Mock, Paper, Scissors

“There are two kinds of marriage: full marriage and the skim-milk marriage.”

–SCOTUS Justice Ginsberg, saying that DOMA had imposed on the US a two-tier system of marriage.

“Is it the government’s submission that citizens in the South are more racist than citizens not in the South?”

–SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts on the Voting Rights Act.

No, not everyone in the South is racist, that’s silly. However to need to ask if there is a problem with racism in The Confederacy is absurd.

“I think it is attributable, very likely attributable, to a phenomenon that is called perpetuation of racial entitlement. It’s been written about. Whenever a society adopts racial entitlements, it is very difficult to get out of them through the normal political processes.”

Here’s the lede for the story at Think Progress:

WASHINGTON, DC — There were audible gasps in the Supreme Court’s lawyers’ lounge, where audio of the oral argument is pumped in for members of the Supreme Court bar, when Justice Antonin Scalia offered his assessment of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. He called it a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.”

Think Progress also has the full transcript so you can read it in context. It’s not less shocking.

From The Atlantic:

“Like American Crossroads and the Republican National Committee, the Koch brothers are trying to figure out why they couldn’t beat President Obama — and several Democratic Senate candidates in red states. The Kochs have delayed their twice-a-year meetings with big conservative donors until they’ve finished their audit, Politico’s Kenneth P. Vogel reports. The results of the audit will be presented at an April seminar, Vogel writes, adding, “Early indications suggest that they’ll continue playing in politics but will tweak their approach to reflect 2012 lessons.”

OK, snark aside, this is alarming. It is like the rise of the machines to me. It is easy to say that the 2012 Goat Rodeo was a clusterf*** led by The Stench all the way down the ticket, but it is not exactly true: the GOP still holds a majority in Congress (if only because of gerrymandering) which they will continue to hold as long as they can keep the districts twisted and turned into their favor.

The larger issue here is the terrible Citizens United SCOTUS ruling. As long as that remains in place, we will have corporate rule, and corporations being both immortal and above the law, they will see no problem in funding their candidates, even if they loose. It is the cost of doing business.

Sen. Bernie Sanders has proposed a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Supreme Court decision in a case called Citizens United vs. FEC:

• Corporations are not persons with constitutional rights equal to real people.
• Corporations are subject to regulation by the people.
• Corporations may not make campaign contributions or any election expenditures.
• Congress and states have the power to regulate campaign finances.

I suggest everyone go to Bernie Sanders site, sign the petition and hope that the Dim-o-Crats develop a spine (hahahaha, I kid, we’re f***ed. But at least go down with a fight.)

As strangely orange-hued Speaker of the House John Boehner tells us every time he exhales, Washington DC has a spending problem, which of course helps to explain why he and soon-to-be ex-Congressman Dan Lundgren secretly doubled the amount of money to spend to defend DOMA. Take it away, Nancy Pelosi:

It’s bad enough that Speaker Boehner and House Republicans are wasting taxpayer dollars to defend the indefensible Defense of Marriage Act – and losing in every case. Now, they have reached a new low – signing a secret contract to spend more public money on their legal boondoggle without informing Democrats. Their actions are simply unconscionable; their decisions are utterly irresponsible.

Hiding this contract from voters in the midst of an election season was a cynical move at best, and a betrayal of the public trust at worst. With Americans focused on the creation of jobs and the growth of our economy, Republicans should not be spending $2 million to defend discrimination in our country.

And in a related story, who knew that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had a kid in the priesthood who is involved in some sort of pray-away-the-gay theology? I’m not suggesting that Fat Tony should recuse himself from participating in the upcoming court cases… well, actually, yes, I am saying that.

It’s not just that Fat Tony is on the record, proudly on the record, for comparing gays to murder, beastiality, polygamy, etc., but his kid’s job makes it necessary for people to be self-loathing. I don’t think that the conflicts of interest can be any more clear.

Remember when Howard Dean had his 50 State Strategy? Remember when the G.W. Bush administration was stacking courts with their brand of justices? What happens when you combine the two concepts for nefarious reasons matched with massive amounts of anonymous loot?

In Michigan, where three of seven seats on the State Supreme Court were up for election, records were set for both spending and lack of accountability…Of the $15 million or so spent for TV ads in Michigan, 75 percent cannot be attributed to identifiable donors, notes Rich Robinson…

You can thank Judicial Crisis Network for leading this multi-state charge. So, you know, you got that going for you. No one has connected the dots yet why so much money was dumped into a Michigan Supreme Court race. So spin the wheel and guess which high profile case will be coming down the pipeline where someone wants their brand of judge on the bench! Don’t fret, this game will be coming to a state near you soon so you can play at home.

“The death penalty? Give me a break. It’s easy. Abortion? Absolutely easy. Nobody ever thought the Constitution prevented restrictions on abortion. Homosexual sodomy? Come on. For 200 years, it was criminal in every state.”

–Fat Tony at the American Enterprise Institute.

We should note that in some form all of these issues are likely to come before the SCOTUS this session.

(Politio reprint of an AP article)

I like the way that conservatives love the Constitution, except when they don’t.

Anyway, here’s a great look at Newticles expounding on the power he would award himself if he were the preznint.

I believe that is called the Divine Right of Kings, Newticles. You might want to look that up sometime, history-boy.

But what is really funny is that he declares that the Roberts-led court is not an activest court, and in the debate he said that he liked all the conservative members, but above all others, he liked Fat Tony, who is probably the most corrupt of the lot and who would burn the Bill of Rights if given the chance.

(Chicago Tribune via Scissorhead Some Techie)

The fourth amendment being flushed?

WASHINGTON — The police do not need a warrant to enter a home if they smell burning marijuana, knock loudly, announce themselves and hear what they think is the sound of evidence being destroyed, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday in an 8-to-1 decision.

Ginsberg was the lone dissenter.

(NYTimes)

…is gonna drunk dial Common Cause and ask them to apologize to Clarence.

Anyway, it probably comes as no shock to any of us that Clarence Thomas and others on the Supreme Court are human, but there does seem to be a bit of, um, evidence here that Silent Clarence is a crook on the take from the Koch brothers and that his vote can easily be bought through the usual honorarium.

(NYTimes)

…and it is gibberish:

“The question of earmarks came up, whether or not the constitutionality of earmarks would be considered constitutional.”

It seems that the Teabagger Caucus don’t know that their branch of government controls spending. So one of ‘em asked Fat Tony if earmarks are legal:

“It’s up to Congress how you want to appropriate, basically,” Scalia told the members, according to Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX). “He pointed out historically, like when Jefferson was president, [Congress] said here’s a big pot of money, you decide where it goes, and Jefferson ended up paying up a big hunk of it to the Barbary Pirates.”

And so then the question became, well what if you passed a bill with no earmarks or instructions on how the money was to be spent:

“He did say you could make an argument…. What if Congress passed a bill without any earmarks, without any instructions at all? ‘Here’s $50 billion, spend it on what you think wise Mr. President,’” Nadler said. “I think that would raise the question of improper delegation. He said, to my surprise, I wasn’t aware of this, he said that that was the way it was done in the first few years of the republic.”

Hahahaha! Silly Teabaggers!

(TPM)

As is well known, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is not a big talker, preferring to use the mediums of Mime and Interpretive Dance to communicate with litigants, but has been known to opine on cup-size and sanitation habits of Coke cans.

Anyway, it seems he does have opinions, and for a price, he might tell them to you. Just ask the Koch brothers, the billionaire conservatards who are funding stripping the constitution via the Teabaggers.

Here’s an opinion of Justice Thomas’ that I dare anyone to dance interpretively:

Other justices, particularly those on the right, appear to be following Scalia’s lead and presenting their politics publicly. This includes Justice Clarence Thomas, who is known for his utter silence during oral arguments. Outside the court, though, he has denounced our society’s “focus on our rights” and the “proliferation of rights” protecting citizens.

(WaPo)

Higher Ed

So what fresh hell has Bachmann-the-Nut been up to since yesterday when she noted that Porking has gotten out of hand?

Well, it seems that she realized she skipped Civics class (as did most of her follow inmates at the Asylum) and none of them know anything about government, so she has asked her fellow RWNJ, Antonin Scalia, to teach them about the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence. Which of course seems only fair since Fat Tony doesn’t have an opinion on Separation of Powers, etc, as long as it serves his own agenda:

We’re going to do what the NFL does and what the baseball teams do: we’re going to practice every week, if you will, our craft, which is studying and learning the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

I don’t know if that counts as a craft. Crafts usually involve stick-on goggly eyes. Oh, wait.

Lou Dobbs?

(TPM)

In case you have not heard about it, MSNBC suspended Keith Olbermann without pay indefinitely. He made some private contributions to political campaigns, which is in their handbook as being an ethics violation for journalists.

Fair enough.

But can someone please explain to me how it is that Fox News can donate $2M to the GOP and not have it be an ethics violation? It seems to me that if the Corporation can make any unlimited donation but the human employee cannot, then we have a really upside-down situation.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?

UPDATE: Libhomo has a great post at his place.

Elena Kagan was just confirmed.

NYTimes

Well, we have example 1 of the impact of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.

Target Stores, HQ’d in someplace called “Minnesota” (I hear that this place lets known lunatics represent them in Congress), has donated $150,000 to a very right-wing, socially conservative GOP candidate for governor, Tom Emmer. Emmer, amongst his many retrograde positions, is opposed to marriage equality — or any other equality — for Minnesota’s gay citizens.

Needless to say, Target’s gay employees are not happy about this.

TPM has a basic round-up of the salient facts.

But the better article, much more in-depth analysis and commentary is at the satiric blog The Awl. One of their contributing authors, Abe Sauer, is from the area, called up The Human Rights Campaign and talked to them about their 100% rating for Target. The results are a PR and spinning nightmare. It comes down to this: The Human Rights Campaign is giving Target political cover over the Emmer contributions because Target gives HRC some money, too. It’s the old reach-around in action.

…all of them billionaires?

Compensating for damage the Republican National Committee’s unsteadiness may cause Republican candidates this fall, several high-profile GOP operatives — including Karl Rove and two former RNC chairmen — recently founded American Crossroads as a “grassroots,” “shadow RNC.” Salon’s Justin Elliott now reports that the group raised 97 percent of its funding from just four billionaires:

Meh. If Catsup is a vegetable, if Tucker Carlson is a journalist, if Mooselini is a kingmaker, then I suppose anything could be true. Thanks Supreme Court!

TPM tells us…

Derek Thomas was admitted to West Jefferson Hospital in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, Thursday, after a possible suicide attempt, reports ABC affiliate WGNO.

When the Supreme Court justice’s nephew refused to put on a hospital gown and said he wanted to leave the hospital, doctors ordered security to restrain him.

Security guards “punched him in his lip, pulled out more than a fistful of his dreadlocks and tasered him to restrain him,” a statement from Thomas’ family said.

Shortly afterwards, family members say, Thomas suffered a “massive epileptic seizure.”

Justice Thomas and family are on the way to New Orleans, probably to give the election to Jeb Bush. We know he will not ask any questions of the hospital staff, nor give an opinion.

The Salt Lake Tribune tracked down the beloved shimmering underpanties wearing singing Senator Orrin Hatch and asked him if he would vote to confirm Thurgood Marshall.

Day 2 of the Pontificating Poltroons

Magically Delicious leprechaun and Senator Jeff Sessions set the tone yesterday in the nice maybe-lesbian lady’s confirmation hearing to become a supreme, by welcoming her, telling her she was not qualified, and then saying that her hero (and former Justice Thurgood Marshall) was “outside the mainstream.”

Which means that when Marshall litigated those 29 out of 32 cases before the Supreme Court that he won, well, he shouldn’t have. And of course being so outside of the mainstream meant that Marshall’s appointment to the Courts was an accident, too. Jeff Sessions knows from outside of the mainstream.

Not to worry, Jeffy: when you get done with Marshall, you can attack the record of other dead people who have improved and influenced the lives of Americans.

Oh, boy, can you feel the excitement? We wonder if Jeff Sessions bought any new sheets for the lynching of the nice maybe-lesbian lady.

Three of the frontrunners, via Chris Lehmann at Yahoo, are Elena Kagan, the U.S. solicitor general, Judge Diane Wood of the 7th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Associated Press names the same three. Above The Law considers Kagan the clear frontrunner.

It is good to know that Yahoo was consulted.

At any rate, two of the three contenders have lady parts, so the GOP will not like that one bit. The third one has one of those names that is like a dog whistle to the gays, and the GOP will not like that one bit, either.

The GOP will suggest the following to show that President Carebear is bipartisan:

• Ronald Reagan
• Judge Bork
• Judge Roy More

TPM – Justice Stevens

Justice Stevens will retire at the end of the summer, which means that Citizen of Kenya, Language-of-the-Koran-speaking, Closet-Muslim, socialist, magic-negro overlord, re-education camp counselor, and Nobel laureate, President Carebear will get to make another appointment to the SCOTUS.

So, good luck with that shouty, fillibustery thing, GOP — or not. Either way, it ought to play well being obstructionsist (to the few sane people in your districts) or caving in (to the teabaggers) right before midterms.

Now’s your chance, Hattie! Toss yer resumé into the pile, Miers! You know you wanna! Maybe this time, without Chimpy dragging you down, you can be confirmed!

Image courtesy of Scissorhead WagonJak

There are two interesting developments on the further corporatization of American politics as fallout from the Citizens United Ruling:

• We all hate it. Even the GOPers hate it.
• Lobbyists are already telling corporations how to donate without leaving fingerprints behind, because corporations don’t want their customers to hate them more than they already do. Interestingly, the lobbyists say “we can do this for you… for a fee of course.”

We already have the most corrupt politicians and the most venal corporations in the world funding them, so in what way does this ruling change anything? Well, now U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations will now be able to spend unlimited amounts, too.

If you thought that Chimpy McStagger was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Arabia, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

It’s not a policy institution, and it certainly is not a “think” tank — it’s an Action Tank!:

Some of the wealthiest Republican CEOs on Wall Street have formed a group to take advantage of new fundraising possibilities for the GOP, now that the Supreme Court has opened the door to unlimited corporate donations:

• Kenneth Langone, a former director of the New York Stock Exchange who defended a $139.5 million bonus in 2004 and has been sued for “extortion, defamation, fraudulent misrepresentation.”
• Robert K. Steele, a former CEO of Goldman Sachs, helped Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson make his former bank one of the biggest beneficiaries of the $700 billion bailout.
• Norm Coleman, who supported President Bush’s 2005 bankruptcy bill.
• Ed Gillespie, a political strategist and former Counselor to the President in the George W. Bush White House, whose lobbying firm represents Enron, Citibank, Bank of America, Zurich Financial, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi and a former chairman of the Republican Party.
• Fred Malek, an investor and official in the Nixon and first Bush administrations.

And of course, no graft and corruption franchise would be complete without a member of the Bush Crime Family, so wait for it…

Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida.

And you can now bet me that Jeb is running for President.

(Via Raw Story)

Watch as noted Drinky-Bird, Justice Samuel Alito shakes his head and mouths, No, as President Carebear calls out the Supreme on selling candidates to the highest bidders.

Talking Points Memo

In a 5 – 4 ruling, the Supreme Court just struck down campaign finance reforms in such a way that corporations can now give unlimited campaign contributions bribes, er, buy the candidate of their choice. Hello free market place of ideas!

UPDATE 1: It is to laugh, bitterly:

With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans.

This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington — while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates.

That’s why I am instructing my Administration to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue. We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision. The public interest requires nothing less.

— The Carebear

I’m sure that The Carebear will get right on it. He’s been so good with his other empty promises.

Well, the unthinkable has happened: we have a new Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, who was confirmed by a vote of 68 – 31. She is the third woman to make it to the Supreme Court and the first Latina. This is truly a watershed moment.

It is unclear if the the National Rifle Association is asking for their money back from the GOP.

Senate GOP have lined up in staunch opposition to the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee, the Wise Latina Cleaning Lady, Sonia Sotomayor, rejecting concerns about alienating the growing Hispanic vote.

Besides, they have birthers to appease, gun nuts, conspiracy theorists of all hues and stripes, racists, etc. They cannot toady up to every minority now, can they?

Update 1: Uncle Juan’s Cabin — by Marc Rubio