[NOTE: This series of posts about the corporate capture & corruption of the U.S. Supreme Court reflects my sense that: this “scheme” is extremely dangerous to what remains of our democracy; that it is far advanced; it preceded the era of 45 and the “Big Lie,” and it will continue after that ordeal reaches its end; and the corruption detailed is by no means an isolated case. Thanks again to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse for his leadership in documenting and blowing the whistle on it, in and outside Congress.]
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, excerpts from his book, The Scheme: Continue reading “Shotgun” Scalia: A study in Supreme Corruption & Impunity; More from “The Scheme”
Category Archives: Corruption
More on “The Scheme” — Part 1
I haven’t met Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island. And I don’t know much about him, beyond a skim of Wikipedia and some other articles.
(The gist: Northeast liberal, some family money, Yale; he’s 67, doesn’t look it; married only once. As U.S. attorney he put some Rhode island hoods and crooked pols in the slammer. Critics have challenged some of his stock trades in office. The trades seem tacky but not like anything serious; after all, he bought Tesla a couple years ago — does that make him smart or stupid? Continue reading More on “The Scheme” — Part 1
Minority Rule Watch: Vote suppression is burgeoning at the state level, especially in Red states
The number of state legislative districts where racial or ethnic minorities make up a majority or a near majority of the population dropped substantially after the latest round of redistricting, even as those minority groups accounted for virtually all of the population growth the nation experienced over the last decade.
An analysis of the demographics of thousands of state legislative districts redrawn in the wake of the 2020 Census conducted exclusively for Pluribus News finds there are 368 districts around the country where Black Americans make up a majority of the population, down from 390 Black-majority districts before new political boundaries were drawn.
The January 6 Committee’s Thursday Hearing in Ten Quick Screen Shots
The Last Hearing? Maybe. Or maybe not.
“If [Trump] comes [to the Capitol] I’m going to punch him out,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “I’ve been waiting for this, for trespassing on Capitol grounds. I’m going to punch him out, and I’m going to go to jail, and I’m going to be happy.”
Ukraine & Corruption: A Major, Mostly Unmentioned Issue
New York Times: Ukraine Is Weakened by Corruption, So How Is It Stymying the Russians?
Oct. 10, 2022
By Peter Coy, Opinion Writer
Corruption undermines society as surely as termites undermine houses. Ukraine suffers from corruption. So how has Ukrainian society nonetheless managed to stymie a Russian invasion, and even turn the tables on its invaders?
I asked experts inside and outside Ukraine for their answers to this pivotal question and heard several interesting theories. The most intriguing is that it’s possible in certain situations to be simultaneously corrupt and patriotic.
Here are some of the explanations:
Ukraine is corrupt, but the enemy is even more corrupt. On Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, Ukraine was 122nd of 180 countries last year (higher numbers are worse). Pretty bad, but Russia was ranked even worse, at 136th.
[NOTE: This Index is useful, but hardly perfect. The USA was rated as #27, which in my view is much too favorable, as it neglects entire categories of vast corruption, in domestic U. S. politics and foreign/military operations, which are technically “legal” but as rotten as can be.]
In May the U.S. State Department said, “While it may be too early to draw definitive conclusions, we have seen open-source reporting about expired rations, lack of fuel and outdated and poorly maintained equipment that point to the waste, misuse and abuse of ‘public’ resources designated for Russia’s military.” Continue reading Ukraine & Corruption: A Major, Mostly Unmentioned Issue