There are vast sums of money infiltrating the federal judiciary on behalf of conservative causes - it’s been that way for forty years.
Once you buy a few homes and a megayacht, the obvious next thing is to go judge shopping.
I am surprised there isn’t a pop-up shop in Nantucket or St. Barths during the season to match buyers with sellers.
There would probably be a hefty broker’s fee involved. Just ask Leonard Leo, the co-chairman of the Federalist Society.
The once decidedly middle-class aesthetics of his lifestyle got a major makeover in 2016 when Trump took office.
The man who at one time assisted Clarence Thomas in his confirmation hearings saw his personal wealth skyrocket during the Trump years.
As did many in the GOP and conservative movement at large, creating a windfall for anyone with access and influence in Washington D.C., especially those willing to increase the radical and activist agenda of the far right.
For what good is owning a judge if you don’t have a few senators and a congressman in your back pocket as well.
Leonard Leo is in the now infamous painting depicting Harlan Crow with Clarence Thomas smoking cigars (I’ll bet they were Cubans) under a statue of a Native American at Crow’s private Adirondack retreat, Camp Topridge.
The picture was meant to signify a specific moment in the decades-long financial entanglements of the two men.
Crow has had a lot of business before the SCOTUS as co-founder of the American Enterprise Institute (on whose board he has served for 25 years) but one can only surmise what this particular moment signified.
Citizens United would be my guess - as, in a way, it was a pivotal moment in the democracy-for-sale approach of the mega-rich, conservative American.
Whatever ‘win’ that painting represents, and sadly there have been many, it took place in a private resort in a remote part of upstate New York, and was decided on and set into motion by no more than a half dozen conservative men. (Though I suspect Ginni Thomas was privy to a play-by-play of the day’s events when the Thomases retired to their private suite).
Decisions are being made that effect all Americans and they’re being made by men (and a few women) who curry favor with billionaires and ideologues, who sit back and smugly gloat in their access and effectiveness.
It has become a crisis for democracy behind closed doors.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed his abortion ban and Florida’s new permitless carry gun law into effect behind closed doors. The NRA, however, was invited and in attendance for the signing of the new law which goes into effect in July and will surely make an epidemic of gun violence much worse.
I am not sure who attended DeSantis’s signing of Florida’s new six week abortion ban (which was, again, done behind closed doors and late at night) but I wouldn’t be shocked if the devil himself handed Ron the pen.
In both cases, laws were enacted to appease a small minority of special interests in a pay-for-power model that has become de rigueur for the modern GOP.
Trump worked in the back rooms of NYC for decades and succeeded in his empire-building with a combination of back room deals, bribes - and when that didn’t work - sheer brutality and outright blackmail.
We saw the same process when Trump occupied the Oval Office; he seemed genuinely flummoxed to learn this was not how much of D.C. business was done.
Trump went to Washington assuming everyone was as corrupt as he was: by the time he left, those in his party that weren’t, were either gone or completely on board.
That change continues to this day - and is being cemented into the very foundation of how Republicans now do business.
DeSantis seems like some sort of test balloon for autocracy - or a malignant tumor that needs to be removed before it moves further into the body by metastasis.
A flashing neon sign warning us to protect our democracy before it’s too late.
DeSantis recently spoke at Hillsdale College in southern Michigan and is attempting to remake several - once quite progressive - colleges in Florida in the staunchly conservative college’s image.
Hillsdale College is like a finishing school for the modern conservative moment. The future of the brand lies in the indoctrination of their youth, and intertwining ‘faith’ with conservatism.
Which, if they have their way, will just be a fancy way of saying fascism.
A mix of thinly-veiled, white nationalism ‘western ideology’ - and a strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution - designed to further their hold on American politics.
A caustic mix made to circumvent the dwindling numbers Republicans represent nationally in the popular vote and an attempt to codify and calcify minority rule - and seize this tumultuous moment in our country’s history, injecting their dogma into the next few generations.
This plan is well-funded and has close ties to Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society - and even Ginni Thomas herself, who sits on the advisory board of the D.C. chapter of Hillsdale.
The constant framing of all this cynical race-based politics as somehow Christian is particularly galling.
Donald Trump is the most unholy man you will ever meet.
The fact that his mottled visage has become the godhead for a party filled with cruelty, racism, homophobia, misogyny and reactionary violence to anything even mildly progressive, tells you everything you need to know about the burgeoning neofascist movement in this country.
After an elementary school and a bank were the latest sites of American carnage, the Republican party chose to get pissed off at Bud Light over an inclusive beer can, rather than condemn the weapons of war used, yet again, to kill men, women and children as they went about their daily lives.
Tennessee’s Republican-controlled house of representatives even expelled two bright young stars of the Democratic Party for doing nothing more than voicing and amplifying the frustrations of our traumatized youth.
The Tennessee GOP’s overt racism backfired and they made international stars of Justin Pearson & Justin Jones, who along with Gloria Jones became known as the ‘Tennessee Three’ - bringing more attention to the problems of gun violence and systemic racism in our political system than anyone could have dreamed of at the beginning of this most recent national nightmare.
‘We Shall Overcome’ was sung more than once over the last week (once by Joan Baez herself with Rep. Justin Jones) and it will continue to ring true as long as young men and women answer the call of duty to stand up to injustice and insanity.
No amount of back room dealing can ultimately stop the progress of righteous people seeking peace. You just have to be cleared-eyed about what you are up against.
And keep fighting.
Brace for impact!
Can't wait til Drumpf, the italian Floridaman and every other dumbfucked GOP & MAGA "Indiwidshuel" will dance brainless on "Teach your children" instead YMCA....
Really hard to envy you brave folks these days...
There's hoping enough young ones "see whats happening here" and get up their asses and VOTE!!!
Best wishes from Europe....
Very well written . Informative and alarming. People need to absorb this and then VOTE