 months ago

Wilhoit's Law

Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect

Francis M. Wilhoit

[-] DrDeadCrash@programming.dev 4 points 9 months ago

Thank you for your service

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[-] BeautifulMind@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The missing bit of context to make it logically consistent is that they think we all live in a hierarchy (social, class, gender, race etc) in which the rules apply differently to folks lower in it than they do to folks above them.

If you accept that as your premise, everything about their behavior is logically consistent- except for the part about inventing a magical hierarchy that only exists in their agreement that it does, in which they are your superiors and it is their right to tell you what to do but never vice-versa.

If you look at it in this light, when they howl at democrats for breaking rules they don't think apply to republicans, they aren't invoking anything like a set of shared rules applying to everyone, they're invoking the hierarchy and they think they're putting people in their rightful places (never mind that it's colossally arrogant and entitled to assume you're here to rule over your inferiors when there's no agreement that anyone here is anyone's superior)

[-] HawlSera@lemm.ee 5 points 9 months ago

There always has to be a bigger fish

I recommend the youtube series "The Alt-Right Playbook"

It suddenly makes Conservative Ideology make sense, not in that it's a good ideology mind you, but it makes it easy to understand why they are the way they are... What goes through their heads...

They see the world very differently from the rest of us.

I hate having to resort to "Us/Them", but they made the game that way, not us..... Yes I'm aware of the irony of that statement.

[-] Serinus@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

To add to this, the GOP are the smart ones who know how to acquire power. The capability to gain the office is what qualifies them for it.

Do you want the smart people to lead, or do you want the ones who wring their hands about the rules?

My response to this would be the Douglas Adams idea, anyone who wants to lead that badly should in no way be allowed to do so.

[-] Danc4498@lemmy.ml 10 points 9 months ago

As long as I’ve paid attention to politics, republicans have been massive hypocrites and have not give a damn when called out.

[-] HawlSera@lemm.ee 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

That's why "They go low, we go high" has always been a joke and I was shocked when Obama was serious and not just "saying that"... That's the kind of naivety that we don't need in a battle against Right Wing Fascists

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[-] evatronic@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago

It's because in the heavily divided Senate, there is no way he would be removed, and failing to remove him after impeachment would be taken as tacit approval of his corruption.

Democrats are just not touching that with a ten foot pole.

[-] violetraven@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 9 months ago

All someone has to do if there's any backlash is to say "both sides" and people will immediately dismiss it.

[-] cabron_offsets@lemmy.world 53 points 9 months ago

Big fucking surprise. The SC is illegitimate and hopelessly corrupt.

[-] Uniquitous@lemmy.one 11 points 9 months ago

I was just reading an article yesterday that basically said, the more this court reveals itself to be a partisan tool, the more likely it is that its rulings will be disregarded. After all, the court has no enforcement power. All it can do is render its opinion.

[-] DrDeadCrash@programming.dev 7 points 9 months ago

Which will be another nail in the coffin of our Republic.

[-] HawlSera@lemm.ee 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

At this point, that would be a good thing... Poor fellow's been rotting for awhile.

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[-] TubeTalkerX@kbin.social 3 points 9 months ago

Are we ready to pull a President Jackson?

[-] matchphoenix@feddit.uk 11 points 9 months ago

“I am the Senate”

-Justice Sheev Alito

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[-] TheJims@lemmy.world 28 points 9 months ago

He needs to permanently recuse himself from every case ever. This guy is a fucking mockery of the American Justice System.

[-] lobut@lemmy.ca 3 points 9 months ago

He won't because he knows he's hurting the libs. Man this is extremely depressing.

[-] ericisshort@lemmy.world 21 points 9 months ago

Surprise appearance from Ken Burns

[-] swiffswaffplop@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

Ken Burns: Corruption. It’s a 12 part series that’s 150 hrs long.

[-] ShittyBeatlesFCPres@lemmy.world 7 points 9 months ago

David Koch funds a lot of PBS shows so I guess it makes sense he’d have to schmooze but you’d also think Ken Burns, of all the world’s documentarians, would be able to find funding without much effort.

[-] TubeTalkerX@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago

Funding ain't easy!

[-] SinningStromgald@lemmy.world 16 points 9 months ago

At some point the shit mountain has to get so big impeaching him is the only option. Right?

[-] DarkGamer@kbin.social 16 points 9 months ago

Republicans have to give a shit about ethics and the rule of law first, or be voted out. I wouldn't hold my breath.

[-] Veraxus@kbin.social 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

As long as Republicans hold any amount of power, they will abuse it to protect their own no matter how corrupt, unethical, or illegal the actions. They know that if they break lockstep even a little bit, their unpopular authoritarian pyramid scheme will crumble.

"We investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing."

[-] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

The Eleventh Commandment was a phrase used by President of the United States Ronald Reagan during his 1966 campaign for Governor of California. The Commandment reads:

Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.

[-] Uniquitous@lemmy.one 4 points 9 months ago

Republicans used to revere St. Ronnie but these days he'd never make it through a primary.

[-] chaogomu@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago

The Ken Paxton thing is especially telling. He was impeached by Republicans, but the second the impeachment started generating national coverage, they backed off and said it was fine.

[-] esadatari@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

ken paxton is a slimy little cunt that shouldn’t be underestimated. i have no doubt behind closed doors he pulled every dirty trick in the book. this is the kind of person that finds and keeps dirt on anyone that might try to destroy him.

and when you have 2/3 the politicians in your pocket, it’s easy to strong arm enough of the other 1/3 to stfu and keep their heads down.

it wasn’t like republicans saw the limelight was on the case and decided to play nice. quite the opposite. the reps that started this whole fight are establishment republicans trying to get their party in the people’s good graces enough to save their fucking party in 2024.

the dumbass think tanks don’t get that (or rather, think they can work with that) and have been performing actions that add nail after nail into their coffin.

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[-] carl_dungeon@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago

That’s no secret, he’s a member of that whole party. I’d be actually surprised if someone proved he didn’t.

[-] TheJims@lemmy.world 8 points 9 months ago

There will never be legitimacy with him on the bench.

[-] ForestOrca@kbin.social 5 points 9 months ago

The article referenced: https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus
Saved you a click.

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[-] IamRoot@sh.itjust.works 3 points 9 months ago

It is time for the executive and legislative branches to act. They can remove him.

[-] merc@sh.itjust.works 3 points 9 months ago

Team Red controls the house, and the house would have to be the body to start impeachment hearings. Why would Team Red remove a judge who is being bribed by Ream Red backers and decides cases in favor of Team Red?

The US "checks and balances" system was never designed to deal with this kind of problem.

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this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023

503 points (98.6% liked)

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