1

Ethical Philosophy…In PracticeEthical Philosophy…In PracticeEthical Philosophy…In PracticeEthical Philosophy…In Practice http://www.meetup.com/Ethical-Philosophy-Discussion-Group-of-East-Portland/

Thinking Clearly in a World of NonsenseThinking Clearly in a World of NonsenseThinking Clearly in a World of NonsenseThinking Clearly in a World of Nonsense Because the bull shit gets so deeps you have to spout wings to fly above it.

Topic for July 24, 2016

Bribing Politicians Made Legal further dividing the country between the 1 % and everyone else

by our Supreme Court, unanimously.

Summary

The U. S. Supreme Court drove another nail in America’s coffin last week by removing any lingering pretense of equality before the law. This ruling implies that we the people are divided into two groups: those who can afford to bribe politicians and those who can’t. To be convicted of “cor-ruption”, a pol must sign a quid pro quo contract, take a video of himself holding bags of gold and a selfie snorting coke. Literally, that’s how court watchers laugh about it.

Short of that, it’s ok for politicians to accept anything of value in exchange for anything that helps the special interests that bribe them. Go Court!

2

Facts in McDonnell vs. The United States

Republican Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell (and his wife Maureen) took gifts from wealthy businessman Jonnie Williams. The gifts included $ 175,000 in gifts and loans including

1. a Rolex watch 2. shopping sprees (“ball gowns”) for Maureen 3. money to cater his daughter’s wedding, etc. 4. loans

William’s company Star Scientific was trying to get a free pharmaceutical evaluation of its supplement Anatabloc. Anatabloc was sold as a supplement but would have been much more profitable if sold as a prescription drug. For that, the FDA requires expensive testing which Star couldn’t or didn’t want to pay for.

In exchange, McDonnell 1. facilitated meetings with officials of state universities1 2. hosted promotional events in the Governor’s mansion 3. spoke to state government officials about the virtues of Anatabloc 4. sought state grants to fund the study

Both McDonnel and his wife were found guilty of “eleven felony counts” of “public corruption.” The evidence revealed “tawdry2 tales” of shabby behavior. He petitioned the Supreme Court for relief on now familiar grounds.

McDonnell’s Defense

He argued that Citizens United made “access” to politi-cians a “fundamental constitutional right.” You remember Citizens United, “corporations are people, my friend.” The existing theory was that contributions to a politician ensure that he would listen to you, but not that he would do what you want. You only bought “access” to him, not to his vote, etc. (The fantasy is that those things are different.)

1 The University of Virginia and the Virginia Commonwealth University. 2 the court’s term

3

What the Supreme Court Ruled

In order for it to be “corruption” the law requires that an office holder perform “official acts” in exchange for things of value. Just taking gifts (bribes) is not illegal,3 it’s doing something “official” in exchange that matters. However the court said that “arranging meetings”, “contacting officials” and “hosting events” in the governor’s mansion are, in themselves, not “official acts.” (Those are just what politicians ordinarily do for people who give them stuff.) Only when he “influences or intends to influence a specific official decision the government actually makes” is it an “official act.” Robert’s had previously written that “access bought in this manner are not corruption…They embody a central feature of democracy.” This ruling is just a narrow interpretation of the statute Embarrassed by his own reasoning, Roberts asks us to ignore the “tawdry tales of Ferraris, Rolexes and ball gowns” and believe that the instructions given the jury were too broad. Holding politicians to such a strict standard would put a “chilling effect” on office holders helping people who bribe them.

The court seems to think that is a bad thing!

Theories About What They Were Thinking

Court watchers theorize that they were worried about overzealous prosecutors. But that’s like recent laws preventing voter fraud and the dangers of abortion. Neither problems exist. Here, as in those cases, the real intent is hidden.

What the Court Doesn’t Seem To Care About

Only For the Rich and Well Connected - I thought that our government was of the people, by the people and for the people. Not the rich people, “the people.” Was I wrong? What about the poor guy who invents something in his garage and asks the governor for help? Not gonna happen! But if he can give expensive stuff to the gov, then the gov will arrange

3 It sure as hell was for federal bank examiners, but not apparently for politicians.

4

things for him with officials, promote his product, etc.

How is that a constitutional right?

Not So Subtle Influence – When the governor tells a state employee that he

supports something, how is the employee not influenced? Apparently the court simply ignored that piece of reality. The Court apparently bought that fiction along with “separate but equal,” corporate boards represent the political opinions of the share-holders and buying “access” is not a bribe.

Hosting an Event in the Governor’s Mansion Is Not “official?” – Who

decides what the Governor’s Mansion is used for if not the governor? How is using it for a formal affair not official? But having decided that it is not “official”, sending the case back to a lower court is pointless. It could go looking for “official acts” not already in the indictment, but if there were more, they would have been the first time.

What Would An “Official Act” Be? - An “official act” might be voting for or

against a bill, signing or vetoing legislation, etc., but how could you prove quid pro quo? To do that the office holder and his buddy would have to sign a written quid pro quo agreement. Nobody’s that stupid! It seems to this reporter that the court was just trying to dodge responsibility for its’ ruling in a very sleazy way. By remanding the case to the lower court, the Supreme Court is pretending that it is not endorsing political bribery, which it clearly is.

Court Only Sees ½ Of the Transaction- The court focused completely on what

McDonnell did not do. The whole thing hinged on only one-half of the transaction, him doing stuff. The part about him taking bribes was simply ignored4.

Talk About Out-of-Touch – Apparently the justices live in a

world in which corruption is such a part of business-as-usual; they don’t notice how it harms the body politic. Instead of fighting bribery, the court just legalized it.

4 Taking things of value was not made illegal by who, the law makers who were taking bribes.

5

Was There A Deal? – Why was it unanimous? Was there a deal struck among the

judges to approve one thing in exchange for another? Was it protect abortion rights in exchange for protecting bribery rights of the elite? Is there quid pro quo on the bench? (I’m just saing that when Scalia met all alone with Cheney on a fishing boat, before Cheney’s suit was heard, they were certainly talking about something.)

I give the Court a grade of F on this case. It opens the doors to full bore bribery of politicians. Sure, it’s been going on forever. But making it legal opens it up to levels not seen since the Ottoman Empire. At some point the people will lose all confidence in the government and stop supporting it. Ultimately, it will collapse.

What do you think?

The bull shit gets so deeps you have to spout wings to fly above it.

Sebastian Zebadiah Twit, Sebastian Zebadiah Twit, Sebastian Zebadiah Twit, Sebastian Zebadiah Twit, July 22, 2016

Later Thoughts

Pending cases against corrupt politicians will probably have to now be dropped. One court watcher quipped that McDonnell has single-handedly lower the crime rate in America. Under this new standard, Spiro Agnew could not have been forced from office. There were no “official acts” because all the VP does is preside over the Senate and wait for the president to die.

Where This Ruling Rates

This ruling rates right up there with Dred Scott, Plessy v. Ferguson, Korematsu, Bush v. Gore and Citizens United. These were really bad decisions that harmed the country. Each was done at the quest of the wealthy and powerful interests. Each ignored ordinary people, government credibility and the long term good of the nation.

6

What the court usually does with bad decisions. Typically the court pretends to ignore criticisms. If sufficiently embarrassed, it reverses itself after those judges retire. It is often done by some subtle redefinition of terms, claiming to be nuanced, but not contra-dicting it earlier self. Often it just says the issue is now moot. (Like slavery was made moot by a civil war.) Dred Scott aggravated (and was only reversed by) a civil war that killed 700,000. Plessy v. Ferguson spread segregation throughout the country and was only reversed by abandoning the fiction that “separate” is “equal.” In Korematsu5, Congress apologized and made reparations. No one mentioned the Supreme Court’s part in it. In Bush v. Gore, Scalia grumbled “get over it” and Justice O’connor wrote (after retiring) that “it did more harm and good.” She never admitted being wrong. Few rulings are reversed while the same judges remain, and when they are, only over bitter dissent. (Read the dissents in Lawrence v. Texas.)

Is Empathy A Rare Commodity? – Sandra Day O’Conner was

very empathetic to the plight of women, but to no other minorities. Is empathy a rare thing among Supreme Court justices? Some have noted that Supreme Court judges live their entire lives in the marble halls of fantasy order. Perhaps that is why they only feel the pain that they have personally suffered.

Plugging the Dyke or Opening The Flood Gates? – Corruption is a never ending pressure, always seeking new ways to enrich the powerful by robbing everyone else. Any responsible government will be constantly plugging up these holes. This court however, has taken the opposite course. Instead of fighting a

never ending war against corruption, it has opened the flood gates. When there is revolution in the streets (riots, burning cities, the militarization of police forces, the assassination of policemen, etc.), these judges might well consider their part in the breakdown of faith in government.

Conservative Interest Groups Applaud Ruling – Freedomworks, a Koch Bros project, applauded this ruling as a restricting “politically motivated prosecutors.”

5 Korematsu vs. the U.S. authorized imprisoning Japanese American’s during WWII. It had already been decided in hearings that they posed no threat, but the Army wanted it. The principle was that the military trumps the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

7

When I Was a Kid it seemed like the federal government was trying to correct past

wrongs and make this a better, fairer country. The Civil Rights Act addressed segreg-ation, court ordered integration, then the Voting Rights Act, the Great Society, War on Poverty, Watergate, ending the Vietnam War, etc. were about cleaning up the mess. Today it seems like the government is going the other direction. Instead of cleaning up the mess, it’s saying Stick it to the people!

McDonnell is also famous for advocating <<<<<<<< “mandatory vaginal probes” and the consolidation of church and state.

The Republican

National Convention

Summarized

In case you didn’t watch it, the takeaway is as follows, and it no exaggeration. 1. Hillary Clinton is a criminal who should be jailed and possibly executed by firing

squad. She compares (unfavorably) with “Lucifer” and supports His philosophy6. Her crimes include intentionally (A) killing four American’s in Benghazi (B) giving state secrets to China via her email account and (C) operating a criminal enterprise known as The Clinton Foundation. Her goals include abolishing the Second Amendment, confiscating guns and private wealth, installing com-munism and consolidating all power in the Federal Government.

6 This according to Ben Carson.

8

2. Donald Trump is a great Christian family-man and business genius. He will make America “work again,” “safe again” and “great again.” Although how is not specified, he will build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. He will put “America First” in all things, including NATO’s defenses, existing treaties and the repayment of the national debt, which he enjoys “playing with.”

3. “Conservative Christian principles” will guide the government, including the

suppression of outraged minorities and barring and/or deporting Mexicans and Muslims. The words “radical Islam” will be official language on every-one’s lips. “Life” will be protected from inception to “natural death” and the “public health hazards” of pornography and restroom confusion will be cor-rected. Crime (all crime apparently) will stop immediately. The NRA will be consulted on all issues related to firearms. Donald Trump has been ordained by God (we are told), because in his own words,

“only I can do it.”

4. The Trump family is as American as apple pie. They will help Trump take America back from the “elite.” Deeply Christian, they all adore Donald; son Eric even says his father is his “best friend.”7 Trump has been married three times and his current wife if former super / nude model, Melania Knauss.

His children are Donald J. Trump, Jr., Ivana, Eric, Tiffany and Barron (not shown because that would be child abuse.)

7 How creepy is that?

9

5. While applying the above listed policies, he will also defend women8, LGBT’s, Mexicans, African-Americans and everyone else. He will fix the Veterans Administration and renew the “depleted military” within the first 100 days. He will put everyone back to work, especially coal miners and roughnecks on drilling rigs. He will eliminate government corruption/waste so that the federal budget will run a surplus. He will fix our crumbling infra-structure and “win” so much that the American people will plead with him “Mr. Trump, please, no more winning.9”

6. “Traitors” like Ted Cruz will be excluded from political life. When Cruz advised “vote

your conscience,” the party of “freedom” and “personal response-bility” booed him off the stage. The Secret Service had to hustle his wife away for fear she would be assaulted. Chris Christy and Congressman King denounced him a liar with no integrity. Cruz answered that his oath to support the party nominee did not bind him to someone who personally insulted his wife and father10.

7. Rudy Giuliani denounced Hillary with near hysteria. Rachel Maddow said he looked

like he was “going to bite off the head of a bat.” When “former federal prosecutor” (his words) Chris Christy lead a mock trial of Clinton, the crowd chanted “GUILTY.” “GUILTY,” “LOCK HER UP,” “LOCK HER UP.”

It had a chilling Nazi show trial feel.

8. There was so much aggression that it reminded me of the raptors in the kitchen scene from Jurassic Park. When they were not attacking Hillary, democrats, “black

lives matter”, “radical Islam” etc. they were eating each other.

Some of it was really hard to watch. e. It felt like accidentally overhearing a private conversation that you really didn’t want to hear.

I was embarrassed for them.

8 He knows all about women because in his words, he has slept with the “top women of the world.” 9 That is a 100% correct prediction. After a few months of “winning”, the American people with plead for him to stop. 10 Heidi is not a beautiful as Milania and Cruz’s father was part of the JFK assassination.

10

The Scariest Part was witnessing people in American (even holding government

offices) who live in a fact-free universe. Evidence has no relevance, the meanings of words do not matter, actions are inspired by unthinking urges. They passionately believe whatever feels good in the moment, or serves their goals. For example, one attendee at the Western Evangelical Conference explained how he knows that Trump is a Christian. Everything we know about Trump is so unchristian, that he is hiding nothing and is therefore, a true Christian. (The lack of evidence is evidence in itself argument has often been used in show trials and inquisitions.)

Sympathy For His Family – First there was Ivana, then Marla and now Milania.

I feel sorry for Milania11. She grew up in a poor eastern European country and has been thrust into the surreal world of Republican politics. It’s one thing to sell your flesh for money, that is common.

It’s quite another thing to be compared with a class act like Michelle Obama. Then there are the kids. Having a narcissist for a father is psychologically devastating. (He recently stated, proudly, that he would date his own daughter if it were not for the fact the she is, his daughter. I guess that shows some restraint.) The biographies we will be reading after he’s gone will be creepy. Eric’s mobster like expression may only be to cover some unattractive teeth. All the women however, have smiles that look like they were digitally mastered by Pixar. The Dracula-like hair styles of the Trump men remain unexplained. Growing up in a Manhattan Penthouse family, ruled by a famous, female objectifying, sociopathic horn-dog has got to be soul bending. The Art of the Deal (the greatest book ever written, second only to the Bible) was apparently totally invented by its ghostwriter Tony Swartz. Schwartz said of Trump, “there is no there there.”

He is a “psychological black hole.”

11 The plagiarism of her speech was an embarrassing and amateurish accident.