🇺🇸 Cleared for Takeoff Clarence?

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JUDICIARY

Cleared for Takeoff Clarence?

Last week a report detailed that Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife have taken expensive vacations for many years, paid for by his close friend Harlan Crow – who is a major donor to the Republican party. The report was published by ProPublica, an investigative journalism organization that’s been rated as “left-leaning” by Media Bias/Fact Check and Allsides.

Reporting from The Left: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls Justice Clarence Thomas' trips a 'very serious problem' that warrants impeachment (CNN)

Reporting from The Right: Report on Clarence Thomas' travel habits is 'politics plain and simple': expert (Fox News)

From The Flag: Thomas describes Crow and his wife Kathy as among their “dearest friends,” adding he consulted with members of the court as to whether or not these trips needed to be disclosed. Some on the left are calling for his removal from the bench in response. Here’s more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Angry About the Court’s Conservative Majority, Leftists Smear Thomas (Again)

• With this latest incident, the left is once again ginning up a phony ethics assault to undermine the Supreme Court’s credibility.

• ProPublica pretends that partisan attacks are major breaking news – complete with pictures and graphs.

• Leftists are apoplectic over the Supreme Court’s conservative majority and have returned to smear campaigns against Thomas.

“The Smearing of Clarence Thomas” Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal: “The left’s assault on the Supreme Court is continuing, and the latest front is the news that Justice Clarence Thomas has a rich friend who has hosted the Justice on his private plane, his yacht, and his vacation resort. That’s it. That’s the story. Yet this non-bombshell has triggered breathless claims that the Court must be investigated, and that Justice Thomas must resign or be impeached. Those demands give away the real political game here. ProPublica, a left-leaning website, kicked off the fun with a report Thursday that Justice Thomas has a longtime friendship with Harlan Crow, a wealthy Texas real-estate developer. The intrepid reporters roamed far and wide to discover that the Justice has sometimes traveled on Mr. Crow’s ‘Bombardier Global 5000 jet’ and that each summer the Justice and his wife spend a vacation week at Mr. Crow’s place in the Adirondacks.”

“ProPublica Exposes Clarence Thomas: He Has A Rich Friend!” David Harsanyi, The Federalist: “ProPublica often practices what you might call Potemkin journalism — dressing up non-stories with neutral-sounding reporting verbiage and lots of graphs and pictures that seem important at first glance, but in actuality tell us very little. One of the best examples of the practice can be found in today’s smearing of Clarence Thomas, a hobbyhorse of leftists since 1991. In it we learn that the Supreme Court justice has a super-rich friend… GOP donor Harlan Crow, (who) invites Thomas on ‘luxury’ vacations from time to time… the usual suspects (are) mischaracterizing the trips as bribes, though everything reported by ProPublica is completely legal and unrelated to Thomas’ work on the court. … Thomas’ venial sin is not caring what the media or elites think of him. His mortal sins are practicing and believing in originalism and bucking the racial stereotypes of the left.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: The smearing of Justice Clarence Thomas — part X Editorial Board, Washington Examiner

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Justice Thomas Must Be Held Accountable For Failing To Disclose Gifts

• Justices aren’t monks, and they don’t need to abandon personal relationships, but this went beyond standard behavior.

• This violation shows Democrats must become more willing to challenge and reform the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary.

• Other government workers routinely turn down small gifts, while Thomas takes luxurious jaunts on a billionaire’s dime.

“It’s time for Clarence Thomas to come clean” Ruth Marcus, Washington Post Opinion: “Justice Clarence Thomas has inflicted incalculable damage on the Supreme Court — damage that requires action by Congress and the chief justice to strengthen ethics rules. But Thomas himself could take an immediate step to repair the injury to what is left of the court’s reputation for independence and integrity by providing an accounting of the all-expenses-paid trips he should have reported… Donning a judicial robe does not require discarding these long-standing relationships… But it does counsel taking care about appearances. Moreover, justices aren’t condemned to their preexisting social circles, but they need to take care that they’re not being lavished with favors and are not being used because of their exalted positions. … Let’s be serious. Maintaining ‘normal personal friendships’ doesn’t require spending nine days touring the Indonesian islands on a private yacht with a man who has spent millions promoting conservative causes.”

“Clarence Thomas Is as Free as Ever to Treat His Seat Like a Winning Lottery Ticket” Jamelle Bouie, New York Times Opinion: “We have Clarence Thomas to thank for the latest illustration of how the Supreme Court’s outsize power, isolation and virtual immunity from public pressure has made it a magnet for corruption and influence-peddling. … Under a federal law passed after Watergate, it appears that Thomas was supposed to disclose these gifts and trips to the government. He hasn’t. Instead, Thomas has lived a lavish life on the largess of his rich confidant while posing, in public, as the most humble and unassuming of the justices. In return, Crow has gotten direct access to one of the most influential and powerful men in America. Not a bad trade. … Whether it’s through structural change or a simple ethics code, it is up to elected officials to remind the court that it serves the republic, and not the other way around.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Why Do Most Public Servants Follow Rules About Free Gifts? Terri Gerstein, Slate

FLAG THIS

Lagging Trust Among Respondents, Who Call Court “Too Conservative”

Polling conducted in September of last year found 47% of respondents say they “trust” the US Supreme Court, which is down 7% year-over-year, and represents a new all-time low.

In 1999, the survey recorded 80% of people who said they trusted the judicial branch – the highest mark ever recorded.

Similarly, the poll’s 40% job approval for the nation’s highest court marks a record low.

4 in 10 describe the court as “too conservative,” which is also a record for the survey (Gallup).

FLAG FINDS

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