From Clay Jones on his political cartoon “Bribing Supremely” and how the Supreme Court gave Bob McDonnell a free pass and enabled bribery and corruption
Former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell was convicted of accepting bribes while he was occupying the state’s mansion. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court said “uh uh” and threw out the conviction. SCOTUS felt the directions given to the jury were too wide and that basically, hey, giving stuff to elected officials is okie dokie as long as they stop before taking any official acts. An official act is a focused and concrete exercise of government power, such as a lawsuit or a hearing, which basically means that it’s going to be really hard to prosecute government officials for taking bribes.
Now the government will have to prosecute the case all over again, which has become increasingly more difficult, or just drop the issue and throw their arms in the air while cursing. McDonnell will most likely get off scot-free for accepting a Rolex, designer clothes, gifts, and loans worth more than $175,000. He also let Bobby tool around in his Ferrari.
The Highest Court In The Land probably doesn’t really understand the conflict of interest or ethics thing. They can take bribes. Oh sure, they have an ethics policy, but unlike elected officials, they’re not required to disclose anything. Yeah. Clarence Thomas’ wife, Ginni, is a lobbyist whose activities have been a conflict of interest for her husband when her clients go before the court. The justices often take free trips to give speeches, which really turn into vacations. Antonin Scalia took 258 subsidized trips between 2004 to 2015. He often got a free vacation to places like Hawaii, Ireland, and Switzerland. He was on a free getaway at a hunting lodge when he died last February in Marfa, Texas. Yeah … that town’s really named “Marfa.”
A Supreme Court justice makes almost $236,000 a year. They can afford to pay for their own trips to Marfa.
claytoonz.com/2016/07/01/bribing-supremely
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