Justice Clarence Thomas continues to take gifts and bribes from “Tea Party” groups and other corporate organizations. He even ruled in some cases where there was a clear conflict of interest, especially with the conservative group AEI. For some reason, the Supreme Court has basically no rules or standards of justice, there is no real check or balance against justices once they are confirmed. I wrote a couple of months ago that nine people deciding what is the law of the land is very antithetical to the notion of democracy. People cannot hold these justices accountable, and neither can the law. The whole point of democracy is that the majority of people make the decisions, and it certainly appears that the Supreme Court stands in the way of that happening. Look no further than this week, when the Supreme Court ruled against women workers and for the giant corporation Wal-Mart in a large discrimination lawsuit, reversing the lower court’s decision. It was one of the now famous 5-4 decisions. We are told that people can not get together to challenge a big corporation, there is no strength in numbers, we must go at it alone against giant corporations that have huge teams of lawyers. This Court believes that left alone, corporations will do the right thing (polls show that this sentiment is not shared by the average person). Wal-Mart has consistently bought both parties to work for them, and spent over 3 million dollars in the last election. Their heavy spending and lobbying was a big reason the retailers won the “swipe fee” debate a few weeks ago. To sum up the Court’s decision, Wal-Mart can buy politicians and use its power, but you as a voter cannot.
The Court also dismissed an environmental lawsuit by states that asked for lower greenhouse gases. This wasn’t a 5-4 decision either, this was an 8-0 decision. None of the “liberal” justices believe that the nation should be doing something about a warming and polluted planet. This is despite a recent report showing that if nothing is done to curb pollution, there will be mass extinction in the oceans. All coral reefs could be gone by 2050, and oysters are nearing extinction. As these animals have the same capacity to suffer as humans, the Supreme Court has stated that industries can carry out indirect mass murder. Not to mention that if these animals can’t live in this environment, it seems unlikely that we would be able to either. Nine people are not only subverting our democracy, they may be undermining our own survival.
Supremes are till death do us part, so their decisions reach far into our lives. They are responsible for giving away a lawful election to the loser, allowing an immortal ‘person’ to donate millions annually to the politicians they need to buy, and do anything they can afford to pay the fines for. Currently, these tools are as bad for the nation as the Koch Bros. and Fox News combined. Because they make it LEGAL – not ethical, moral, or in ANY sense what the Constitution and Founders intended – for corporations to perform the most heinous acts of depraved indifference knowing they are untouchable.
These may be the the names at the very top of the list, those who MUST be overthrown to retake control of the nation. As long as they continue to make absurd decisions that are destroying the country, the people and the world,we are totally fucked.
Re: Check and Balances
There actually are ways of checking the Supreme Court, namely using the legislative body to amend or replace the constitution so that it is clear that any future decision of the court is contrary to the constitution. Not a perfect solution by any means but we are not devoid of any check on the court.
Please visit my youtube channel, the video is long but I assure all of you that it will not be a waste of your time.
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Let’s actually read the Supreme Court’s decisions, and not just the media summaries thereof, before we make overarching generalizations about the implications of those decisions…PLEASE!?