Associate Justice Clarence Thomas

Supreme Court Justice Quality Way Down From Decades In The Past!

Ronald Leave a comment

Republican Party Presidents since 1953 have selected the vast majority of Supreme Court Justices!

Dwight D. Eisenhower 5
Richard Nixon 4
Gerald Ford 1
Ronald Reagan 4
George H. W. Bush 2
George W. Bush 2
Donald Trump 3
Total 21 with William Rehnquist listed twice under Nixon and Reagan

in 40 years of Republican Presidents

Democratic Party Presidents have had far fewer appointments!

John F. Kennedy 2
Lyndon B. Johnson 2
Jimmy Carter 0
Bill Clinton 2
Barack Obama 2
Joe Biden 1
Total 9

in 32 years of Democratic Presidents

So twice as many Repubican appointments as Democrats!

Eisenhower had Chief Justice Earl Warren, Associate Justice Potter Stewart, and Associate Justice William Brennan stand out!

Nixon had Chief Justice Warren Burger and Associate Justice Harry Blackmun stand out!

Ford had Associate Justice John Paul Stevens stand out!

Reagan had Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy stand out!

H W Bush had Associate Justice David Souter stand out!

On the Democratic side:

Kennedy had Associate Justice Byron White stand out!

Johnson had Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall stand out!

Clinton had Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Associate Justice Stephen Breyer stand out!

Obama had Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Associate Justice Elena Kagan stand out!

Biden had Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stand out!

So 9 Republican appointments and 7 Democratic appointments have stood out!

Now, sadly, we have a group of appointments by Republican Presidents (the two Bushes and Donald Trump) that have been extremist and involved in conflicts of interest, and are not interested in being in the moderate center of constitutional law!

These include Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and sadly, Chief Justice John Roberts!

Supreme Court Ethical Violations Are Totally Out Of Control!

Ronald Leave a comment

The Supreme Court, already outrageously extremist right wing, due to the three Donald Trump appointees added to the arrogant, nasty Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, the appointees of the two Bush Presidencies, is now even further in violation of ethics!

It turns out that Chief Justice John Roberts has judged in cases that involve financial matters affecting his wife!

This blogger has always tried to give slack to Roberts, but at this point, he is the head of a Court out of control, and refuses to testify before a Senate committee on Judicial ethics, of which the Court, clearly, has ZERO!

Roberts has been on the Court for 18 years, Thomas 32 years and Alito 17 years, and it is time for these unethical Justices to retire!

Of course, they will NOT do so, but that is the argument for expansion of the Court, as this is very different than the controversial so called “Court Packing Plan” of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937, which was defeated!

That Court in 1937 had declared several New Deal laws unconstitutional, but the Court in the present is way beyond any earlier abuses, and longevity of Court members is out of control as compared to history!

There is a need for term limits on the Court, and for now, to balance the Court and make for fair constitutional law, new members need to be added!

Until that occurs, which is of course unlikely, the Court will have further rapidly declining prestige and support of public opinion, which does matter in a democracy!

Supreme Court Corruption Is Massive: Time For Reform!

Ronald Leave a comment

The latest revelation about Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch selling property to a law firm that has argued before the Court adds to the similar actions of Clarence Thomas selling property to a right wing billionaire, and makes clear the reality of ethical violations by members of the Court, who seem to think they are beyond reproach!

Add the nasty, arrogant manner of Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas; the ethical issues around Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh that have never been truly addressed; and the abuse promoted by Kentucky Senator and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in promoting a quick replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Amy Coney Barrett just weeks before the Presidential Election of 2020, while blocking the appointment of Merrick Garland to replace Antonin Scalia nine months before the Presidential Election of 2016.

One could argue that except for Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, that all of the other Republican appointments to the Court are, at the least, ethically challenged, and screams for Supreme Court reform.

The Court is more extreme right wing than it has been since the 1920s, so there is now a strong argument to add members to the Court to right the balance, and to set term limits for future Court Justices.

Justices are on the Court for too long, with Thomas now at almost 32 years, and the all time record being 36, and with Alito at 17 years and Roberts at 18 years, which sounds like what the proper term in the future should be 18 years, with the idea that every President in the future, would have two appointments in a four year term, and there would be constant turnover over four plus Presidential terms.

Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday: Republicans Backtracking On Civil Rights!

Ronald Leave a comment

Today is the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, and yet, the Republican Party is doing everything imaginable to backtrack on Civil Rights!

The Supreme Court, with Republican appointments controlling six of the nine seats, is working very hard to negate the Voting Rights Act, Affirmative Action, and so much more, and among those most promoting backtracking is African American Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, who is a total disgrace on the issue of civil rights, which actually advanced his career!

Republican Governors, led by Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas, and other governors, mostly in the South, are mandating that teachers cannot discuss race and ethnicity, and the truth of American history, because some white children might feel “bad”, as if history should be totally sanitized!

This includes literature as well being censored, an absolute outrage, with the goal of keeping young people ignorant, and complying with the demands of many prejudiced white parents, who do not want their children exposed to truth and facts!

It also includes the goal of making it harder for poor people and those of color to be able to vote, a backtracking on the Voting Rights Act of 1965!

So we have Republicans mouthing quotes of Martin Luther King, Jr, but working assiduously to promote a white supremacy version of history and literature, in a nation becoming less white by the decade!

This is a human tragedy of massive proportions, and must be resisted by decent and educated people who do not want a sanitizing of our history and literature, and instead, a full accounting for past shortcomings, in order to promote a better future in a multiracial society!

The Ten Greatest Political Villains Of 2022! And An Addendum!

Ronald 3 Comments

Yesterday, I published a post on the ten greatest Political Heroes of 2022.

So now, it is time to indicate who I believe are the ten greatest Political Villains of 2022!

In no special order, I would list the following:

Republican House Minority Leader, possibly Speaker of the House (hopefully not), Kevin McCarthy of California, who time again and again showed he had no spine, being a supplicant to Donald Trump, and demonstrating no principle or ethics in his crazed desire to be Speaker, two heartbeats away from the Presidency. The thought of him being that close in the line of succession is horrifying, not that there are very good alternatives!

Election Denier, and symbol with clenched fist, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who promoted sedition and treason! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Election Denier and most obnoxious Senator (with other competitors), Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who this author and blogger thought in 2016 was the most dangerous Republican running for President, even more than Donald Trump! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a man who once had some intelligence, but after Arizona Senator John McCain died, has become a total Donald Trump sycophant!

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a very unstable and unpricipled excuse for a human being, who, somehow, was able to defeat one of the best US Senators of modern times, Russ Feingold, in 2010 and 2016, and then a very talented Lieutenant Governor, African American Mandela Barnes in 2022. Johnson is one of the worst figures in Senate history!

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, an obnoxious and unprincipled man who, sadly, is likely to become House Judiciary Committee Chairman in the 118th Congress in 2023!

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who won his third term as Governor in 2022, despite his horrendous policies and lack of compassion, and is likely to pursue a Presidential candidacy for 2024!

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who won a vast reelection victory in 2022, and is seen as the front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024, despite his intolerant and authoritarian bent, and his high level of arrogance and cockiness, on a multitude of issues. These include the COVID 19 Pandemic; Gay and Transgender Rights; Racial and Religious Minorities; interference in the teaching of History and Literature, and Manipulating School Boards and Libraries; and extreme Gerrymandering of Congressional Districts, which took away two African American seats, and gave the Republicans the control of the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress!

Arizona Republican Gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who used the same tactic as Donald Trump, promoting the “Big Lie” about her defeat in the recent elections in her state. She has just been repudiated in court in her attempt to reverse a clearcut victory by her opponent, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Good riddance to the most obnoxious woman imaginable!

Finally, on this list, former President Donald Trump, the most dangerous and worst US President in American history, twice impeached, and a close ally of totalitarian dictators around the world, willing to overthrow the US Constitution, rule of law, and American democracy. He needs to be prevented from running again for President, and indictment and conviction on the four charges brought against him by the January 6 House Committee is essential, to prevent any future tyrant from taking the kind of actions that this most evil man took! He harmed so many Americans during his term, as well as having the responsibility for the deaths, destruction and violence, in the worst attack on the US Capitol since the War of 1812!

And now an Addendum:

The Supreme Court has become a disgraceful, power hungry, extremist right wing organization!

Chief Justice John Roberts has lost his desired reputation as the leader of his Court, and in particular, Clarence Thomas (appointed by George H. W. Bush) and Samuel Alito (appointed by George W. Bush) have been totally out of control, and both will go down as two of the very worst Supreme Court Justices in American history! The names and reputations of both Bush Presidencies are permanently besmirched as a result!

Joe Biden Must NOT Appoint Mitch McConnell Lackey To Federal District Court Lifetime Appointment!

Ronald Leave a comment

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is the single most significant figure to have brought about the horrendous extreme right wing Supreme Court, which has reversed abortion rights, extended gun rights, and undermined the Environmental Protection Agency in recent Court decisions.

Now, there is evidence that President Biden was ready to appoint a Mitch McConnell lackey, Chad Meredith, to a Federal District Court Judgeship for the Eastern District of Kentucky, but the Court’s decision in Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization caused a delay in that announced appointment.

The Democratic Governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, has publicly complained at the idea of picking Chad Meredith, who is described as a version of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on the abortion issue and so many others, and many other Democrats are protesting the idea of his appointment, supposedly to insure that McConnell does not block other Biden nominations in the last two years of his term in office.

Biden should rescind any such deal, as Mitch McConnell is unreliable, manipulative, deceitful, and making any so called deal with him is like dealing with the devil!

If Biden allows this nomination, he will lose the support of many Democrats and undermine his own Presidency, and this author and blogger will be furious with him, and wonder if it is time to move on and look elsewhere for the Democratic Presidential nomination contest in 2024!

Retirement Of Stephen Breyer And Swearing In Of Ketanji Brown Jackson To Supreme Court

Ronald Leave a comment

Yesterday marked the end of 28 years of devoted service of Associate Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court, and the swearing in of new Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to replace him.

We now have the third African American in Supreme Court history, and the first woman, following Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas.

Jackson will be, as Breyer had become, a member of the minority liberals on the Court, and it will likely be very frustrating to work with the most extreme right wing Court in a century, and with no likelihood of a move toward the political center.

Let us all wish Breyer a long retirement, and Jackson a successful few decades on the Supreme Court!

The Bush Presidencies Will Be Forever Stained By Thomas And Alito Appointments!

Ronald Leave a comment

Every President has policies and appointments that historically make him look positive, but they also have policies and appointments that historically make him look negative.

The two Presidents Bush, father and son, will never be forgiven for their horrendous appointments of Clarence Thomas in 1991 by President George H. W. Bush, and Samuel Alito in 2006 by President George W. Bush!

And the appointment of Alito could have been even worse, as if timing had been different, he would have been Chief Justice instead of John Roberts!

Roberts was scheduled to be an Associate Justice nominee to replace Sandra Day O’Connor, but the day before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings began, Chief Justice William Rehnquist died, and George W. Bush, overnight, decided Roberts would be his replacement, and later selected Alito to replace Sandra Day O’Connor.

The thought of a Chief Justice Samuel Alito is horrifying, although Alito has done tremendous damage to the institution of the Supreme Court in his 16 years he has served!

As it is, Chief Justice John Roberts, like Alito, picked by a President who lost the popular vote in 2000, has not distinguished himself, has proved to be a weak leader, and will go down as a failure. His reputation historically will suffer in the long term!

The Bush Presidencies Gave Us The Two Worst Supreme Court Justices: Thomas And Alito!

Ronald Leave a comment

The legacy of George H. W. Bush, and his son George W. Bush, gave us, as all Presidencies do, positives and negatives in the long run of history.

But it is now clear that each of the Bushes gave the nation the two worse Supreme Court Justices in modern American history, both with an extremely narrowminded and vicious streak!

This is referring to the senior Bush appointment of Clarence Thomas in 1991, and to the junior Bush appointment of Samuel Alito in 2006.

Both Justices are so called “originalists’, who believe the Constitution must be understood in 1787 perspective, and do not accept the idea that 235 years have passed, and the situation of many groups, including the issues of gender, race, and sexuality, along with the concept of privacy, needs to be updated.

So we are on the cusp of a likely Supreme Court decision denying every woman the right to control her own body, whether a pregnancy comes about by rape or incest, as well as the danger to the life of the mother!

It also seems an opening not only to outlaw all abortions, but make it a criminal act of the mother and the doctor and hospital staff, and does not consider the effects on all women, whether pregnant or not.

Only a heartless autocrat with hate and vindictiveness in his or her heart would wish to impose tight government regulation on the private lives of women, or really, even men, who are affected by the imposition of a Judicial dictatorship, taking away a right guaranteed for 50 years, an unheard of reversal!

So the Bushes will go down in history in a very negative fashion for, whether realizing it or not, imposing religious views and personal vendettas of Supreme Court Justices they appointed on more than half of the population!

Supreme Court Nominees Lied, And Susan Collins And Lisa Murkowski Were Tricked!

Ronald 1 Comment

Two Women Republican Senators, considered the most “moderate” Republicans in the US Senate, have made it clear that they are supportive of abortion rights–Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Both interviewed Donald Trump’s three Supreme Court nominees–Neil Gorsuch in 2017, Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020–and all three nominees pledged that they would not touch Roe V Wade.

But now, based on the draft of the likely decision of the Supreme Court in late June, all three are supportive of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, to wipe out fifty years of abortion reaffirmation, and take away a basic right already granted, a totally reprehensible action!

So it comes down to this–all three Trump nominees LIED to Collins and Murkowski, and have undermined faith in the veracity and reputation of the Supreme Court!

By all rights, all three should be impeached and removed, but of course, that will not happen, but the image and historic role of the Supreme Court has been sullied for all time!

And Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski SHOULD support a carve out on the filibuster to allow 51 votes, including theirs, to pass legislation to insure the continuation of abortion rights, and therefore, tell the Supreme Court to go to hell, as a disgrace to the law and the Constitution!