 |
| Antonin Scalia Visiting University of San Francisco School of Law |
The "Originalist" interpretation arose from the University of Chicago that gave us both Justice Scalia and the master economist Milton Friedman, guru for the upper classes of big money and gigantic corporations. The darling of the Reagan conservatives and Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, Milton Friedman invented the Trickle Down theory of economics. Basically Trickle Down economics says the wealthy few of a society will let their spare money trickle down to the less lucky. Friedman won a Noble Prize for his efforts, and he spent the rest of his life lecturing on this sure fire theory of wealth.
The one big problem with Trickle Down economics is that it focuses myopically only on money and interest rates and banking for controlling and boosting and trimming the giant economy of the nation. Anyone can see that such a theory ignores humans and their everyday needs like food and healthcare and clothing. Such single-minded economics gave us the breakdown of 2007 and all the banks and the stock brokers who were just too big to fail. The failure and inhumanity of Trickle Down economic theory can be easily seen in the destruction of the once grand American city of Detroit, Michigan.
The one big problem with Trickle Down economics is that it focuses myopically only on money and interest rates and banking for controlling and boosting and trimming the giant economy of the nation. Anyone can see that such a theory ignores humans and their everyday needs like food and healthcare and clothing. Such single-minded economics gave us the breakdown of 2007 and all the banks and the stock brokers who were just too big to fail. The failure and inhumanity of Trickle Down economic theory can be easily seen in the destruction of the once grand American city of Detroit, Michigan.
Trickle Down jurisprudence allowed the present Michigan Governor to demolish fresh water supplies for the nearby City of Flint.
Human Rights like money do not really Trickle Down from on high.
Why did this happen? There is an old Southern expression, "Rich as a Crooked Judge" that applies well here.
Antonin Scalia and some of the other Justices lived like jet set kings for many, many years. A few months ago the Koch brothers were flying Scalia and Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito around to their places in Vail and in Aspen and even Palm Springs for little meets and greets and schmoozes. The Kochs would also send Scalia on little hunting weekends.
That Scalia liked to hunt and kill small animals says a lot about his character. So Scalia died down in Texas at Cibolo Creek Ranch as a guest of brave huntsman billionaire Tom Poindexter. All these patrons all had monetary and political interests in decisions to be made by the Court. Just two weeks ago, Scalia was hanging out in Hong Kong on who knows whose tab.
That Scalia liked to hunt and kill small animals says a lot about his character. So Scalia died down in Texas at Cibolo Creek Ranch as a guest of brave huntsman billionaire Tom Poindexter. All these patrons all had monetary and political interests in decisions to be made by the Court. Just two weeks ago, Scalia was hanging out in Hong Kong on who knows whose tab.
Yes, living the high life paid for by a potential litigant in your court is grossly unethical. But why not, since the Supreme Court has no formal ethical standards. The Supreme Court may never have any rules because of their very own Citizens United decision, and the resulting fringe benefits from the Koch Koch Klan™ and the like.
California and New York and most other states have written rules of ethics for all judges. The American Bar Association published a "Model Code of Judicial Conduct." Look it up and read it. Using a phrase from the Trickle Down Jurist Scalia, the Code is not "gobbledygook." You do not have to have legal training to understand the rules. The Code is an ethical template for all American Judges. The Code makes rules of ethics based on the western morality of all Americans. Here's the rules, or canons, of the Code from the ABA pages.
CANON 1 A judge shall uphold and promote the, independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.
CANON 2 A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially, competently, and diligently.
CANON 3 A judge shall conduct the judge’s personal and extrajudicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with the obligations of judicial office.
CANON 4 A judge or candidate for judicial office shall not engage in political or campaign activity that is inconsistent with the integrity, or impartiality of the judiciary.
©2010 by the American Bar Association. All rights reserved.
The Supreme Court has no such Code. Justice Samuel Alito recently said that the US Senate should not appoint a replacement for Justice Scalia. By making such a public declaration Alito was clearly engaging in political activity. And thereby Alito was in violation of the ABA's Code. See Canon 4 above. But there's no problem for Alito because there's no Code for the members of the Supreme Court to follow.
The Supreme Court has no such Code. Justice Samuel Alito recently said that the US Senate should not appoint a replacement for Justice Scalia. By making such a public declaration Alito was clearly engaging in political activity. And thereby Alito was in violation of the ABA's Code. See Canon 4 above. But there's no problem for Alito because there's no Code for the members of the Supreme Court to follow.
The Citizens Untied decision that allowed unlimited secret money to be used in American elections is only one such example of a conflict benefiting the Koch Brothers and Karl Rove. And that decision reaffirmed the legal concept of any corporation having the same equal rights granted any individual human being by our US Constitution.
It has been lovingly reported by tea party media muppets that “Antonin Scalia Was a True Wit and the Best Comic on the Supreme Court!” Antonin Scalia and the other male partisans on the Supreme Court were placed there to overthrow Roe v Wade by embedding theocratic law into our legal system.
That cruel plan has not yet played out, and hopefully the passing of the Trickle Down Jurist Scalia will stall the theocracy for another decade or two.
So our Supreme Court decided there should be no limits on the cash in American politics and that Corporate ephemera are people!
Let's get some written ethical standards for the Supreme Court!
This story will be told far into the future about those corrupt Trickle Down times of the Supreme Court's five to four majority kowtowing to corporate and religious doctrine.
 |
| Once a Family Home in Detroit, Michigan Now a Victim of Both Trickle Down Economics and Trickle Down Justice |
2 comments:
Just want to say I am so glad I found your blog from a comment you posted on Charlie Pierce.
Good stuff!
I'll check in here regularly.
Incidentally, I thought the best comment on Scalia's passing was "at least he died doing what he loved - killing little animals."
Post a Comment