Lin BuryloSep 13, 2023
Robert Reich

Clarence Thomas ruled in favor of Citizens United.

Harlan Crow and his family's political contributions then went up 862%.

Then we later find out Thomas let Crow take him on lavish trips, buy his mom's house, and help fund his wife's conservative nonprofit.

See how this works?

Sep 13, 2023 at 5:48pmWeb
Show threadProScience 🇪🇺Sep 13, 2023

@rbreich

Corruption in action.

#failedSCOTUS

Show threadadacostaSep 13, 2023
@rbreich A compromised Justice. I watched the PBS Frontline documentary about him. He has no business being on the Supreme Court.
Show threadLittle Mike Sep 13, 2023
@rbreich He never should have been confirmed. If Anita Hill wasn't a red flag, then nothing is. This corruption/one hand washes the other with Crow is not surprising in the least. In fact, it's standard operating procedure for conservatives.
Show threadMichael BaconSep 13, 2023

@rbreich

The Federalist Society should always be described as a coordinated, decades-long effort to corrupt the US court system that succeeded wildly.

Show threadJonathan HendrySep 15, 2023

@MichaelTBacon @rbreich

And to turn the US into a far-right Catholic theocracy.

Show threadMad Dog Ace RunSep 13, 2023
@rbreich
The Supreme Court is a joke.
Show thread0xd34db33fSep 13, 2023
@rbreich you're sooooo Judgy 👍
Show threadthe_blackwell_ninja [EST]Sep 13, 2023
@rbreich Corrupt as hell.
Show threadNicole ParsonsSep 13, 2023

@rbreich

Republican billionaire donors demonstrate how spending a tiny percentage of your wealth to buy a political party is the best Return on Investment there is for public corruption.

https://publicintegrity.org/inequality-poverty-opportunity/taxes/trumps-tax-cuts/did-billionaires-pay-off-republicans-for-passing-the-trump-tax-bill/

The results of public corruption go to fund an ever worsening cycle of climate inaction, election subversion, & foreign interference.

The Saudis, Chinese, & Russians know the GOP is for sale.
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/359606-graham-financial-contributions-will-stop-if-gop-doesnt-pass-tax-reform/

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/us/politics/tax-cuts-republicans-donors.html

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/7/16618038/house-republicans-tax-bill-donors-chris-collins

Did billionaires pay off Republicans for passing the Trump tax bill?

In late June 2017, Texas political mega-donor Doug Deason had a stern message for Republicans seeking campaign donations: The “Dallas piggy bank” was closed until they repealed Obamacare and passed major tax cuts. Deason said he had urged about two dozen of his wealthy Texas friends to do the same. The billionaire Koch brothers Charles […]

Center for Public Integrity
Show threadFrank Going AntiFa - 🇺🇦Sep 13, 2023
@rbreich
Yeah, I see how it works. Do you remember when this was called bribery?
Show threadGiles EdwardsSep 13, 2023

@rbreich Sounds like leftist interests should up their bribing game.

Or, I suppose, there could be some institutional reform...

Show threadGrimblobSep 13, 2023
@rbreich "No clear evidence of any wrongdoing" said SCOTUS lead investigator Clarence Thomas.
Show threadComics Outta ContextSep 13, 2023
@rbreich What I don’t see is anyone doing anything about it. When does that part start? You point out the truth, and I appreciate it. Any expectation of justice coming, or are we just supposed to like and share the depressing truths? Serious question.
Show threadMonikaSep 16, 2023

@ComicContext @rbreich

It is a serious question, and the answer , in a healthy society, would be that more people with influence should get involved. But of course so many people with any influence use it to promote their own personal interest, and this fact is depressing beyond measure.

Show threadRDNSep 13, 2023
@rbreich - Every Supreme Court decision in which corrupt justices formed the majority should be invalidated.
Show threadBruceSep 13, 2023

@rbreich

The best part? It cannot be called "bribery" unless it is a clear quid-pro-quo for an official act. None of this hazy stuff. It has to be crystal clear and beyond a reasonable doubt.

Show threadTopKnotSep 13, 2023
@rbreich
Maybe some day I'll be in a position to be bribed by a fucking $Billionaire. Until that time, I would hope our #US Government will make the act of bribing a SC Justice punishable by 30 years in prison. But I know our government.
Show threadPeter PrincipleSep 13, 2023
@rbreich Well, Clarence sure does.
Show threadTucker TeagueSep 13, 2023
@rbreich It's hard enough, sometimes feels impossible, to have faith in our institutions, but how do we even go forward from here? This is the kind of situation (and there are so many these days) that creates a society on the road to eventual revolution.
Show threadEveryday FreethoughtSep 13, 2023

@rbreich

It is amazing how much money rich people will spend to complain their taxes are too high.

Especially when they run a company founded by their fathers.

Show threadJoelSep 13, 2023
@rbreich I mean they don't have to both be collaborating, but they definitely both benefited. When he ruled on Citizens U, his wife's PAC no longer had to worry about reporting the funding they received from Crow.
Show threadJT252Sep 13, 2023
@rbreich There ought to be a law.
Show threadKarl AuerbachSep 14, 2023
@rbreich Which is why every SCOTUS decision in which C. Thomas was the deciding vote should be (somehow) held to carry no weight as precedent - a status that would then be inherited by subsequent cases that depended upon that initial case.
Show threadSometimesIGetBoredSep 14, 2023
@rbreich so what are the Democrats going to do about it? Are they going to impotently shake their fists in the air or are they going to take action?
Show threadPat MadiganSep 16, 2023
@SometimesIGetBored @rbreich I would bet every dollar I have on Democrat fist shaking. And perhaps a statement from Adam Shiff expressing his concern, in his usual pathetic tone of voice.
Show threadJohn TinkerSep 14, 2023
@rbreich I was addressing a meeting of the Kansas ACLU, and tried to stress that "corporations are not people, money is not speech". After my talk, the host gifted me a copy of Floyd Abrams' book, The Spirit of the 1st Amendment, something like that, I forget the title. What is with the ACLU not understanding this issue?
Show threadElizabethSep 14, 2023
@rbreich the truth is a hard medicine for many to swallow 
Show threadJ.H.NoyesSep 14, 2023

@rbreich

And what, over the course of the past 5 decades, has the Democratic Party done to put a stop to this sort of behavior?

@OlDude82

Show threadRacerXSep 14, 2023
@rbreich Clarence Thomas is a whore (apologies to honest sex workers)
Show threadAviva GarySep 14, 2023
@rbreich yep 🤑
Show threadGretchen AndersonSep 14, 2023
@rbreich but remember that SCOTUS has no idea what constitutes corruption