Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events

It's not a secret the Koch Bros donated and supported PBS projects like those of Ken Burns.

That's far more shocking to me than the headline

Because our government was fully captured by the wealth class half a century ago when their preferred party(R) converted their formerly pro-labor opposition party(D) to their economic cause with the promise of larger bribes, leaving us no vote on economic policy, only social issues that are largely informed and exacerbated by economic policy Neoliberals and Republicans get the same marching orders for.

It's wishful self-delusion to believe this nation hasn't collapsed into openly corrupt plutocracy. Our nation as outlined in the Constitution is captured and over. We'll limp along for a time, playing pretend we're still a democratic republic rather than an oligarch piggy bank, until we collapse. Because Americans are too A) soft, B) addicted to their subsistence opiates (social media, fast food, literal opiates, etc) to risk disruption, and C) thoroughly propagandized to defer to their oppressors through all mjaor media, that they own, and even education that preaches their DIVINE FREE MARKET CAPITALISM doctrine from Kindergarten through colleges of economics to even consider the difficult but necessary step of revolution.

To be clear, not revolting isn't sparing pain, only prolonging it until the crooked system collapses under the weight of its own corruption, at which point the people will still need to rebuild. Just as with climate change and everything else, we kick the can down the road and hope we'll be dead before the bill comes due. How American of us.

Same reason Trump was acquitted.

Blah blah right to assemble blah blah.

Any reasonable person would say “Ok, but there is also at a minimum the requirement to recuse yourself then.”

I don't know if it's the lifetime appointment, or more of a natural reaction to literally being above the law. Lifetime appointments could work fine if you had some means of removing judges who can't even pretend to be impartial.

I always thought that the supreme Court should have been balanced by consensus a the legal community. Maybe a vote from those actively practicing as lawyers?

I don't understand the logic of keeping them free from political influence. It's obvious that lifetime appointments don't do that. The founding fathers weren't perfect and not everything about their vision is perfect or even working. Right now SCotUS justices are picked based on whether they will serve the agenda of the party that's in power when the seat opens up, and half the problem is that a majority in the Senate can hold a seat open until it's someone they like's turn to do the picking. Let's cut the Senate out entirely. 10 year terms, then you're done forever. President picks, then we hold a national election based on popular vote that either says "yes" or "no".

Cut that to 8 year terms. That way we'll have Justices who understand modern values.

If “public” was intentional, this is next-level.

"Now, looka heyuh! Ah paid for that boy fayuh and squayuh!"

I mean he wore a hoodie to work. I'm surprised anyone survived to be able to report on that cataclysmic event. Going to be decades before the country can heal from the devastation that was caused.

It's pronounced Coke