For Whom The Ding Dong Tolls
I long for the good old days when Clarence Thomas was a mere, almost useless extra appendage to the slowly rotting stained with the blood of others body of legal hatred and disgust, often disguised as “original intent” and other such nonsensical interpretive mumbo jumbo, from the terminally damaged from the get-go soul of our now dear and departed, to the above or below, I don’t know, racist, religious zealot formerly known as Antonin G. “I am the devil hear me roar” Scalia.
Please forgive me as I can no longer countenance the idea of placing such a hallowed word as “Justice” anywhere near the name of these two-quasi judicial parasitic Pierrot’s if there ever was a pair of boobs/dongs who sat on the highest court of the land for apparently no better reason other than to make damn sure the little guy never got a break at the expense of the sick and powerful within the walls of the highest court of all judicial levels.
Yes, the far less than dynamic duo were there for purposes of corporate profit and plunder, adding little more than coleslaw and window dressing to the notion that justice would, or even could be administered in what was at the height of their time together the last vestiges in skeletal remains of a functioning Supreme Court.
For those of you who are not active SCOTUS watchers, its recent fall from grace, when it all began to go downhill and as it turned out, at a quickly escalating pace was when the cowardly lion of the Court and head jester John G. Roberts Jr. was appointed in 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States by no less than the eminently barely qualified for office and ersatz but not really keeper of the Reagan flame wannabee, George H. W. Bush.
Roberts, who for some reason detests the very notion of equal access under the 14th Amendment to the ballot box voting rights for anyone who is not a wealthy, probably white land owner, began the ongoing process of bringing back to life the monstrous Jim Crow era voter suppression laws that effectively allowed white minorities to hold and maintain power by disenfranchising anyone they did not “look, act or pray” like “them”.
In the landmark decision of Shelby County v. Holder (2013), the Roberts Court (Note: JGR authored the majority decision himself) found the pre-clearance Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), possibly the most successful anti-discrimination voting legislation of all time, unconstitutional thereby allowing the previously identified as discriminatory in practice states, mostly in the South, to enact legislation without the prior approval of the federal Attorney General’s office.
Astonishingly, the VRA, the very law that Roberts himself acknowledged was enacted in response to runaway voter suppression and to curb “an insidious and pervasive evil which had been perpetuated in certain parts of our country through unremitting and ingenious defiance of the Constitution.” South Carolina v. Katzenbach in striking down section 4(b) reasoned as the VRA, “…proved immensely successful at redressing racial discrimination and integrating the voting process.” was no longer necessary because it was, well, effective.
Today, we are still trying to bring back sanity to our federal elections by means of additional legislation to repair the damage done to the VRA, most notably through the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, both of which have been approved by the House or Representatives, but have yet to pass the Senate.
So, as our President and the democratic members of Congress are busy trying to undo the enormous damage done by our regression into “conservative” values, the Supreme Court apparently oblivious to the outside world, continues to backslide into the feverish, swampy, bigoted, intolerant, paranoid and quite frankly nasty world of right-wing politics, a kind of refuge, or perhaps Masada for the GQP to mount their last stand.
We should have seen it coming, but we didn’t. With the edition of three radical Trump judicial appointments, the previous somewhat balanced tenor of the Court to an almost surreal, if not outright unbalanced, phantasmagorical coven of 17th Century Puritans bent on crashing the First Thanksgiving and then murdering their generous hosts in the name of fealty to God, king and country.
In 1991, Ms. Hill testified that Thomas sexually harassed her when she worked as his advisor on matters related to her work as chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
We were warned by Anita Faye Hill regarding the unseemly and unsavory sexual proclivities, surely a sign of a mind capable of far deeper potential failures of morality, of Thomas.
https://www.history.com/speeches/anita-hill-accuses-clarence-thomas
For our first 125 constitutional years, there were no SCOTUS confirmation hearings. When one white guy left, another one came in virtually unchallenged. It wasn’t until 1916 when Woodrow Wilson nominated Louis Brandeis, a Jew, to the Bench that the need for congressional “hearings” became necessary.
Louis made it onto the Supreme Court and became one of our greatest jurists of all time. Over the following years, there were a few “dust-ups” In the 1960’s, the ultimately successful nomination of LBJ’s friend Abe Fortas comes to mind, as does the failed nomination of Robert Bork. However, when it came to Ms. Hill’s testimony in front of an all-white and all male Judiciary Committee, it was unlike anything else ever seen as a part of the judicial nomination process.
There, in the hallowed halls of Congress, and broadcast on national television for all to see, the nation watched, twitched, and reacted to various allegations related not only to Clarence’s repeated and rejected demands for sexual favors, but testimony about additional sleazy workplace incidents during which Thomas, gleefully promoted “his own sexual prowess” and offered graphic details of his anatomy, a conversation involving a pubic hair on a Coke can, and a porn star named “Long Dong Silver”.
And yes, if you have been wondering, whether Clarence was indeed married to Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, née Lamp (his second marriage) during the tenure, of his appointment, the answer is a resounding, but not unexpected yes. (m. 1987)
Now, Clarence’s lack of moral fiber has led to an even bigger disaster. He is now, via his lovely wife Ginnie, original Tea Party member, Koch stooge and all-around the right wing delusional lunatic she is, has become involved in attempting to overthrow the rightfully elected president of the United States of America.
When as it turns out Dishonest Abe Fortas was caught with his hand in the bribery cookie jar he resigned. It is now time for Clarence to “man-up”, do the right thing and yes, resign. Honestly? He probably won’t, but one more circus show in Congress before he is impeached is a small price to pay for America ridding itself of sycophantic, greedy and narcissist nightmare of possibly unequal proportions to ever sully and smear what is left of this current, the Roberts’ Courts legacy.
As our American healing process continues, my best guess is Clarence (and Ginni) will be next to exit the national stage. If asked to speculate, given the current mood of the nation and its utter lack of respect and outright disgust for the Supremes, and given the similarities between Anita Hill/Clarence and Ford Beer Breath Brett, my best guess is the drunken frat boy who cries at his own confirmation hearing, but not when he sexually forces himself upon an unwilling partner is next.
My second choice for the exit from the Supreme Court stage left scenario is our lovely handmaiden of an independent thinker Amy Coney Barrett. So far, ACB’s impact on the Court has been minimal but give her some time. As her tenure grows shorter and the lunatics in the Federalist Society start to panic, I doubt her forced antics will disappoint the average Beltway thrill seeker.
On top of which, she’s just the kind of useful idiot that ends up not being too terribly useful and is eventually destined for the bread and circuses displays meant to appease the locals in the center of the coliseum known as Washington DC.
Yet today, despite all the ongoing turmoil and unfinished business we have yet to address, I am cautiously optimistic. Why? It’s the faces of change that we are starting to see. I see the old faces, the Fat Don NY Deli Gangster and the Russian former KGB now Mobster pushed out of the spotlight and into the darkest abyss.
With the old guard put out to pasture, we will be free to leave behind the bondage of our past sins. Racism, misogyny, homophobia and religious intolerance will give way to reason, logic and good old common sense.
I believe in its ultimately honorable mission and hence recognize the necessity for a strong, vibrant, deliberative, kind and caring Supreme Court. Now, I know the Court will return to its former glory and go onto heights we can only imagine.
Indeed, I have seen the face of those who will lead us into the next generation of American exceptionalism and greatness. And that face? It is my friends, Ketanji Brown Jackson. That gives me all the hope I need.
I’m ready to go for a magic curtains matching the carpet ride. How about you?
