Call it "hospitality." (Justice Clarence Thomas.)
Call it "hiring a wife." (Senator Bob Menendez.)
Provide hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of exotic travel for Thomas. Provide cash to Menendez.
Buy a home for Thomas' mother. Buy gold bars for Menendez's wife.
Don't talk about or report the travel and home purchase gifts. Hide the gold and cash gifts in a closet.
Offer congenial friendship, conversation, and eye-to-eye decision-making with that benefactor who has cases in front of the Court. Offer friendship, conversation, and eye-to-eye decision-making with that generous benefactor who has matters in front of the Senate.
It looks bad because it is bad.
Republicans are defending and excusing Thomas. They have Thomas' back and he isn't resigning. That disappoints me.
This is a test for Democrats. Democrats shouldn't defend and excuse Menendez. I hope they don't pivot to attack the prosecution and call it "weaponized" for investigating and prosecuting crime by one of their own. Be better. Please be better.
Former Republican U.S. Rep Joe Walsh tweeted:
So a Democratic Senator is indicted on serious charges, and no Democrats attacking the Justice Department, no Democrats attacking the prosecutors, no Democrats calling for an investigation of the prosecution, and no Democrats calling to defund the Justice Department.
Weird, huh?
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3 comments:
If Menendez possessed a shred of integrity, he would have already resigned. Of course, he's presumed innocent until proven otherwise, but I suspect that SDNY would not be taking their second shot without a
large briefcase full of unassailable evidence. This is not Belly Barrs DOJ.
The rule of law is fundamental to the functioning of a republic. Under that principle, what’s wrong for one would be wrong for all. But does that principle apply in the U.S.? Here our political opponents have become enemies and our political process is a fierce, no-holds-barred competition for power. The most grotesque example, of course, is a sitting president trying to overthrow the government and cling to power. His political party has done everything possible to sabotage investigations and protect him from being held accountable. The same is true for Thomas – they have no interest in losing one of their bought and paid for Supreme Court justices.
Our once-great democracy has degenerated into warring factions. In light of this, would it make sense for Democrats to follow rules that no longer seem to apply? If there were any hope that it might result in our political parties viewing each other as the loyal opposition, I would say yes.
I keep thinking of Al Franken, stabbed in the back by a cohort of his peers, resigning gracefully without waiting for an investigation which would undoubtedly have cleared him of any wrongdoing. Yet he put the good of the Country and even the Party ahead of himself.
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