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kgb999-again's avatar

Delayed reply, sorry.

A. I don't think the standard for a SC justice is managing to avoid criminal conviction.

B. The exact same thing that was gained by impeaching Trump. Putting a huge spotlight on his misconduct, documenting the misconduct for posterity and forcing the GOP to openly embrace it. The shadow over Thomas-era rulings might also give some ammunition for a future court to ignore bad precedents currently being set. Increased pressure also might result in Thomas recusing where he wouldn't if everyone just goes "meh~"

C. By the same token, why should anyone who isn't a Democrat take stock in any Democrat? Ironically, as a party, it often seems Democrats put more stock in what the mythical middle-American independent wants than they do their own base.

But I don't see it as partisan. I think legislature, led by any party, should impeach his ass. But we've only got Democrats and Republicans ... and the Republicans sure aren't going to do it.

The reason this is coming up is because Ginni Thomas is in the news doubling-down on the shady ass crap, the team's bad behavior has escalated. The reason people are venting towards Pelosi is because she is the person with the power to get an investigation that might lead to impeachment rolling. It's not like it would make sense to go bitching at AOC.

The thing that strikes me is how quickly everyone circled the wagons around minimizing the full-on fucked up shit Thomas is doing ... basically to knee-jerk protect Pelosi from a bit of negative pressure/criticism that (rightfully) goes with her position.

I mean, seriously. Take this guy going over the top at Pelosi out of the equation for a second.

Thomas is a fucked-up GOP stooge ruling on cases his wife is raising money to send to his court. Not to put too fine a point on it ... but she's setting up cases on stuff like voting rights, redistricting, and abortion access. Turns out, not only Democrats/progressives care about those things.

An investigation (which is always the first step to anything) doesn't feel like a *crazy* thing for someone to push for to me. It's not my crusade at the moment ... but it rightfully should happen.

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HogeyeGrex🌻's avatar

I’ve been screaming about the Thomases for many years now. I’ve called for impeachment til I was hoarse. Their behavior is criminal, and surely not befitting a SC Justice.

That said, this new rush has just been sounding like more of an accusation of failure towards Pelosi rather than a condemnation of Thomas, and that sets my ratfucking antennae all atingle. Astroturfed outrage to sow dissent on the left if no impeachment comes, and if it does, to make it a rallying cry for the right. Ginni being marginally more brazen about her corruption just doesn’t strike me as a sea change that moves this to the forefront as an issue. It feels like it’s being driven by those whose interests do not align with the Democrats.

As to your particulars,

A. As I said before, impeachment is a political rather than a judicial solution. While it might be nice if it were different, I’m pretty sure a Justice can retain their seat even if they are convicted of a crime. In many ways, impeachment is a considerably higher bar.

B. A large part of impeaching Trump was to keep him from being re-elected. This is not a factor for Thomas. The GOP embracing him might be more feature than bug for them. They’d spin the hell out of it, and the media would play it as a witch hunt. This, again, is even assuming there is quantifiable proof of misconduct. Yeah, we all know it, but if it ain’t on paper, it’s not much good. As to recusal, I have to laugh. There’s no way in hell he’d change his behavior one iota when he knows full well he won’t be convicted.

Not quite sure what C means.

Again, I’ve been yelling my head off about this for a long time. The timing and flavor of the escalation just gives me pause.

Launch an investigation? Please! Well worth the price of admission there. Tar and feather Pelosi for not having attempted a futile gesture? Color me skeptical.

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