The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for May, 2024

A new month has arrived (already?), and with it comes the naming the first of three Ass Clown awardees for May ... yes, the structure of the calendar this year means that May has not two, but three Fridays available to heap dishonor and opprobrium on deserving Ass Clowns. Let's get to it, shall we?

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, with the usual flatulent blare of trumpets we announce

The Right-Cheek Ass Clown for May, 2024

and the award goes to

The Conservative Wing of the Supreme Court

(Justices Roberts, Thomas, Alito,

Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett) 

The public approval rating of the Supreme Court has been declining for years, but it is dropping sharply of late, largely because of the sharp turn to the right since it became dominated by hard-core conservative justices.

With the addition of three* extremely conservative justices to the Supreme Court during Der Furor's presidency, the Court now has a six-justice conservative supermajority that has distinguished itself by rolling back voting rights, undoing decades of reproductive choice for women (the first time the Court has actually removed, rather than asserted a fundamental freedom), and clutching its collective pearls over whether or not Der Furor represents a clear and present danger to the presidency and our democratic form of government.

The Court has also needlessly wrapped itself in controversy by refusing to adopt a code of ethics - even refusing to accept the same code of conduct that applies to every Federal court judge. Their argument is that the Court's special status as the nation's highest forum of legal decision requires it to be above ethical or behavioral limitations. This lack of a code of conduct has allowed - among other things - such travesties as the blatant acceptance of lavish vacations and other gifts from wealthy benefactors by Justice Clarence Thomas. It has also allowed Justice Thomas to refuse to recuse himself from the ongoing cases regarding the insurrection of January 6th, 2021 - in which his wife was deeply involved. 

Justice Alito has referred to previous decisions with which he disagrees with scorn, trashing the concept of stare decisis (settled law) as he works to overturn decisions (such as Roe v. Wade) he didn't like.

And it is worth noting that the three justices appointed by Der Furor (as well as Justice Alito, appointed by George W. Bush) all blatantly lied during their confirmation hearings, piously agreeing that Roe v. Wade was "settled law" before announcing it was "wrongly decided" and overturning it once they reached the bench.    

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Readers, the tinfoil and toilet paper crown designating our first Ass Clown Award for the month - the Right-Cheek Ass Clown for May, 2024 - is presented to the Conservative Majority of the Supreme Court - a majority interested not in justice, but in the imposition of an ultraconservative and deeply partisan stamp on American law.

Have a good day, as long as it remains legal to do so. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* In case you'd forgotten, one of those three seats - that of Justice Gorsuch - was stolen from President Obama and another - that of Justice Barrett - was stolen from President-elect Biden by the smugly shameless chicanery of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. And who would ever have thought that a judicially inexperienced nonentity like Brett Kavanaugh would deserve a seat on the nation's highest court? Just a reminder.