Just when I thought the Supreme Court of the United States was relatively immune from all the political chaos surrounding us the past five years or so, up pops Ginni Thomas.
Ginni Thomas is the wife of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas, who also happens to be a prominent conservative political activist in the Washington DC power structure.
That fact alone should be alarming, given what her husband does for a living. Can you imagine the pillow talk?
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| Ginni Thomas |
At least 29 messages between Ginni Thomas and Meadows were revealed by The Washington Post. The 29 messages were handed over by Meadows himself to the House select committee, investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He actually forked over 2,320 messages before deciding enough was enough, citing nonexistent presidential executive privilege as his reason to stop, subpoenas be damned.
I'm guessing that Ginni and Clarence both had wished Meadows had stopped with 2,291 messages.
Some of the messages included such refrains as "Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!! ... The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist in our History."
Her use of the upper case and verb agreement (Creighton University must be proud) is perplexing enough, especially for a lawyer, but to wallow in QAnon conspiracy is simply astounding.
Although what Ginni Thomas wrote in her messages is not illegal, the texts are still chilling. The wife of a Supreme Court justice is calling for the overthrow of an American election (she attended the Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse, but left before the assault on the Capitol because the weather was "too cold."), which is essentially calling for the overthrow of American democracy.
Freedom fighters in Ukraine are currently showing more of a conception of democracy then many House and Senate Republicans, some of whom still can't bring themselves to acknowledge that Biden is the legitimately elected President of the United States in the most secure elections ever held in this country.
What makes Ginni Thomas's messages so alarming has already been illustrated by her husband, who was the lone dissenting vote (without comment) in a Supreme Court decision to allow the Jan. 6 committee access to the National Archives for White House records. Apparently, Clarence Thomas felt strongly enough that the Jan. 6 panel should not have those documents. So did his wife. Did I do right, dear?
It's not a good look for the Court, which is supposed to operate in a world of equal justice and transparency and not conflict of interests. If that supposition holds true, then Clarence Thomas should recuse himself from any relevant Jan. 6 cases, if not resign outright. This affair goes directly to the integrity of the Court. He can thank his wife for that.
But neither recusal nor resignation will happen. The court is steeped in politics, no matter how indignant it becomes when it's accused of being political. But such may have always been the case, dating back to slavery and Dred Scott in 1857, if not Madison v. Marbury in 1803. It seems we have no choice but to accept the illusion that the Court is free of politics. Even now, the justices are claiming they can police themselves without following the ethics rules that are mandatory for the lower courts. Yeah, right. But this is where we are. This is why there will be no recusal or resignation.
Madisonian democracy, which mandates a revolution every four years with free and fair elections, is coming under assault by a Republican Party that has no platform – and hasn't had one ever since the Trump administration. How does that serve a government of, by and for the people? Consequently, American democracy is trying to keep its balance on constantly shifting ground littered with land mines.
Mid-term elections are approaching and the chaos constantly swirls around us unabated. Think hard and carefully before you vote. The ball, ironically, is in our court.
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