SCOTUS Watch

[Carpet_pissr]

i feel that many people are choosing not to face the wretched state of our affairs.

Amen, and I think I've mentioned it in another thread.

Collectively, we, as a country have been so jingoistic and confident about how great we (as a country) are, seeing the actual bolts coming off the train wheels is at first unbelievable, and then our mind shuts down. "TOO MUCH!" "Can't be!" "Not here!!" "If that is happening, then that means....NOOOOoooooooooo"

Please note I am not dissing patriotism here, rather pointing out that a state of hyper confidence about anything tends to end badly when that extreme confidence (or whatever word you want to use here) proves to be unfounded, to the degreethat was believed.

[Daehawk]

A page of news on his wife and his decision.

Clarence Thomas was the lone dissent in the Supreme Court's January order rejecting Donald Trump's bid to withhold documents from the January 6 panel

Clarence Thomas' wife Ginni reportedly texted Mark Meadows urging him to overturn the 2020 election.
The news prompted scrutiny on Thomas' lone dissent in a ruling rejecting Trump's bid to withhold docs from the Jan. 6 House panel.
The New York Times previously reported that Ginni Thomas had ties to organizers of the Jan. 6 rally, which she has denied.

[Kurth]

i feel that many people are choosing not to face the wretched state of our affairs.

Amen, and I think I've mentioned it in another thread.

Collectively, we, as a country have been so jingoistic and confident about how great we (as a country) are, seeing the actual bolts coming off the train wheels is at first unbelievable, and then our mind shuts down. "TOO MUCH!" "Can't be!" "Not here!!" "If that is happening, then that means....NOOOOoooooooooo"

Please note I am not dissing patriotism here, rather pointing out that a state of hyper confidence about anything tends to end badly when that extreme confidence (or whatever word you want to use here) proves to be unfounded, to the degreethat was believed.

This. 100%. I feel with every passing day, we're closer to a script from House of Cards.

[malchior]

This is aggravating. #NeverTrumpers are beginning to run interference for Justice Thomas. This is but an example and I don't follow him specifically. I was brought to it because other #NeverTrumpers liked or retweeted it. George Conway and Cooke from the National Review amongst them.

A first glance thought is that it is generous to assume he doesn't subscribe to these crazy theories. We don't know this. He could very well subscribe to them. He may have aided them. We can't jump to that conclusion but we sure as hell deserve to know if he does or not. Unfortunately short of pressure and futile threat of impeachment there is no mechanism to compel him to comment. Another day another constitutional crisis.

But what we do know is extremely troubling. He voted on a case his wife was potentially involved in and it potentially helped her cover up her involvement in a seditious conspiracy. We now have to be wary because there are still folks in the Conservative wings who don't want an unsuitable autocrat like Trump but love that the GOP controls the law. It is a complicated time to say the least and this is disappointing. This is at a minimum a fundamental judicial ethics issue and Nunziata should know this. Despite that he is trying to paper over that ethics problem. Unless I'm getting it wrong this is pretty disgusting and disgraceful.



As Dan Rather said...

[Daveman]

And through all of this, Thomas still remains "in the hospital", maybe?

[Octavious]

Timing is a bit suspect at this point. He had to know this was going to come out. Of course he has to know it won't matter anyway, so there is that.

[Carpet_pissr]

I'm starting to wonder if "in the hospital" is code for "fled to Cancun w/Ted"

[LawBeefaroni]

Manchin will support Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination, likely ensuring her confirmation

[LawBeefaroni]

Also, fun bit of trivia in light of all of the Thomas stuff:

Four female witnesses reportedly waited in the wings to support Hill's credibility, but they were not called, due to what the Los Angeles Times described as a private, compromise deal between Republicans and the Senate Judiciary Committee chair, Democrat Joe Biden.

[malchior]

Manchin will support Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination, likely ensuring her confirmation

There is also this.

[Blackhawk]

i feel that many people are choosing not to face the wretched state of our affairs.

Amen, and I think I've mentioned it in another thread.

Collectively, we, as a country have been so jingoistic and confident about how great we (as a country) are, seeing the actual bolts coming off the train wheels is at first unbelievable, and then our mind shuts down. "TOO MUCH!" "Can't be!" "Not here!!" "If that is happening, then that means....NOOOOoooooooooo"

Please note I am not dissing patriotism here, rather pointing out that a state of hyper confidence about anything tends to end badly when that extreme confidence (or whatever word you want to use here) proves to be unfounded, to the degreethat was believed.

Guilty... ish?

I grew up with the usual 'America - hell yeah!' attitude that filled the 70s and 80s. Kid me was sure that, as everyone else who had grown up with the Spirit of '76 followed by the education and films of the 80s did that America wasn't just the best, but that the rest of the world genuinely wanted to be us. Now, childhood innocence (when coupled with exposure only to that single message) was a valid excuse.

As a teenager and young adult, I simply didn't have any interest in politics or civics. I'm a literal, straightforward thinker, and they simply made no sense to me (they still don't.) Politics is like making a board game, writing a detailed set of rules that play well, then everyone sitting down and rewriting their own personal copy of the rulebook and trying to play together, following whichever rulebook is most convenient for each move. It's... absurd. For me, trying to follow politics is essentially a perpetual state of cognitive dissonance, where I can see how something is supposed to work, but it simply doesn't.

As an older adult - the kind with kids who suddenly found that he had a stake in the world, I started following politics anyway. The risks and costs of being uninformed were too high. And as I did so, the beliefs I had about my homeland were quickly seen to be so distorted and broken that it left me pretty jaded and disillusioned about humanity and the US. And it wasn't a passive background thing. Much of it was aggressive and malicious. It was people sinking the ship they were floating in, then standing and cheering as others looked panicked, acting only out of seemingly sadistic pleasure. Do I have the urge, from all of that, to shove my head back in the sand? Of course I do. It was comfy in there. But I don't. My eyes are open, and I don't enjoy being unaware.

In the past ten years, all of my positive illusions shattered, I've sat and watched what was left fall apart. I can see what's supposed to happen to prevent it, but it doesn't, and it just breaks worse. The people who try to preserve it are playing with the published rules, while the cheaters are switching rulebooks (or making up new rules) on every turn.

So what really makes me deeply want to shut down and not face what's happening isn't that what's happening is terrible. It's that what's happening is out of control. Our car has driven off of a cliff. It doesn't matter how much I twist the wheel or step on the brakes, we're going to hit the bottom. That sense of futility and helplessness is what makes me want, almost overwhelmingly to turn on the radio, pretend everything is normal, and wait for the car to hit the bottom.

I haven't given up yet. I still want to see the danger coming. But I also don't blame others who don't.

As I said when I was diagnosed with high-mortality, stage-4 cancer, if you fall off of a cliff, you have two choices: You can spend the rest of your life terrified, or you can spend the rest of your life with your arms out, imagining you're flying.

[Zaxxon]

Really well said.

[Blackhawk]

As Dan Rather said...

I don't keep up on my bullshit. Is he implying that Biden/Evil Libs had Thomas silenced?

[Isgrimnur]

No

But here’s the thing that eats at me, or at least whatever is left of the instincts that guided me into a life of reporting. You don’t report hunches. You have to be careful about not seeing ghosts where there are none. The most outrageous explanations are usually the quickest to be debunked. But...but...but….

How many times in this sordid saga of the Trump presidency did the story go in directions that would make a Hollywood scriptwriter blush with shame if they had written something so preposterous? Truth has regularly galloped past the limits of fiction. The half-life of outrage can be measured in nanoseconds.

There are so many questions that remain not only unanswered, but, indeed, unasked. There are likely many questions that we don’t even know enough to think of asking.

We have to be careful not to let our suppositions drift into fantasy. But at the same time, we need to expand the bounds of our imagination.

The people who fomented the lies around the election hate America, or at least the America defined by our Constitution and the arc of our history. That includes the wife of a Supreme Court justice. It includes an ex-president and his army of enablers. It is desperately important that we uncover where else this web of shame extends, and who else it ensnares.

The Constitution of the United States, to which Justice Thomas swore an oath, demands it. And so do the health, safety, and security of the country, the rule of law, and the very continuation of our democracy.

[El Guapo]

As Dan Rather said...

I don't keep up on my bullshit. Is he implying that Biden/Evil Libs had Thomas silenced?

No. He's asking what Clarence Thomas knew about the 1/6 insurgency efforts and the broader Trump efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

[Skinypupy]

Looks like the professional shit thrower is going to refrain from throwing his shit on this confirmation. That's certainly a relief.

Manchin will support Jackson's confirmation.

EDIT: I really need to look up in the thread.

[Octavious]

Manchin will support Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination, likely ensuring her confirmation

There is also this.

I honestly didn't think they would get a single vote from the right. So anything would be a win in my book.

[El Guapo]

Manchin will support Jackson’s Supreme Court nomination, likely ensuring her confirmation

There is also this.

I honestly didn't think they would get a single vote from the right. So anything would be a win in my book.

She was always going to get at least one R vote so long as Manchin + Sinema stayed on board. Which so far they have, though I won't breathe easy until I see something clear from Sinema.

[Smoove_B]

Justice Thomas has been discharged:

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was discharged from the hospital Friday, a week after he was admitted with an infection, a court spokeswoman said.

Thomas, 73, was treated with antibiotics at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C., after "experiencing flu-like symptoms," according to the court.

Hopefully it'll be easier for him now to see all the news about his wife.

[Remus West]

Is there even a mechanism to remove a Justice from the Court if it were to come out that Thomas knew? Or really for any reason? I'm not advocating anything. I just do not know.

[Unagi]

Ha. Flu like symptoms and antibiotics….

Just your average everyday week stay at the hospital.

[Unagi]

Is there even a mechanism to remove a Justice from the Court if it were to come out that Thomas knew? Or really for any reason? I'm not advocating anything. I just do not know.

They can be impeached, iiuc

[Defiant]

Is there even a mechanism to remove a Justice from the Court if it were to come out that Thomas knew? Or really for any reason? I'm not advocating anything. I just do not know.

A supreme court justice can be removed from office via the impeachment process.

[El Guapo]

Is there even a mechanism to remove a Justice from the Court if it were to come out that Thomas knew? Or really for any reason? I'm not advocating anything. I just do not know.

A supreme court justice can be removed from office via the impeachment process.

It's kind of a fun thought experiment to think of what Thomas would have to do in order to get enough Republicans to vote to remove him to get to 2/3rds of the Senate, while Biden is president. Would it be enough if he tried to murder Donald Trump in public while urinating on an American flag?

[Remus West]

Is the process the same as impeaching the President?

[El Guapo]

Is the process the same as impeaching the President?

Yes.

[Unagi]

Is there even a mechanism to remove a Justice from the Court if it were to come out that Thomas knew? Or really for any reason? I'm not advocating anything. I just do not know.

A supreme court justice can be removed from office via the impeachment process.

Bam

[Blackhawk]

No. He's asking what Clarence Thomas knew about the 1/6 insurgency efforts and the broader Trump efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Ah. I hadn't caught up on last night's news. Now I have, and it makes more sense.

It also shows how far I've come to expect doubt-sowing to go.

[Zaxxon]

Is there even a mechanism to remove a Justice from the Court if it were to come out that Thomas knew? Or really for any reason? I'm not advocating anything. I just do not know.

A supreme court justice can be removed from office via the impeachment process.

It's kind of a fun thought experiment to think of what Thomas would have to do in order to get enough Republicans to vote to remove him to get to 2/3rds of the Senate, while Biden is president. Would it be enough if he tried to murder Donald Trump in public while urinating on an American flag?

I believe he'd also need to publicly support enshrining abortion rights and strict campaign contribution limits and reporting.

[hitbyambulance]

i feel that many people are choosing not to face the wretched state of our affairs.

Amen, and I think I've mentioned it in another thread.

Collectively, we, as a country have been so jingoistic and confident about how great we (as a country) are, seeing the actual bolts coming off the train wheels is at first unbelievable, and then our mind shuts down. "TOO MUCH!" "Can't be!" "Not here!!" "If that is happening, then that means....NOOOOoooooooooo"

Please note I am not dissing patriotism here, rather pointing out that a state of hyper confidence about anything tends to end badly when that extreme confidence (or whatever word you want to use here) proves to be unfounded, to the degreethat was believed.

Guilty... ish?

I grew up with the usual 'America - hell yeah!' attitude that filled the 70s and 80s. Kid me was sure that, as everyone else who had grown up with the Spirit of '76 followed by the education and films of the 80s did that America wasn't just the best, but that the rest of the world genuinely wanted to be us. Now, childhood innocence (when coupled with exposure only to that single message) was a valid excuse.

As a teenager and young adult, I simply didn't have any interest in politics or civics. I'm a literal, straightforward thinker, and they simply made no sense to me (they still don't.) Politics is like making a board game, writing a detailed set of rules that play well, then everyone sitting down and rewriting their own personal copy of the rulebook and trying to play together, following whichever rulebook is most convenient for each move. It's... absurd. For me, trying to follow politics is essentially a perpetual state of cognitive dissonance, where I can see how something is supposed to work, but it simply doesn't.

As an older adult - the kind with kids who suddenly found that he had a stake in the world, I started following politics anyway. The risks and costs of being uninformed were too high. And as I did so, the beliefs I had about my homeland were quickly seen to be so distorted and broken that it left me pretty jaded and disillusioned about humanity and the US. And it wasn't a passive background thing. Much of it was aggressive and malicious. It was people sinking the ship they were floating in, then standing and cheering as others looked panicked, acting only out of seemingly sadistic pleasure. Do I have the urge, from all of that, to shove my head back in the sand? Of course I do. It was comfy in there. But I don't. My eyes are open, and I don't enjoy being unaware.

In the past ten years, all of my positive illusions shattered, I've sat and watched what was left fall apart. I can see what's supposed to happen to prevent it, but it doesn't, and it just breaks worse. The people who try to preserve it are playing with the published rules, while the cheaters are switching rulebooks (or making up new rules) on every turn.

So what really makes me deeply want to shut down and not face what's happening isn't that what's happening is terrible. It's that what's happening is out of control. Our car has driven off of a cliff. It doesn't matter how much I twist the wheel or step on the brakes, we're going to hit the bottom. That sense of futility and helplessness is what makes me want, almost overwhelmingly to turn on the radio, pretend everything is normal, and wait for the car to hit the bottom.

I haven't given up yet. I still want to see the danger coming. But I also don't blame others who don't.

As I said when I was diagnosed with high-mortality, stage-4 cancer, if you fall off of a cliff, you have two choices: You can spend the rest of your life terrified, or you can spend the rest of your life with your arms out, imagining you're flying.

Someone asked me, "Aren't you worried about the state of the world?" I allowed myself to breathe and then I said, "What is most important is not to allow your anxiety about what happens in the world to fill your heart. If your heart is filled with anxiety, you will get sick, and you will not be able to help." There are wars - big and small - in many places, and that can cause us to lose our peace. Anxiety is the illness of our age. We worry about ourselves, our family, our friends, our work, and the state of the world. If we allow worry to fill our hearts, sooner or later we will get sick.

Yes, there is tremendous suffering all over the world, but knowing this need not paralyze us. If we practice mindful breathing, mindful walking, mindful sitting, and working in mindfulness, we try our best to help, and we can have peace in our heart. Worrying does not accomplish anything. Even if you worry twenty times more, it will not change the situation of the world. In fact, your anxiety will only make things worse. Even though things are not as we would like, we can still be content, knowing we are trying our best and will continue to do so. If we don't know how to breathe, smile, and live every moment of our life deeply, we will never be able to help anyone. I am happy in the present moment. I do not ask for anything else. I do not expect any additional happiness or conditions that will bring about more happiness. The most important practice is aimlessness, not running after things, not grasping.

We who have been fortunate enough to encounter the practice of mindfulness have a responsibility to bring peace and joy into our own lives, even though not everything in our body, mind, or environment is exactly as we would like. Without happiness we cannot be a refuge for others. Ask yourself, What am I waiting for to make me happy? Why am I not happy right now?

My only desire is to help you see this. How can we bring the practice of mindfulness to the widest spectrum of society? How can we give birth to the greatest number of people who are happy and who know how to teach the art of mindful living to others? The number of people who create violence is very great, while the number of people who know how to breathe and create happiness is very small. Every day gives us a wonderful opportunity to be happy ourselves and to become a place of refuge for others.

[Blackhawk]

Buddhism was a big part of my figuring out who I was after my divorce. I'm not Buddhist at all, but the teachings and approaches to life had a big impact on me.

[Smoove_B]

NEW: Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) just said Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has “impeccable credentials, a deep knowledge of the law... and is an extraordinary person with an extraordinary American story” but says he is “sadly unable to vote for [her] confirmation.”

[Carpet_pissr]

The most important practice is aimlessness, not running after things, not grasping.

Agree with all the rest, but not that. IMO, the reaching and growing as a result IS The Thing(TM). It's the journey and practice of trying to be better that fulfills us and gives life meaning. It's arguably even more important than the thing(s) you are reaching for. The very act is what grows us, and maybe even feeds our souls in the process.

[Blackhawk]

The most important practice is aimlessness, not running after things, not grasping.

Agree with all the rest, but not that. IMO, the reaching and growing as a result IS The Thing(TM). It's the journey and practice of trying to be better that fulfills us and gives life meaning. It's arguably even more important than the thing(s) you are reaching for. The very act is what grows us, and maybe even feeds our souls in the process.

I read it a little differently. There's a difference between bettering yourself and 'grasping.' I take what he's saying as don't chase things outside of yourself looking for your own contentment and happiness, and don't grasp for what isn't within your reach or doesn't matter.

It's like saying, "I'll just be happy when I have [money, health, love, stuff]" (chasing what isn't important), or "I'll just be happy when things are like they were when I was young", and "I'll just be content when someone else solves this problem I have no control over."(grasping for what isn't within your reach.)

The whole statement spoke to bettering yourself and using that to benefit others.

[Daehawk]

Im shocked at Manchin. Somebody holding something over him??

Shameful of Sasse to basically she is fully qualified and he thought she was good for the job but will vote no. Typical GOP ass. Im sure he voted yes for the one who yelled, cried, spoke about the beer he loved.

[Jaymann]

Surprising Poll Results On Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson (even on Fox News)

[Defiant]

Surprising Poll Results On Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson (even on Fox News)

FYI: Fox News polling is a respectable polling outfit (538 grades it an A). I think it's independent of the rest of Fox News, and it's certainly nothing like Fox News commentators, who are as biased as you can get.

[Skinypupy]

It doesn’t happen often any more, but I’ll admit that I’m still sometimes shocked at MAGA world’s complete and total rejection of verifiable reality in the name of stigginit.

[Holman]

Anyone willing to bet that the Ginni Thomas story won't be completely memory-holed before Judge Jackson is confirmed?

[malchior]

Anyone willing to bet that the Ginni Thomas story won't be completely memory-holed before Judge Jackson is confirmed?

It's already almost in there. Media attention spans don't last multiple days. The media also has Biden's gaffe to talk about. Why worry about the deep rot in our constitutional system when there are clicks to be earned chasing easier to tell stories. FWIW WaPo is still running several stories on it but the NY Times? Nada. They've already decided it isn't serious enough.

Edit: To be fair (or damning) to them, some people have observed that the NY Times was apparently intentionally left out of the pool of outlets that got the leak on the texts. WaPo and CBS have the lead on the story and it's either sour grapes or perhaps they have no line of sight on it.