That’s the offer from comedian John Oliver to Justice Clarence Thomas if he steps down from the Supreme Court in the next 30 days.
And it’s apparently completely legal for Oliver to make the offer, and for Justice Thomas to accept it, under current Supreme Court ethics guidelines.
John Oliver just made Clarence Thomas an offer he thinks the SCOTUS judge can’t refuse (yahoo.com)
Are we a completely corrupt nation, or what?
intercst
No, not in my experience. I’ve never had to bribe someone to get a drivers license or import something from Canada.
DB2
That’s small potatoes. The worst of US corruption is the fact that we pay double the cost for healthcare and receive a health system that kills us 3 years sooner than other large industrialized countries.
intercst
That’s not corruption; it is more like inefficiency. Corruption is illegal behavior, inducement by unlawful means, nepotism etc.
DB2
Lessee…according to that map, Shiny-land is scummier than Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium.Switzerland, Japan, Uruguay. Saying Shiny-land is shiny because it isn’t as corrupt as Venezuela is a bit disingenuous.
Steve
But, in Shiny-land, many of those behaviors are legal. Bribing elected officials and partisan gerrymandering of voting districts are officially endorsed as legal by the SCOTUS.
Steve
There are a few countries that rank higher and a lot lower. Intercst asked, “Are we a completely corrupt nation, or what?” and clearly the answer is no.
DB2
Certainly not “exceptional”. Maybe “mundane”, “pedestrian” or “middling”. Not “exceptional”. So there goes the argument that the US, alone in the world, is entitled to wage war and overthrow governments at it’s pleasure.
Steve
Exactly. And FDR saw it coming:
From Teddy Roosevelt on there has existed an explicit but mostly hidden movement to make certain that the USA be a republic ruled by a self-appointed elite of the correct shiny people, and not a democracy of the people. They have controlled the GOP fairly successfully from Nixon on, and their underhanded tactics (taking covert control of SCOTUS with long time carefully groomed appointees dedicated to a hidden agenda, destroying democratic protections of minority voters, allying with and sponsoring social media demagoguery, …) have led directly to the GOP going insane and to where we are now.
Living in Mexico I see loads of deeply imbedded corruption. My husband has decided he prefers the Mexican to the USAian version, as here in Mexico the corruption is far more “transparent” and vulnerable to citizen rage.
d fb
I have commented before, on a narrative, promoted by one faction, which I have heard spoken by candidates myself, that “the US is a republic, not a democracy” as if a republican structure and democratic processes are mutually exclusive. There was a piece on the wire a few days about about a bill in a state legislature, at this time, to declare TFG the winner in November, regardless of the vote of “We The People”.
“Ripped from yesterday’s headlines”…is the rage real, or is it USian style “astroturf”?
He can’t win the electoral college or the popular vote, and he knows it. Remember when he told people to not bother voting? He is going to pull a stunt in November in order to “win” the presidency back. The question is, do the states go along with it?
Utah is looking to pass a state law to let it ignore whatever federal law it wants to.
Dangerous times.
Which would legitimize “sanctuary cities”, which I have a problem with. Both notions buck the Constitutional principle of the supremacy of Federal law.
I still like Plan Steve: the west coast and northeast break off and join the Commies in Canada, where they will be happier. Meanwhile, the rump Shiny-land, can wallow in it’s superstition and bigotry.
Steve
Where does that leave you?
JimA
In it’s non-gerrymandered state, Michigan is more moderate. If outstate does not move to Canada, metro Detroit, where I, and the vast majority of the economic activity in the state is, would move to Canada.
Steve
I’d go Canada in a heartbeat,lol. ( but they don’t want us )
I just realized you are an innocent b@be in the woods.
No, my point is that that corruption involves illegalities. The healthcare system is actually legal.
DB2
It’s mighty convenient when the corrupt have the power to write the laws to make their behavior “legal”.
I’m going to have to concurr. DrBob makes a good point but… the Mafia has a saying when they’re “getting away with it.” “Heh, it’s all poifikly legal” The way certain sectors of the courts are behaving these days is totally legal but descernibly corrupt.
There’s no way Thomas would accept a pay cut like that.
