#735 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Thursday August 24)
Good morning,
MEA CULPA
I’ve been pretty vocal about the Republican displays of disrepect for the presidency, the Justice Department, the FBI, and nearly every agency or instrumentality of the government, in order to further the anger that drives their base. One particularly noteworthy example was earlier this year, at the State of the Union. A friend thinks I’ve been unfair, and that Democrats have had their share of bad actors in recent years:
“Nice try. It’s still your Musings. Write whatever you feel appropriate. But consider what you missed or avoided. Nancy Pelosi tore up her copy of the State of the Union address, on prime time camera immediately after the speech. I didn’t read about that in Musings. During several of the speeches Dems walked out in the middle. Maybe not a cat call, but utterly and completely disrespectful to the decorum of the event. And, there were cat calls... You can have your own opinion, but not your own facts.”
This friend is right. It was unacceptable for the Speaker of the House to behave in such a manner. As to walking out mid-speech, that also is disrespectful (although preferable, of course, to screaming, but inappropriate, nonetheless). Let’s remember that everything is a matter of degree. The degree of the Republican bad behavior in recent years far exceeds that of prior Democratic shenanigans.
Shoplifting is a crime. So is aggravated assault. One is worse than the other and carries greater consequences.
SUPREME COURT ETHICS
The Supreme Court, which in the current environment increasingly seems to be the third political branch, has been in the news for ethical issues, most notably by Justice Thomas. While others have had ethical lapses; although, none seems as significant nor as frequent. Curiously, the Court maintains that ethical compliance is voluntary. In this day and age, with the intense scrutiny to which we expose our elected and appointed leaders, the public servants most identified with following rules seem to flaunt the rules (which really aren’t rules, but only suggestions).
A distinguished member of the federal judiciary who is focused on ethics appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month to comment on Justice Clarence Thomas’s repeated ethical lapses. Rather than being questioned for more detail and interrogated on the information he presented, he was attacked mercilessly by two Republican senators. One lectured him abusively and he proceeded to get up and leave, before even hearing the judge’s presentation. Any behaviors of guys on the conservative team apparently must be defended at any cost and preferably with performative art. I suppose if they are unwilling to censure George Santos or vote to impeach Donald Trump, everything else is fair game.
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives: