A little noticed story appeared on page 20 of the 11/25 New York Times. Popular NPR, All Things Considered, co-host Michelle Norris will be leaving her post on the show until after the 2012 presidential elections because he husband Broderick Johnson will be joining Obama’s re-election campaign as a member of the senior staff.
It seems that Ms Norris felt it would be a ethically untenable for her to continue in her post. with her husband involved in something she might be required to comment on in the media.
Take a look Clarence Thomas! This is how people who understand ethics behave.
There have always been ethical lapses and lapses in objectivity by the Supreme Court but in the last few years they have become something of a tsunami. The presence of Roberts and Scalia, boosted by the sycophantic behavior of Clarence Thomas has made the court a rubber stamp for any kind of right wing lawsuit.
Because of the way supreme court justices are picked and passed on, this situation would be understandable, almost tolerable if it weren’t, in this case, the result of a massive miscarriage of justice and if the sitting justice involved had not, by his aberrant behavior and dismissal of any obligation to an ethical code of conduct, already disgraced the court on which he is sitting.
Thomas, who most objective observers believe lied his way onto the court during his confirmation hearings by denying Anita Hill’s charges of sexual harassment has continued to disgrace the court by his aberrant and unethical behavior.
This unethical behavior is evidenced in only one of many cases by his “friendship” with one Harlan Crow, a Dallas real estate baron and big time conservative benefactor. Besides many personal gifts which would recues an ethical judge from sitting on any case involving him, Crow has also donated $175,000 to finance a library that will be dedicated to Thomas. If that wasn’t enough he has provided at least $2.8 million for a crab and oyster cannery operating under Thomas’ supervision and laid out another $500,000 to start Liberty Central, which lobbies against healthcare, an issue, which will eventually come before the Supreme Court. No ethical judge could consider accepting any of this largess and continue to sit on the bench.
Then there’s the matter of Thomas wife, Ginni. For those of you who have somehow avoided the knowledge, Thomas, my computer cringes when I attempt to put the word Justice before his name; has maintained his position on the Supreme Court despite the fact that his wife made and continues to make huge sums of money as a lobbyist for companies that have cases before the court. Ginni is not only a fanatic Tea Party activist; she is also a highly paid lobbyist earning $700,000 for her work on behalf of the Tea Party.
When 74 Democratic Senators asked Thomas to recues himself from any ruling on the new health care law which, partly because of his wife’s efforts will eventually appear before the court, he refused. Old Clarence doesn’t seem to see any conflict of interest just because his wife earns a living on one side of the argument. Maybe there isn’t one. Maybe they actually hate each other. I mean how could she love a lowlife scumbag who goes around groping the help?
None of this is surprising when one considers Thomas previous actions and the blundering opposition that allowed him to sit his feral butt on the highest court in the land. What is surprising is that the other members of the court deign to sit with him. He should be shunned. The court is supposed to stand for the highest level of ethical decision-making available in the land. Its decisions govern and exemplify the way Americans lead their lives. To allow a rotting apple like Thomas a one-ninth voice in that process is a national disgrace.
So what is to be done about this boil on the ass of the American judicial system? If he were on a lower court his behavior would be grounds for the dismissal of any case he sat on. Unfortunately there is no higher court and one of the strengths and obvious weaknesses of our system is that Supreme Curt justices are appointed for life and therefore are supposed to be above outside influence.
Of course that concept presupposes that the appointed judge has displayed, unlike Thomas, some sense of morality and ethics. Thomas’ only attribute, at the time of his appointment was a singular ability to get his nose uncomfortably close to the hindquarters of various conservative leaders. His appointment can only be considered as a failure by all non-conservatives to adequately do their due diligence.
Can anything be done about this horrendous situation? Well, not much. I can only recall one sitting justice, Abe Fortas, who was forced off the court and although I seem to remember that it had something to do with the same kind of ethical dilemma, I frankly, haven’t done enough research to understand how it actually played out. What I have been able to find out is that the solution to the Fortas case may have been as unethical as Mr. Fortas himself.
Maybe there is someone out there who has a solution to this situation and if you have it, we need it. The current situation on the court is intolerable.
Getting back to Michelle Norris; I want to say that she should be praised for her decision, but in an ethical world it would not be cause for praise just a casual nod of the head that we give to any action that is expected. Unfortunately we are not living in a ethical world, not when dregs like Clarence Thomas sit on the Supreme Court, so high praise to Michelle Norris for running against the tide and giving us a shinning example of what we should be getting from all the people in government and the media.