Greetings. I am a voting constituent in rural west Texas.
America is gradually coming to accept corruption as a norm, a given, the established way things are done in our country. No more behind closed doors, nudge nudge wink wink say no more needed.
Do it out in the open enough times and we adapt to the new norm. Artifice no longer required.
In recent years we have adapted to much. No more love thy neighbor. We are righteously uncivil to each other. With words. With actions. With guns. And it’s normal.
Lying is no longer lying. Reality is what we believe it to be. Facts are negotiable. We are bombarded with confusion. We tsk tsk. And shut down.
We judge everyone around us. We pick friends who are just like us. We no longer keep our options or insults to ourselves, regardless of the harm done. Every action, thought, word, or deed seems based in conflict. Or worse, designed for conflict. You don’t like my behavior? Tough.
Oh well.
So when we are upset for a news cycle or two about the apparent corruption in the SCOTUS, know that this too shall pass. We’ll shrug, say of course they’re corrupt, who isn’t?, and move on.
Because that’s the world we live in. And because corruption comes from the top down. Sad huh?
“In a series of cases decided over the past 37 years, the Supreme Court has systematically gutted the country’s public corruption laws, including by undermining the long-standing “honest services” doctrine. At its core, the honest services doctrine is an anti-corruption principle protecting the people’s right to an honest and impartial government and a fair provision of government services. Officials, in government or in other positions of authority, who misuse their positions to enrich themselves deprive the people of that right and are subject to federal wire and mail fraud charges.
Taken together, these rulings formalized the idea that money moving from private hands to official pockets is not illegal in itself. According to the Supreme Court, the conduct is unlawful only when there is some tangible clear official action to which an exchange of money or property can be obviously tied.”
Ho hum. Whadda ya gonna do? Next.
