Clarence Thomas’s Wife Supported Armed Insurrection, Benefited from Citizens United

[Modern School]

In a recent post, “Kids May Not Know Democracy, But They Know a Bum Deal When They See It,” I made the argument that our political system functions quite differently from the idealized system we are taught in school. I specifically argued that it was created and continues to operate to protect the property rights of a tiny minority of society. A recent example of this is the Citizens United case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that corporate funding of political broadcasts could not be limited, since corporations are entitled to the same 1st Amendment protections as individuals. The case was close (5-4). Those who voted with the corporations in Citizens United were beneficiaries of corporate gifts, former board members and/or former CEOs of corporations, drawing into question their independence and objectivity in the case.

Clarence Thomas voted with the majority. His wife, Ginni Thomas, is founder and president of the Tea Party-associated lobbying group Liberty Central. Thomas incorporated her organization as a tax-exempt 501(c)4 just two months before the Supreme Court made its final ruling in the Citizens United case, according to a recent report on Alternet.org. Because Ginni Thomas received a salary and/or expenses from Liberty Centyral and because the ruling had a direct influence on the organization’s success in fundraising and lobbying, there was a very clear conflict of interest for Clarence Thomas, who did not recuse himself from the case, as he should have.

The AlterNet piece also said that Liberty Central was linked to the Missouri Sovereignty Project and Gun Owners of America, whose leaders called for war against the U.S. government, as well as another group, Tradition Family and Property, whose leader called the Spanish Inquisition “a beautiful thing.” These groups were listed as “Friends of Liberty Central” on its Web site. It is highly dubious that a man could serve objectively and independently on the nation’s highest court and fulfill his mandate to uphold and defend the constitution when his own wife is supporting armed overthrow of that same nation.

Liberty Central actively opposed Obama Care, another potential conflict of interest since Clarence Thomas solicited donations for Liberty Central, and since the Supreme Court would likely have to rule on the constitutionality of the law. Clarence Thomas also received money for speaking at a Koch Brothers fundraiser in Palm Springs, California. Antonin Scalia also appeared at the gathering (and voted in the majority in the Citizens United case). The Koch Brothers were large beneficiaries of the Citizens United ruling and would appear to have bought the votes of several members of the Court.

Modern School
http://modeducation.blogspot.com/

[leveymg]

1. Put this Far-Right insurrectionist agenda of Ginni Thomas with the scofflaw actions of her husband,

and you have dangerous extremist cell near to the very core of American government.

How should Federal Law Enforcement deal with this? What if these were Revolutionary Communists or Islamic Militants who had similarly broken the law, and were calling for an arming of their militias in anticipation of civil war under the assumption that no one would bother to do anything about it?

It's time for the Justice Department to take its head out of the sand and Indict Clarence Thomas and investigate the financiers of the militant Right-wing, no matter how wealthy and powerful they are.

If the Obama Administration continues to do nothing in the face of Right-wing extremism and law-breaking, there will be a civil war, a war which America will lose.

[dogmoma56]

2. maybe she was just a stand in.. to keep her hubby from looking like what he is..

[starroute]

3. Liberty Central has some nasty pals

Gun Owners of America is one of those groups that makes the NRA look like a bunch of lefties, while Tradition Family and Property is often considered to be just a hair short of outright fascist.

Here's something on GOA from 1996:

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45/085.html

Larry Pratt's association with Pat Buchanan goes back many years. Pratt runs an assortment of far-right outfits out of an office in the D.C. area, including Gun Owners of America and English First, and has ties to anti-abortion groups as well. Pratt led an anti-abortion walkout from a Presidential conference on the family. His Gun Owners of America, which provided key funding to elect pro-militia Congress-members in the 1994 Republican take-over of Congress, was an early endorser of Buchanan's 1996 campaign. Pratt is himself a former elected official. He served as a right wing Virginia state legislator. Far from simply having made an error in judgment in attending one meeting with Klansmen and racists, he has been a key figure straddling the line and providing links between the "mainstream" right, Christian Reconstructionism, and the openly neo-nazi forces of Christian Identity and the Aryan Nations. . . .

Pratt exposed the racist character of his leanings by participating in the Estes Park, CO gathering called by Christian Identity "Reverend" Pete Peters to organize support for white supremacist Randy Weaver, who was arrested after a shoot-out with federal marshals in Idaho. Pratt, who is a Christian Reconstructionist, brought to the meeting his proposal, based on his book Armed People Victorious, for starting armed Christian militias in the U.S. The book is a study of efforts he was involved in in Guatemala, to promote the development of civilian armed patrols. These groups were armed and evangelized by U.S. based Christian right groups, in order to supplement the repressive power of the Guatemalan dictator Efrain Rios-Montt when Congress restricted some military aid to the genocidal Guatemalan Army. Pratt's book also reported on similar efforts carried out by retired Gen. John K. Singlaub to arm and train evangelical Christian groups in the Philippines as a "counter-subversive" force under the Aquino administration.

[MisterP]

4. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira is as creepy as the P-2 or North-Singlaub-Secord nexuses

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinio_Corr%C3%AAa_de_Oliveira
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Society_for_the_Defense_of_Tradition,_Family_and_Property
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tradition,_Family_and_Property