Wow, the kangaroos on the Roberts Supremely Kangaroo Court are really getting into their imperial roles now, aren’t they? I mean, as more and more (and incidentally, even more) details come out about rich people buying Supreme Court Kangaroos to ensure favorable rulings, some people said, “Hey, maybe there should be some rules of ethics for the High Court.” Other people started saying, “What? There are no ethics guidelines for the Supreme Court? How could THAT be? No wonder they’re comfortable taking bribes!

The Kangaroos are off right now. They stop working early in summer and don’t get back to it until the first Monday in October. (You know, normal Americans…) But they’re still bickering among themselves so we hear more about them in their off time than normal. There’s at least ONE Kangaroo, the conservative “pseudo-justice” Alito, who is publicly claiming Congress has no power to impose ethics on the court. Justice Kagen is publicly disagreeing, being FAR more rational. She says, “But it just can’t be that the court is the only institution that somehow is not subject to any checks and balances from anybody else. We’re not imperial and we too are a part of a checking and balancing system in various ways.”

While they bicker, the bought-and-paid-for justices preferring to keep their personal gravy trains going and the ethical justices preferring ethics, I’m left to consider the question for myself, not being a Constitutional scholar or even a lawyer. But I CAN read…

Article III, the section of the Constitution that established the Supreme Court, Section 1 reads, in part, “The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour…” (<– That’s Founding Father spelling…) So, without standards, how do people define “good Behaviour?” Clearly, Clarence Thomas defines “good behaviour” as accepting bribes and doing as he’s told. Personally, I define good behavior as NOT accepting bribes and in doing the right thing.

(Sidebar: Does anybody else see the irony in Thomas thinking he’s “made it” by allowing himself to be bought by a white man who tells him what to do? I’ve never been black but I would have imagined the idea of such a relationship would be repugnant to a black man…)

Installing a code of ethics might not need to be a law, so much as a guideline that clarifying for them (I STILL can’t believe it NEEDS to be explained to them) when they cross a line that COULD set them up for impeachment. I genuinely do not understand the criminal Kangaroos position. If they can’t be held to account for bribery can they be held to account for ANY crime? Are the Kangaroo cons actually arguing that they could, say, commit a murder and not be held liable?
“Of course not,” cons would cry, “murder is a crime, outside of ethics considerations!”
“Yeah? So is bribery.” (Sidebar: ‘Bribe’ is defined as “Money or some other benefit given to a person in power, especially a public official, in an effort to cause the person to take a particular action.”)

I’ll tell you this: I don’t know how it’s going to play out, especially since the Kangaroo criminals in question get a vote on the matter. (I suspect it’s VERY rare for a given criminal to support stopping the particular crime from which they benefit…) You want to know a truly sad day for America? That’s it, right there…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Editor’s note: I hope you’ll forgive the seemingly personal nature of this next post. While it DOES have a distinctly personal angle to it, I see the breakdown of traffic compliance as a kind of microcosm – a canary in the coalmine, if you will – for the breakdown of our society, in general…)

Okay, so I was sitting at a stop light waiting for the green. To be more specific, I’m in the right-hand side of a two-lane left turn intersection that leads up to a two-lane freeway on-ramp, currently being controlled by the metering lights. I expect, as one does, that the “fellow motorist” beside me, in the left lane, will move into the left lane on the on-ramp while I get in line in the right lane. Silly me.

The green arrow comes and we begin our turn. As we round the bend, the guy next to me encroaches into “my” lane. Okay, things like that happen. Sometimes the steering wheel slips a bit and you drift before correcting. Sometimes someone simply isn’t paying attention, whatever. I did what civilized people do: I gave him a bit of extra space until he got control of his car. But it turned out, in HIS pea brain, I wasn’t showing him a bit of driver courtesy in giving him extra space. In HIS mind, I was surrendering.

He DID move back toward his own lane for a moment, but only for a moment. When he realized I had given ground, he came back – aggressively. Now, I want to make sure I’m absolutely clear, here. We were, literally, right next to each other. It’s not like he was in front of me, even by a nose. But he came back anyway, this time, determined to move over. The lane I was in, after all, was two cars shorter than the lane he SHOULD have gone into.

I had two choices: crash or give space. I gave space. The thing is, there was no “space” to give so I was out of the lane heading off the road. I had to stop to keep from crashing. After he pushed me off the road, he cruised into my lane and moved up into the line, doing that thing people do where their steering wheel is suddenly the most important thing in the world and requires INTENSE scrutiny, consciously and aggressively NOT looking at anything else. I blew my horn at him, got back in line and then stopped behind him as we waited out the metering light.

I confess, I was angry. The guy was really willing to hit my car just to try to save himself two cars worth of wait? How long would he have had to wait if I hadn’t given ground and he HAD hit me? As one sits and considers realistic responses, it quickly becomes apparent there ARE no legitimate, realistic responses. Blasting my horn hadn’t done anything. It didn’t even really make me feel better. I thought about calling the cops and reporting him. Then I remembered, thanks to conservative tax cuts for the wealthy, the cops are seriously understaffed and overworked. They had to make choices and they long ago surrendered traffic control as part of their responsibilities. I’ve seen cars run red lights right in front of cops and they do nothing. They’re sure as hell not going to come out for a he said, he said debate on terrible driving that did not, after all, result in an accident.

But I could do this:

The license plate is 8NCN250…

I could make the trump-selfish putz famous. Well, on MY blog, “famous” is probably a bit…hyperbolic. But I could make a few (very well informed) people aware. Hell, I know it’s the longest of long shots but, maybe somebody who knows this clown reads the Bacon Press (MyBaconPress.com). If you do, please let the guy know he’s been published.

He looked young, to me. It’s likely he was driving mommy or daddy’s car, so, possibly untrained in the rules of the road, like so many young people today. The truth is, publishing him is really all I’ve got. But his move was so irritating, he’s risking a lot more than some old(er) guy getting angry. I turn on the morning news on a regular basis to see tales of road rage and shootings. THIS guy was so stupid, after he ran me off the road, he drove up and was promptly stopped by the traffic in front of him – with me right behind him! What if I had been a crazy like so many of my fellow Americans today?

Look, I’m not the kind of guy who’s going to get violent but if I had wanted to, he was a sitting duck. I might take out a hammer, get out of my car, and smash a tail light or a headlight – or maybe just his head. He had boxed himself in and had no place to run to. Maybe I’ve got a gun. (Maybe HE had a gun. Is he really willing to kill somebody over a slightly better position on the road?) I recognize those are extreme, less likely possibilities. But they ARE possibilities.

I just took a picture…