With so much focus on the corruption of the Supreme Court lately, we thought our readers would like a little bit of background on just how this happened— and who’s driving it.
This article is quite terrifying. One hopes that a Supreme Court Justice will be a person of integrity, but as we have discovered in the last few months some of them seem to be motivated only by money, influence, and corruption - definitely not morality or honesty. And a sleazy individual like this definitely needs a very short term of office - four years maximum would be more than enough.
I've heard of Leonard Leo but only as some background individual with some political leanings. This was my first read through of your article regarding Leo and his plan to usurp the Supreme Court. I was stunned to say the least. We the People need to take action now. We are on the edge of the toilet and starting an inevitable slide into the abyss. With all that has happened recently in the courts decisions you can clearly see that it has become the "Third Political Party" in our country. If we are going to take back our courts from this cabal we need to institute Term Limits. The article mentions 18 years for the supreme court. This is way too long. A lot of damage can be done in 18 years. Four years should be the benchmark. The nominees voted in just like any other government official and can be expelled for crimes committed during their respective term. Just my opinion.
This being so obvious that the Supreme Court is now a totally illegitimate entity packed and paid for,why then is the Democratic Party not moving to add more Justices to at the very least level the playing field? It has been done in the past,why not now?Are all politicians rich as most are secretly in the same class of people as the rest of the elitist Federalist Society non American scum?
Thank you Mr. Hightower and whoever else contributed to this excellent article. Has the Supreme Court ever been this corrupt? Justices have no problem with how their sleazy appointments to the High Court came to be - all have feigned outrage at any question as to integrity or basic morals. These charlatans gag me with their hypocrisy and idea of their entitlement with the positions they feel they have “earned”! The balls-out vicious and greed driven capitalists who have greased the way for them are evil but extremely powerful and I truly fear them - witness what they have accomplished in such a short time. I hope we will continue to hear and heed the message that men and women like Jim Hightower are shouting to the rafters for all that will hear!
Yes, those were the good old days! If you endeavor to enlighten yourself and share with others, you will find that this history will fall on deft ears. We can't bear the truth, people respond as though you were telling a mother that her baby was ugly, and as such, you must be a commie, a terrorist, or at worst a lefty endeavoring to feed the public with anti-American progressive lies.
So, it takes courage to learn the truth about your country. Some people cry, some deny, and some try to get folks to listen. It is painful, and for many it is like hearing your child is ugly and unworthy.
In the end it really is quite simple, greed has fueled the growth of America and those who have grown rich here, off the sweat and toil of those not as fortunate, have mastered the equation, hate + fear = power! So as Pogo said decades ago, we have met the enemy, and he is us! We've not yet learned, that the rich and powerful never sleep, they constantly are at work to recreate the America of the Gilded Age where the rich called all the shots.
Look at today, the middle class is falling behind as basically they become just less poor. We have offshored almost our entire manufacturing economy. Agriculture is now almost totally in the hands of Corporations. Our infrastructure is in taters, just travel abroad, you will take note that we are looking more and more like a 3rd World Country.
We should be leading the world in going green. However, the Oil, Gas and Coal Corps and individuals are ensuring that they control energy. They continue to pollute in ways that are unrepairable. They are in collusion with Middle East oil interest, who are now plowing their profits into infrastructure and the domination of the world.
The rich have received so many tax cuts its beyond understanding and they want more. While we earn less and pay more for everything. The debt keeps climbing as we chase snipes around the globe. Russia has goals to return it to its 1945 glory days. China envisions, a western expansion across Asia to Africa and Europe where they are maker of all things. India is the middle of all this. Europe is paralyzed.
Their rich aren't ready to pay for their survival.
Japan, Taiwan and SE are trying to figure out how to prevent the Chinese onslaught. They need us, but the rich here are not interested, their interests will be best served by a good relationship with the PRC.
They already gave them most of our manufacturing with not the Far East.
The bottom line here is simply this, the objectives of our rich don't reflect on any version of a common good for our people or other people in the world. Their motto regarding the less fortunate of us, that is the 99.5 % of us, is simple, let them (us) eat cake!
Excellent, important column. To their credit, I heard a comparable report on Leo on the NPR program "Here and Now" (from WBUR).
I have one point on which I disagree:
You said: " Leo is a fanatic devotee of the plutocratic fiction that our Constitution was intended not as a founding document for democracy, but as a legal structure for enshrining property rights as supreme over all others and protecting the wealthy from the democratic majority."
I'm not sure about "supreme over all others," but it's pretty clear that the framers of the Constitution did not have democracy in mind, and James Madison was concerned about protecting the wealthy ("propertied") from the democratic majority ("faction"). Madison wrote in Federalist #10 about the need to control the effects of "faction" --with language very resonant with today's US when he wrote of " an attachment to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power; or to persons of other descriptions whose fortunes have been interesting to the human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good."
But more to the point, the "faction" Madison was most concerned about the possibility of a majoritarian faction, enabled by "democracies" [that] have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions."
Madison then went on to advocate a "republic" as part of his advocacy of a strong national government (though with federalism and separation of powers as protections against factions taking over). vs. the states' rights advocacy of the anti-federalists.
So, the argument that the constitution was not meant as a vehicle for democracy (in any sense that makes sense today) but as a protection against a possible majoritarian faction of the propertyless is quite valid despite Leo's so-callled embrace of it. Consider who had the right to vote (property-holding white males); consider the counting of slaves (for purposes of states' representation in Congress) as 3/5 of a person, etc.
At the same time it's hardly clear as Leo claims that this was the pre-eminent value of the framers, given Madison's own proposal for the Bill of Rights.
This is an abbreviated form of a love-letter. I'm 84 years old, and you can't possibly expect much!
I was a subscriber to your 6 page, 3 trifold newsletter for ages, and when thru with each issue, sent it around to friends who could read and could act (I did the same with Molly Ivins' books and attended her talks in Santa Cruz, CA.
Your article about Leonard Leo's effect on the Supreme Court, because of the justices who shouldn't have been put in within smelling distance of a gavel(I will never recover from Biden's role in allowing Anita Hill to be denigrated and Clarence Thomas to be approved to the court!) But those facts are now history and not the central point I would like to make to you. You need the time and space to do your research and your writing - which you may have scuttled for economic reasons or you just became tired. But these one-page ejaculationsdon't do you or the issues any justice.
Someone remembers how Biden allowed the rethuglicans to bully Anita Hill and cover up for Clarence Thomas! Being the Senator from Big Money, Biden was almost a Rethuglican for most of his career. More recently he has been kissing up to the gay activists and constantly pushing more useless gun laws for the criminals to ignore. etc. That is probably to fool silly liberals into thinking he's one of them. But I think he's still mostly a servant of Money at heart.
He’s just a really good poker playing Politician,knows the difference between bluffing and cheating,but he,stays at the table till the best hand comes his way,you can’t win if you re not willing to drop a hand or two,staying in the game is the only way to win!
The thrill of the game + the opportunity for a little graft, rather than any moral convictions? Actually, that probably defines half the pols. The other half being batshit crazy ideologs.
What do morality or ethics or convictions ,have to do with politics?OK convictions are in the job description ,but not the kind we admire. Hey it’s a game ,been so forever .Someone know how to make it pretty let me know.
Hitler said he would "use the tools of democracy to destroy democracy". He pretty much did, and the Trumpovitches have been following his playbook page by page. iI's about enough to make one believe in a Devil, or in evil for the sake of evil.
Unbelievable, but so typical of the shadowy government shenanigans we find ourselves having to live with these days. Thanks for uncovering this heinous activity and especially The Donald's involvement. Leo's head should roll.
I would like to know what motivates Leo. If it were simple greed, he could probably make more money running an honest business. but it is hard to see "back to the robber baron days!!!" as a moral crusade. The thrill of the game , maybe.
Nothing for nothing,as soon as the votes are there pack the court,as for the mind blowing piece you put together Jim ,Bravo!It boggles the mind that such underhanded treachery is still the putrid,amoral norm,for these ,pigs parading as Americans.If the courts weren’t so corrupt already maybe we’d have a chance of getting some justice,and jail these treasonous bastards,there doesn’t seem to be any real chance for justice in the sewer that These anti American self righteous scum created right under the Justice Department’s nose.Principles , and morality no longer exist,in the 1% world,screw ‘‘em all I got mine and theirs and I’ll keep it all,is the motto of the Pig people!Wish I knew that Hell existed,then I’d pray to the devil to take these evil souls to the fire!
I shouldn’t malign the noble pig,by comparing the innocent pig to those who are unworthy of any kind of elevation in their existence,sorry Porky and Petunia you’re so much better than them.
This article is quite terrifying. One hopes that a Supreme Court Justice will be a person of integrity, but as we have discovered in the last few months some of them seem to be motivated only by money, influence, and corruption - definitely not morality or honesty. And a sleazy individual like this definitely needs a very short term of office - four years maximum would be more than enough.
I've heard of Leonard Leo but only as some background individual with some political leanings. This was my first read through of your article regarding Leo and his plan to usurp the Supreme Court. I was stunned to say the least. We the People need to take action now. We are on the edge of the toilet and starting an inevitable slide into the abyss. With all that has happened recently in the courts decisions you can clearly see that it has become the "Third Political Party" in our country. If we are going to take back our courts from this cabal we need to institute Term Limits. The article mentions 18 years for the supreme court. This is way too long. A lot of damage can be done in 18 years. Four years should be the benchmark. The nominees voted in just like any other government official and can be expelled for crimes committed during their respective term. Just my opinion.
This being so obvious that the Supreme Court is now a totally illegitimate entity packed and paid for,why then is the Democratic Party not moving to add more Justices to at the very least level the playing field? It has been done in the past,why not now?Are all politicians rich as most are secretly in the same class of people as the rest of the elitist Federalist Society non American scum?
Each Supreme Court "justice" should come with a warning label - "This justice owned by _______"
Thank you Mr. Hightower and whoever else contributed to this excellent article. Has the Supreme Court ever been this corrupt? Justices have no problem with how their sleazy appointments to the High Court came to be - all have feigned outrage at any question as to integrity or basic morals. These charlatans gag me with their hypocrisy and idea of their entitlement with the positions they feel they have “earned”! The balls-out vicious and greed driven capitalists who have greased the way for them are evil but extremely powerful and I truly fear them - witness what they have accomplished in such a short time. I hope we will continue to hear and heed the message that men and women like Jim Hightower are shouting to the rafters for all that will hear!
Yes, those were the good old days! If you endeavor to enlighten yourself and share with others, you will find that this history will fall on deft ears. We can't bear the truth, people respond as though you were telling a mother that her baby was ugly, and as such, you must be a commie, a terrorist, or at worst a lefty endeavoring to feed the public with anti-American progressive lies.
So, it takes courage to learn the truth about your country. Some people cry, some deny, and some try to get folks to listen. It is painful, and for many it is like hearing your child is ugly and unworthy.
In the end it really is quite simple, greed has fueled the growth of America and those who have grown rich here, off the sweat and toil of those not as fortunate, have mastered the equation, hate + fear = power! So as Pogo said decades ago, we have met the enemy, and he is us! We've not yet learned, that the rich and powerful never sleep, they constantly are at work to recreate the America of the Gilded Age where the rich called all the shots.
Look at today, the middle class is falling behind as basically they become just less poor. We have offshored almost our entire manufacturing economy. Agriculture is now almost totally in the hands of Corporations. Our infrastructure is in taters, just travel abroad, you will take note that we are looking more and more like a 3rd World Country.
We should be leading the world in going green. However, the Oil, Gas and Coal Corps and individuals are ensuring that they control energy. They continue to pollute in ways that are unrepairable. They are in collusion with Middle East oil interest, who are now plowing their profits into infrastructure and the domination of the world.
The rich have received so many tax cuts its beyond understanding and they want more. While we earn less and pay more for everything. The debt keeps climbing as we chase snipes around the globe. Russia has goals to return it to its 1945 glory days. China envisions, a western expansion across Asia to Africa and Europe where they are maker of all things. India is the middle of all this. Europe is paralyzed.
Their rich aren't ready to pay for their survival.
Japan, Taiwan and SE are trying to figure out how to prevent the Chinese onslaught. They need us, but the rich here are not interested, their interests will be best served by a good relationship with the PRC.
They already gave them most of our manufacturing with not the Far East.
The bottom line here is simply this, the objectives of our rich don't reflect on any version of a common good for our people or other people in the world. Their motto regarding the less fortunate of us, that is the 99.5 % of us, is simple, let them (us) eat cake!
Good Night and God Luck
Never read a more disturbing ,or a more compelling description of the state of the world.
Excellent, important column. To their credit, I heard a comparable report on Leo on the NPR program "Here and Now" (from WBUR).
I have one point on which I disagree:
You said: " Leo is a fanatic devotee of the plutocratic fiction that our Constitution was intended not as a founding document for democracy, but as a legal structure for enshrining property rights as supreme over all others and protecting the wealthy from the democratic majority."
I'm not sure about "supreme over all others," but it's pretty clear that the framers of the Constitution did not have democracy in mind, and James Madison was concerned about protecting the wealthy ("propertied") from the democratic majority ("faction"). Madison wrote in Federalist #10 about the need to control the effects of "faction" --with language very resonant with today's US when he wrote of " an attachment to different leaders ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power; or to persons of other descriptions whose fortunes have been interesting to the human passions, have, in turn, divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good."
But more to the point, the "faction" Madison was most concerned about the possibility of a majoritarian faction, enabled by "democracies" [that] have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths. Theoretic politicians, who have patronized this species of government, have erroneously supposed that by reducing mankind to a perfect equality in their political rights, they would, at the same time, be perfectly equalized and assimilated in their possessions, their opinions, and their passions."
Madison then went on to advocate a "republic" as part of his advocacy of a strong national government (though with federalism and separation of powers as protections against factions taking over). vs. the states' rights advocacy of the anti-federalists.
So, the argument that the constitution was not meant as a vehicle for democracy (in any sense that makes sense today) but as a protection against a possible majoritarian faction of the propertyless is quite valid despite Leo's so-callled embrace of it. Consider who had the right to vote (property-holding white males); consider the counting of slaves (for purposes of states' representation in Congress) as 3/5 of a person, etc.
At the same time it's hardly clear as Leo claims that this was the pre-eminent value of the framers, given Madison's own proposal for the Bill of Rights.
Still, an excellent and important column! Thanks.
Ted Morgan
To form a more perfect union,always keeps the door open,love that wee little thought,strive for better always!
Dear Mr. Hightower,
This is an abbreviated form of a love-letter. I'm 84 years old, and you can't possibly expect much!
I was a subscriber to your 6 page, 3 trifold newsletter for ages, and when thru with each issue, sent it around to friends who could read and could act (I did the same with Molly Ivins' books and attended her talks in Santa Cruz, CA.
Your article about Leonard Leo's effect on the Supreme Court, because of the justices who shouldn't have been put in within smelling distance of a gavel(I will never recover from Biden's role in allowing Anita Hill to be denigrated and Clarence Thomas to be approved to the court!) But those facts are now history and not the central point I would like to make to you. You need the time and space to do your research and your writing - which you may have scuttled for economic reasons or you just became tired. But these one-page ejaculationsdon't do you or the issues any justice.
Forgive me, and I still love you!
Olga Euben
Someone remembers how Biden allowed the rethuglicans to bully Anita Hill and cover up for Clarence Thomas! Being the Senator from Big Money, Biden was almost a Rethuglican for most of his career. More recently he has been kissing up to the gay activists and constantly pushing more useless gun laws for the criminals to ignore. etc. That is probably to fool silly liberals into thinking he's one of them. But I think he's still mostly a servant of Money at heart.
He’s just a really good poker playing Politician,knows the difference between bluffing and cheating,but he,stays at the table till the best hand comes his way,you can’t win if you re not willing to drop a hand or two,staying in the game is the only way to win!
The thrill of the game + the opportunity for a little graft, rather than any moral convictions? Actually, that probably defines half the pols. The other half being batshit crazy ideologs.
What do morality or ethics or convictions ,have to do with politics?OK convictions are in the job description ,but not the kind we admire. Hey it’s a game ,been so forever .Someone know how to make it pretty let me know.
Pack the Supreme Court while there is still time!
Hitler said he would "use the tools of democracy to destroy democracy". He pretty much did, and the Trumpovitches have been following his playbook page by page. iI's about enough to make one believe in a Devil, or in evil for the sake of evil.
SO TRUE.
Unbelievable, but so typical of the shadowy government shenanigans we find ourselves having to live with these days. Thanks for uncovering this heinous activity and especially The Donald's involvement. Leo's head should roll.
Yes, The Supreme Court needs an ethics code and term limits. But how is it done?
I would like to know what motivates Leo. If it were simple greed, he could probably make more money running an honest business. but it is hard to see "back to the robber baron days!!!" as a moral crusade. The thrill of the game , maybe.
Nothing for nothing,as soon as the votes are there pack the court,as for the mind blowing piece you put together Jim ,Bravo!It boggles the mind that such underhanded treachery is still the putrid,amoral norm,for these ,pigs parading as Americans.If the courts weren’t so corrupt already maybe we’d have a chance of getting some justice,and jail these treasonous bastards,there doesn’t seem to be any real chance for justice in the sewer that These anti American self righteous scum created right under the Justice Department’s nose.Principles , and morality no longer exist,in the 1% world,screw ‘‘em all I got mine and theirs and I’ll keep it all,is the motto of the Pig people!Wish I knew that Hell existed,then I’d pray to the devil to take these evil souls to the fire!
I shouldn’t malign the noble pig,by comparing the innocent pig to those who are unworthy of any kind of elevation in their existence,sorry Porky and Petunia you’re so much better than them.
Thank you for making public and available all the research that went into tracing this!