SCOTUS

[Northwestcoug]

Look you guys, I know that you are unhappy with the makeup of the court. I know you are upset at the tactics of McConnell with Garland. I'm sure RBG not stepping down during Obama's presidency bugs you. And I understand Thomas has been despised more than any other justice by the left in living memory. But this bombastic, hyperbolic, and inequitable treatment of conservative appointed judges has done nothing but ensured the the right's support of them and weakened any good faith attempts at ethics reform.

Whatever genuine ethics objections have been delegitimized by the clearly targeted and coordinated campaign by the legacy media, democratic politicians, and partisan activists. At the end of this all you get is the left who believes the court is completely illegitimate and a right who lacks introspection.

Ted got to you didn’t he?

If this happened to any justice on the court it would be a legitimate story. You don’t have to try to frame this as a knock against legacy media just because it’s Thomas. I’m the guy who wants term limits for all of them, liberal justices included.

[old_gregg]

Look you guys, I know that you are unhappy with the makeup of the court. I know you are upset at the tactics of McConnell with Garland. I'm sure RBG not stepping down during Obama's presidency bugs you. And I understand Thomas has been despised more than any other justice by the left in living memory. But this bombastic, hyperbolic, and inequitable treatment of conservative appointed judges has done nothing but ensured the the right's support of them and weakened any good faith attempts at ethics reform.

Whatever genuine ethics objections have been delegitimized by the clearly targeted and coordinated campaign by the legacy media, democratic politicians, and partisan activists. At the end of this all you get is the left who believes the court is completely illegitimate and a right who lacks introspection.

the 2023 right’s victim complex at work.

[USUC]

Ted got to you didn’t he?

If this happened to any justice on the court it would be a legitimate story. You don’t have to try to frame this as a knock against legacy media just because it’s Thomas. I’m the guy who wants term limits for all of them, liberal justices included.

If these peices were only focused on Thomas and his ethics, I'd be more open to your arguments.

[USUC]

the 2023 right’s victim complex at work.

I have no love for the populist movement or the GOP. However, ideology/partisanship does not inhibit my ability to engage in honest media criticism.

[Applejack]

If these peices were only focused on Thomas and his ethics, I'd be more open to your arguments.

???? aren’t the pieces focused on Thomas???

[Non Sequitur]

Look you guys, I know that you are unhappy with the makeup of the court. I know you are upset at the tactics of McConnell with Garland. I'm sure RBG not stepping down during Obama's presidency bugs you. And I understand Thomas has been despised more than any other justice by the left in living memory. But this bombastic, hyperbolic, and inequitable treatment of conservative appointed judges has done nothing but ensured the the right's support of them and weakened any good faith attempts at ethics reform.

Whatever genuine ethics objections have been delegitimized by the clearly targeted and coordinated campaign by the legacy media, democratic politicians, and partisan activists. At the end of this all you get is the left who believes the court is completely illegitimate and a right who lacks introspection.

You always seem to resort to this "At the end of the day, nothing is going to change..." bullshit argument to excuse bad behavior. If someone takes a shit on your dining room floor, at the end of day you're going to get it cleaned up and your life will go on, but wouldn't you still be interested in taking actions to prevent other people in the future from shitting on your dining room floor?

[old_gregg]

Whatever genuine ethics objections have been delegitimized by the clearly targeted and coordinated campaign by the legacy media, democratic politicians, and partisan activists. At the end of this all you get is the left who believes the court is completely illegitimate and a right who lacks introspection.

no, they're delegitimized by lazy misdirection like this. what is this coordinated smear campaign you're talking about? a sitting supreme court justice has displayed a pattern of taking but not disclosing material gifts of money and favors from people who have a common political ideology, and you're upset that news outlets are reporting on those facts? nobody cares if it was sotamayor, rbg, thomas or roberts taking the same favors: if it is true that any one of them received something of value they should have disclosed (whether as a matter of law or decorum), the same reporting would and should occur, regardless of judicial philosophy.

the right's fetishization of media bias victimization seems to be some rhetorical trick "you guys" think works to magic wand away the facts underlying the reporting (regardless of their truth). the hallmark of rotted trumpian brains.

[USUC]

???? aren’t the pieces focused on Thomas???

In the past few weeks there have been specific peices on Gorsuch, the Scalia Law School, and Roberts. The frequency of media coverage with negative framing of the Supreme Court coincided with comments from Durbin, Whitehouse, AOC, and others questioning the legitimacy of the current court. Meanwhile, only conservative outlets have brought up ethics concerns related to Sotomayor and RBG.

You always seem to resort to this "At the end of the day, nothing is going to change..." bullshit argument to excuse bad behavior. If someone takes a shit on your dining room floor, at the end of day you're going to get it cleaned up and your life will go on, but wouldn't you still be interested in taking actions to prevent other people in the future from shitting on your dining room floor?

I'm a small government anti populist, of course I believe at the end of the day nothing is going to change. Selective outrage prevents good faith solutions to bad behavior. Thus, we have no solutions.

[USUC]

the right's fetishization of media bias victimization seems to be some rhetorical trick "you guys" think works to magic wand away the facts underlying the reporting (regardless of their truth). the hallmark of rotted trumpian brains.

To clarify so I understand this point, what do you mean by the bolded? Particularly "regardless of their truth."

[Northwestcoug]

In the past few weeks there have been specific peices on Gorsuch, the Scalia Law School, and Roberts. The frequency of media coverage with negative framing of the Supreme Court coincided with comments from Durbin, Whitehouse, AOC, and others questioning the legitimacy of the current court. Meanwhile, only conservative outlets have brought up ethics concerns related to Sotomayor and RBG.

The zeroing in on Thomas most likely started with the news of Ginni Thomas's batshit craziness about the election, which naturally led to a discussion whether or not Thomas should have recused himself on a ruling about the election. I think that's a legitimate news story. This is much better framed as initial smoke of a story, and then others looking for the fire, rather than a liberal vs. conservative media.

If there are stories of questionable SCOTUS ethics of a similar level, by all means let's hear them. Sunshine and all that.

[USUC]

The zeroing in on Thomas most likely started with the news of Ginni Thomas's batshit craziness about the election, which naturally led to a discussion whether or not Thomas should have recused himself on a ruling about the election. I think that's a legitimate news story. This is much better framed as initial smoke of a story, and then others looking for the fire, rather than a liberal vs. conservative media.

If there are stories of questionable SCOTUS ethics of a similar level, by all means let's hear them. Sunshine and all that.

Seems there are two separate narratives at play here that are being pushed as related and inseparable. 1) Thomas is uniquely unethical 2) The court is illegitimate because it is conservative.

[old_gregg]

To clarify so I understand this point, what do you mean by the bolded? Particularly "regardless of their truth."

you are ignoring the substance of the factual reporting on the favors (to put it charitably) that thomas has accepted, even suggesting the actual events underlying the reporting is delegitimized by the reporting itself.

[Commando]

Was Thomas confused again by those confusing IRS forms that have nothing to do with this disclosure?

[old_gregg]

Seems there are two separate narratives at play here that are being pushed as related and inseparable. 1) Thomas is uniquely unethical 2) The court is illegitimate because it is conservative.

no, those narratives exist only in your head and are the product of partisan whataboutism. can you point to an example of another justice who has committed an actual and provable violation of federal disclosure law? how about this oped from the nyt that specifically outlines favor hounding by not just thomas, but also by scalia, rbg and breyer? tons of similar reporting from major news outlets, including those the trump gop disciples regularly continue to reject as fake news. the paranoia of massive media bias against your cause is pathetic and lazy, and if the factual reporting is accurate you should find it troubling whether or not the masthead offends your sensibilities.

[Jeff Lebowski]

no, they're delegitimized by lazy misdirection like this. what is this coordinated smear campaign you're talking about? a sitting supreme court justice has displayed a pattern of taking but not disclosing material gifts of money and favors from people who have a common political ideology, and you're upset that news outlets are reporting on those facts? nobody cares if it was sotamayor, rbg, thomas or roberts taking the same favors: if it is true that any one of them received something of value they should have disclosed (whether as a matter of law or decorum), the same reporting would and should occur, regardless of judicial philosophy.

the right's fetishization of media bias victimization seems to be some rhetorical trick "you guys" think works to magic wand away the facts underlying the reporting (regardless of their truth). the hallmark of rotted trumpian brains.

Mike Lee has been raging on twitter about the persecution of Clarence Thomas.